Hey all,
I have had this problem for awhile now and it has carried over to when i updated to v 1.6. Using certain plugins the receptor resets itself; the splash screen displays and the receptor boots back to normal withing a few seconds. The main culprit is kontakt 2 (v 2.1.1) but it has happened with other plugs. Thankfully this has never happened when im just playing the keys and triggering sounds (at least YET) - only when im adjusting parameters in plugins or something similar. Admittedly, i've perhaps been doing things that trip it off sometimes (ie. last time it happened i was rebuilding the database in kontakt and then clicked on the receptor setup tab and the unit reset). I was just curious if anyone had an explanation as to what might be going on underthe hood when this happens and why it might do this. I thought that perhaps overheating was a culprit but that doesnt seem to be so (ona side note: given the receceptor is meant primarily as live unit and will most likely end up in a rack, why is there ventilation on the sides of this thing - exactly where there is no ventilation in a rack?). No big deal as yet, but we use it for live shows and im always a little nervous it might just decide to do this mid song!
Cheers,
James
Receptor resetting itself
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- KVRian
- 538 posts since 7 Apr, 2007 from Melbourne, Australia
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- KVRian
- 691 posts since 13 May, 2004 from Silicon Valley
Hi James,
I think you are saying that this behavior isn't purely random (eg. happening without doing any user action, or maybe happens with specific applications running).
One of the first things you can do to try to debug this problem is check the system log (in the Reports folder). Often, if there is some kind of application error (or hardware failure), the reason may be recorded into this file.
I'm guessing from what you've described is that you are getting some kind of application error that the Receptor Host can't handle. This can cause the system to restart (where you see the splash screen, and the host restarts to a stable state).
I fink Kontakt somewhat tempermental too. I try not to do much editing within Kontakt (eg. create presets on another platform, and import them into kontakt on Receptor).
The other thing to be wary about is pushing the memory limits of kontakt on receptor. If you load a kontakt instrument whose sample (preload) size approaches the amount of RAM your receptor is configured with, nasty resets can happen.
Hope this helps a bit.
Regards,
Kevin L
I think you are saying that this behavior isn't purely random (eg. happening without doing any user action, or maybe happens with specific applications running).
One of the first things you can do to try to debug this problem is check the system log (in the Reports folder). Often, if there is some kind of application error (or hardware failure), the reason may be recorded into this file.
I'm guessing from what you've described is that you are getting some kind of application error that the Receptor Host can't handle. This can cause the system to restart (where you see the splash screen, and the host restarts to a stable state).
I fink Kontakt somewhat tempermental too. I try not to do much editing within Kontakt (eg. create presets on another platform, and import them into kontakt on Receptor).
The other thing to be wary about is pushing the memory limits of kontakt on receptor. If you load a kontakt instrument whose sample (preload) size approaches the amount of RAM your receptor is configured with, nasty resets can happen.
Hope this helps a bit.
Regards,
Kevin L
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- KVRian
- Topic Starter
- 538 posts since 7 Apr, 2007 from Melbourne, Australia
Hi Kevin,
Thanks for the reply - i will check out that reports log. I know that some of the resets occurred as a result of bugs within Kontakt and had nothing to do with the receptor (eg. sometimes when i try and delete an instrument from a kontakt multi a dialogue would appear asking if i really want to remove it. Whenever this happened the receptor crashed. Also often when i tried to edit sample loop points with snap to zero crossing on it would crash, and, konakt doesnt seem to work too well with giga or akai patches. These issues, however, also occurred when using kontakt on a PC so i dont fault the receptor).
As for the preload size, i havent played with it too much. I tend to limit instruments to 32 voices for live use ( we use up to as many as 18 string instruments loaded in a multi all assigned to different midi channels. The most instruments being triggered at any one time would be 5 or 6). Ive given it a good bash and if i try really hard (pressing down 20 keys at a time) i might just hear the effects of kontakt stealing voices from the oldest samples, but ive never had it crash as a result of this (BTW, we use a receptor pro). Yes it only seems to be when editing is going on. As a matter of interest, do you have any suggestions for preload and DFD settings? I know it really depends on the material being used, but just curious as to how others approach this.
Regards,
James
Thanks for the reply - i will check out that reports log. I know that some of the resets occurred as a result of bugs within Kontakt and had nothing to do with the receptor (eg. sometimes when i try and delete an instrument from a kontakt multi a dialogue would appear asking if i really want to remove it. Whenever this happened the receptor crashed. Also often when i tried to edit sample loop points with snap to zero crossing on it would crash, and, konakt doesnt seem to work too well with giga or akai patches. These issues, however, also occurred when using kontakt on a PC so i dont fault the receptor).
As for the preload size, i havent played with it too much. I tend to limit instruments to 32 voices for live use ( we use up to as many as 18 string instruments loaded in a multi all assigned to different midi channels. The most instruments being triggered at any one time would be 5 or 6). Ive given it a good bash and if i try really hard (pressing down 20 keys at a time) i might just hear the effects of kontakt stealing voices from the oldest samples, but ive never had it crash as a result of this (BTW, we use a receptor pro). Yes it only seems to be when editing is going on. As a matter of interest, do you have any suggestions for preload and DFD settings? I know it really depends on the material being used, but just curious as to how others approach this.
Regards,
James
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- KVRian
- 691 posts since 13 May, 2004 from Silicon Valley
Hi again James,
Sorry - I didn't mean to imply anything about changing the DFD settings. The thing I was trying to heed caution about is when (for a given set of Kontakt instruments you are trying to load) the amount of RAM required for pre-load approaches the RAM that Receptor has available.
For example, if you try to load LPC player instrument (contains over 7g of samples, preload is close to 2g), Kontakt will crash receptor as it loads and approaches the RAM limit. This is not very elegant - but the previous version of Kontakt would silently fail - eg. stop loading when it approached the limit, and give no error. I'm not sure which solution is worse. For this type of problem, my only recommendation is to cut-back on what you load in Kontakt as you approach the RAM limits.
Regarding DFD settings - I try not to muck with those, and stick with the factory defaults. Others on this forum have messed around with these - so hopefully someone else chimes in (Hybernation? Phil Aiken? ....).
Sorry - I didn't mean to imply anything about changing the DFD settings. The thing I was trying to heed caution about is when (for a given set of Kontakt instruments you are trying to load) the amount of RAM required for pre-load approaches the RAM that Receptor has available.
For example, if you try to load LPC player instrument (contains over 7g of samples, preload is close to 2g), Kontakt will crash receptor as it loads and approaches the RAM limit. This is not very elegant - but the previous version of Kontakt would silently fail - eg. stop loading when it approached the limit, and give no error. I'm not sure which solution is worse. For this type of problem, my only recommendation is to cut-back on what you load in Kontakt as you approach the RAM limits.
Regarding DFD settings - I try not to muck with those, and stick with the factory defaults. Others on this forum have messed around with these - so hopefully someone else chimes in (Hybernation? Phil Aiken? ....).
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- KVRian
- Topic Starter
- 538 posts since 7 Apr, 2007 from Melbourne, Australia
yeah, im not really sure why this happens. Our kontakt multis are only using about 3-400 MB max. The receptor is housed in a s RU SKB rack with clear access at the back and ive drilled holes in the side of the rack for extra ventilation so i dont think thast the problem.
Another curious kontakt related issue ive noticed is that whenever ive rebooted the receptor and my kontakt multi from the previous session is loaded up the release settings of the patches go all screwy. Basically they release instantly with an abrupt click even though some sounds might have 3-4 seconds of release time. If i open up a kontakt instrument and just play with some controls all goes back to normal, but only for that instrument. The easiest workaround is to cycle thru the previous saved receptor multi and then back again. All of a sudden the sounds are back to normal. I dont know why i have to "refresh" this every time i boot up. I tried loading a blank patch before shutting down as some people have suggested but to no avail. These arent the first problems ive had using kontakt on receptor. there seems to be some very weird behaviour that goes on. Not show-stoppers as yet, just frustrating.
Cheers,
James
Another curious kontakt related issue ive noticed is that whenever ive rebooted the receptor and my kontakt multi from the previous session is loaded up the release settings of the patches go all screwy. Basically they release instantly with an abrupt click even though some sounds might have 3-4 seconds of release time. If i open up a kontakt instrument and just play with some controls all goes back to normal, but only for that instrument. The easiest workaround is to cycle thru the previous saved receptor multi and then back again. All of a sudden the sounds are back to normal. I dont know why i have to "refresh" this every time i boot up. I tried loading a blank patch before shutting down as some people have suggested but to no avail. These arent the first problems ive had using kontakt on receptor. there seems to be some very weird behaviour that goes on. Not show-stoppers as yet, just frustrating.
Cheers,
James
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- KVRian
- Topic Starter
- 538 posts since 7 Apr, 2007 from Melbourne, Australia
Ok, i have a new problem now. As of today, whenever the receptor boots up it gets as far as saying its loading the patch. I am using a multi with one instance of kontakt loaded on one channel ( although using several instruments on different MIDI channels). When it gets to this stage though, it reads "startup failed" then goes to receptor recovery - restart?. So i restart and it loads with a blank patch. It juts wont boot up with my saved multi. Ive been using this multi for a week ot two now - dont know why this would happen all of a sudden. Of course i can still load my saved kontakt multi when the receptor boots up but now i have to do this evrytime i boot up. Im lucky im not using a multi with stuff loaded on all receptor channels - nightmare! Any ideas here? Am taking this unit on the road tomorrow so this is somewhat concerning.
Regards,
James
Regards,
James
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- KVRian
- 1116 posts since 22 Apr, 2005 from Nashville, TN USA
Not sure which version of Kontakt2 you have, but I can remember in the past many problems with it, related to the "initial multi" load. Bottom line, I used to have to remember to load a blank multi before shutdown, trying to load one that contained Kontakt2 at startup was, well, a non-starterAtardecer wrote:Ok, i have a new problem now. As of today, whenever the receptor boots up it gets as far as saying its loading the patch. I am using a multi with one instance of kontakt loaded on one channel ( although using several instruments on different MIDI channels). When it gets to this stage though, it reads "startup failed" then goes to receptor recovery - restart?. So i restart and it loads with a blank patch. It juts wont boot up with my saved multi. Ive been using this multi for a week ot two now - dont know why this would happen all of a sudden. Of course i can still load my saved kontakt multi when the receptor boots up but now i have to do this evrytime i boot up. Im lucky im not using a multi with stuff loaded on all receptor channels - nightmare! Any ideas here? Am taking this unit on the road tomorrow so this is somewhat concerning.
Regards,
James
Thought I remembered them fixing this in 2.2.1, but I'm not sure. Will check it out next time I'm in the studio and let you know.
FWIW, I had OTHER problems with K2, even the latest version, which made me find alternatives for my live show (alternative plugins on Receptor that is). For instance, I used to load Elektic and Akoustik piano sounds in K2, but this caused problems, which seemed to go away when I used those players instead (in a complex 8 channel multi).
