[not resolved !]windows 8

[babaorum]

I have great problems with cubase (5.5.3 and 7.0.1) which makes overload(>100%) for the HDD usage.

I'll reinstall a win7 partition on my DAW because I can't do music ...

Do you think that it's scope which is not maybe optimized for windows8 or is it windows 8 which is less optimized for the music's work.

Have you problems with this software/hardware combination ? (scope/cubase 5 - 7/ windows8)

Help !

(I have done all the BIOS recommendations that my BIOS allows for the scope use)

[babaorum]

I'lll install the system on a SSD soon, I hope this will improve the performances !

[fidox]

There can be various things , which i don't know ,
i can just confirm that my system works normal, ofcourse, with some audio tweaks for windows, and disabling tons of system, performance stuff, but,

my system configuration :
Windows 8 Pro 32-bit
Scope 5.1
Cubase 7 Artist

No problems so far.

Best,
Matej

[babaorum]

ok thanks I'll try some tweaks

[babaorum]

I think it's because you are in 32bit, I'm in 64bit.

[garyb]

it's not Scope. there have already been too many win8 64bit working systems. win7 and win8 performance with Scope are pretty much the same.

i haven't seen it happen too often, but perhaps windows had turned off dma on your hd. actually, i don't think that ever happens in a sata system, but i have seen it happen in pata systems.

[Eanna]

Any process in Task Manager other than Cubase seem to chew disk?
Have you switched off indexing on the drive?

Ensure the latest drivers for your hard drive.
If you're not using standard Windows SATA drivers, consider switching to the default drivers.
Check AHCI driver too. And make sure DMA is switched on for your drive.
Anything interesting in the Windows Event Viewer?
Clean Cubase projects still cause the issue?

Google anything you're unsure of.

Quite sure this is not Scope related. If Scope is not launched on your system, and you still have disk issues, then it's more evidence that it's not Scope.

Try Reaper - same issues?

[babaorum]

Thank you for help,
So UltraDMA 5 access is enable on the HDD.
indexing on the drive is switch on here, I'll try to deactivate.
I follow you news soon.

[babaorum]

test : indexing on the drive is switch off

same pb ...

[Eanna]

Try Reaper? Free to try, small download, light on my system.. Also proves you answer is probably on Cubase forums...

Best of luck!

[babaorum]

It is not really constructive

Cubase 5.5.3 worked very well on win7 64.

Now cubase 5.5.3 and cubase 7.0.1 have overload HDD on win8 64 ...

I just realized that my C: partition is on the same HDD than my H: where I record music.
But that was not a problem for windows 7 ?
And on win8 I disabled some services of windows that I didn't need to do with win7 but the result is not yet enough ...

So maybe my futur SSD for the OS will be a good solution to have two distincts HDD (one for system and programs and one for records)

[garyb]

you always need two seperate hdds, one for recording and one for programs and os, but that would only be a big problem with high track counts.

what mode are your hdds running in? sata as ide is the simplest and best working solution, but not for ssds...

[Eanna]

If windows starts with normal disk load, and then hits 100% when you start Cubase, then it must be a Cubase problem on windows 8.

This is why I suggested this.

Also you can test scope and your vsts and connected hardware if you try reaper. Narrows down the problem to Cubase if Reaper does not have the same issues.

Have you checked other things in the list I sent? Ahci?

I am not a Cubase user, this is a scope forum. You have a problem with windows 8 and Cubase.
I am happy to suggest the best course of action. Sometimes my best advice will be to ask elsewhere.

I'm sure there are many hits in Google to help diagnose high disk usage. Eg if you are loading a big project that is larger than your ram, then you will hit the pagefile on disk a lot. Hence why I asked if an empty Cubase project has the same problem.

Again, garyb is right. You should separate audio file streaming from program files as separate physical disks. You should not require an ssd to run empty Cubase project on windows 8. Performance monitors might help you see what process is chewing disk too.

Hope you get to the bottom of this soon, it can get very frustrating...

[babaorum]

I didn't know what AHCI was, now I know , I activated and tested but same symptoms , HDD overload.

It stays the last chance, I just received my SSD.

[Eanna]

Best of luck man!

You might consider temporarily installing Cubase on a separate Hard Drive, to see if it is Cubase that is hitting that drive, or whether a system program or device driver is causing the overload...

[babaorum]

So the last adventures ...

I reinstall my DAW, win8 on a SSD and win7 on a classic HDD.

I reinstall cubase 7 on the win7 ... GARGGGGLLLLL problem disk usage eratic with always the same project with just 10 tracks.
I tried to import only the tracks with no effect, same issue, I tried to convert the files with wavelab before import them into cubase, same issue ...
I reinstall cubase 5.5.3 => same issue with these wav files.

To verify I opened an old project and with 40 tracks and ... all is perfect the playback with no access eratic on the disk usage ...
I don't understand ...

I told to a friend to send me 10 tracks from one project from him to make another test.

Maybe cubase 7 works perfectly with windows8 and scope and this is just wrong files !!!!

[babaorum]

I have found !

To create my new projects in cubase7 I used template made in cubase 5.5.3, it was the problem.

If I create a new project from nothing with the same tracks in cubase 7 => no problem !

I'm happy with mys scope v5.1 / windows8 and cubase7

[Eanna]

Great news, thanks for getting back to us...

[babaorum]

I told too fast, here on windows 8 , cubase 7 makes overload access disk usage > 100%.
Now I 'm sure this is an issue.

I tested with or without ASIO Guard windows optim etc ... all is a nightmare of disk usage ...

I read that ahci was not mandatory for SSD. I ask myself if this is not this tweak which do the issue ...

But I can't remove this ahci or i don't know how without reinstall windows.

[Eanna]

Sorry to hear your situation is no better, and that change to AHCI or clean Cubase 7 projects hasn't improved matters.

The switchover to AHCI is not causing you a problem. SSDs will work with IDE, but are more efficient in terms of data transfer when using AHCI mode.
If AHCI was your problem, then you would see new, different behaviour (alot worse than a busy-disk Cubase problem!). As it is, you haven't fixed the issue, nor have you made it worse. So, I would be inclined to leave AHCI alone, and to move onto other avenues to find the solution.

Did you change to AHCI mode via the BIOS or thru Windows? If you changed it thru Windows, the only way I know to do that is via the Registry... In that case, you might consider rolling back the Registry to a recent point in time before you performed that edit. Be careful tho! The BIOS setting for SATA using AHCI and the Windows driver to support that setting influence each other! Hence why I say, leave it alone unless you are sure that you have a GUARANTEED rollback or backout strategy, if that change goes wrong.

And, obviously (I hope!), back up anything you need off that drive now!

You have to try to prove (or disprove) that this is a Cubase 7 application problem.
Does an older version of Cubase show the same symptoms? How about Reaper, using the same ASIO driver?
If you remove all third-party VSTs and VSTi's from Cubase before startup, does the problem stay? Is everything except your keyboard, mouse and monitor disconnected from the PC? Does Windows behave well (the disk usage is low) for a medium-to-long period (say over an hour) when Cubase is -not- running? At what point during the running of Cubase does the high-disk issue arise? If you open Cubase 7, do nothing with it or you computer for a while, does the problem happen? Straight away?
Any newer / beta versions of Cubase available?
If you launch Windows Task Manager, and in the View -> Select Columns menu, tick the "I/O Reads" and "I/O Writes" checkboxes, then sort by those columns, making sure to click the "Show processes form all users" button on Task Manager, then you'll see the top processes causing disk access.
Make sure too that all the memory installed in your computer is available to your programs, that Windows reports that you have the full amount you expect. If RAM memory is tight, then you could be page faulting the hard drive alot! There's also a checkbox in that Select Columns dialog for Page Faults - you'll want to keep those numbers low.

Another thing to consider is whether there are updated drivers for anything available for your system. I'd check the latest available drivers from the Microsoft HCL (Hardware Compatibility List), or something like those listed here:
http://forum.maxthon.com/viewthread.php?tid=50676
Thinking specifically of your SSD driver (if one was supplied by the manufacturer), and your BIOS. But Be ULTRA careful with these! It's OK to check if you're up to date with your system and kernel drivers, but don't apply any changes without understanding that these are LAST RESORT options!!

If you can prove that it's an issue with Cubase 7, then maybe with the name of your SSD, your Windows Build Number, Driver details, your Cubase preferences, and a complete picture of when the problem occurs, you may be able to get some better from the Cubase or the Windows 8 forums...

Take care, and good luck