Don’t lose faith too soon. You could just have a faulty stick of ram. You’ll have to upgrade eventually but you may be able to put it off if you run a system checker or a ramchecker.
Lookup “sisoft sandra”.(I hope it’s still going)
It seems that the program is Windows-only. I can try running it in winebottler but I don’t see how that will work too well. I really hope that there is some chance for Cubase to work much better than it does now. Right now I’ll try running it in wine. (Stay tuned)
Well system profiler says that both sticks of 2GB RAM are “OK”.
Isn’t it a little ridiculous that THIS makes the meter go half way up?
I guess I am somewhat doomed then. Well I DID find something interesting:
I didn’t know that Kontakt standalone had a virtual output, so now experiments are showing that if I route this output to Cubase from standalone Kontakt, I get better performance. Here’s the problem though- I cant figure out how to get Cubase to detect the actual audio. The mixer doesn’t detect it, therefore when audio mix down is done, no sound is recorded. I shouldn’t be able to route Kontakt to Cubase like this in the first place if I can’t make it work so would anyone be able to help me figure out how to correctly route everything? It probably involves buses of some sort, but I’m not knowledgeable about those at all.
If you run HalionSonicSE from the internal 5400 rpm, I’d wager that is the problem.
Not only is the drive too slow, but I run the full version in C5.5.3 and it is not the most efficient. When I ran v1 from my iMac’s internal (7200rpm) hdd it would conk out with just 2 or 3 sounds loaded. Other VI’s (PLAY, Kontakt etc.) run more efficiently, even with larger samples.
The update improves things, though. I don’t know about SE, but a 5400rpm laptop drive really doesn’t cut it for streaming.
I really wish I purchased a Mac Pro instead. The laptop is too much of a pain when the pro can be upgraded in almost every way, and at my pace. I need some magic sweepstakes or contest hehe…
What is it about the word Mac you don’t understand, other than…well…everything?
Haha. The main point was about the ram and I forgot I was answering a mac thread. 
And your helpful advice is…? Oh, forgot. You’re one of my little gang of fans who follows me about just to comment on my posts. Jeez I must be that interesting.
If there was helpful advice to offer, I would have offered it. The OP has an underpowered computer for the tasks he wants it to perform, and has stated he has no money for the things that might help, such as more RAM (if his computer could utilize it), an external hard drive, or perhaps something like VE Pro, though with his present amount of RAM, I doubt it that would help.
Well,
When I listen to the examples he provided and when I look at the screenshots I doubt his computer is really underpowered…
Something else must be going on.
Secondly I advise the OP strongly to let the sound banks load completely before hitting play…Playing the composition through (and not minding the glitching/ turning off the sound/ not listening) before doing any serious work can help also…
Another thing: I experienced also serious glitching when having other applications running…depending on the application that was open (mail, firefox, safari…).
Also, to the OP: have you installed 3rd part “tweak” software like an alternative for the finder for example?
Hugo
I think RAM is the main issue here, among others. 4GB is drained by the OS and Cubase itself very quickly. Usually Cubase winds up with only 1.5 GB RAM to start with, and it seems to drain bit by bit very quickly. If I leave my computer on all day and try to open Cubase, I have about… 12 mb RAM left. O.o. I don’t think my computer is THAT underpowered, but it’s true that Cubase isn’t the most friendly of programs. At this point the Mac Pros seem to be the only macs that can actually handle Cubase properly. I wish I knew what to do exactly. It’s not possible to TEST to see if the *GB RAM would help tremendously. It all costs money. Unfortunately it seems that I’m having a huge case of buyer’s remorse when it comes to the macbook pro.
That all sounds like a hdd issue to me. It’s also better to use a dedicated audio interface but if you must use the internal one, set the buffer size to 256 or higher. Running VI’s from an internal 5400rpm drive seems like an exercise in frustration to me. I did it with the internal (7200rpm) hdd in my iMac and that was really the bottleneck of the system. Still, my iMac was waaay less powerful than your MBP but could easily run multiple instruments, so unless there is a hardware failure somewhere I doubt your problems can be attributed to an underperforming computer.
First, I’d suggest backing up your files and do a system restore from the original Apple install discs.
Second, do Apple’s automatic software update to get the latest versions of everything.
Third, do a clean install of C6. You said Cubase failed to install on a previous occasion, so this would be to rule that out as a possible cause of your problems.
Fourth, update C6 to the latest available version. If you still have problems, it is almost certainly a hardware issue.
I don’t know if C6 would let you install content on an external hdd, but I know C5 and earlier would not. If C6 offers this option, get a FW800 drive for content. If not, you’re out. Replacing the internal hdd with a faster (7200) one or SSD seems like a good idea, anyway. Having an i7 cpu with a 5400rpm hdd is like a twin-turbo V8 engine bolted onto a wheelbarrow.
For MBP hdd upgrades, check out OWC: Hard Drives for Apple Laptops: 2.5" Serial-ATA and IDE/ATA
If you are outside of the US, check for which models will work, get one from your local supplier and follow installation instructions in this video: How to Install a Hard Drive into a 17-Inch MacBook Pro
Finally, a good audio IO helps tremendously. I used to have a SaffireLE but when it died I got an MBox3Pro. The difference is noticeable, much better performance with the latter.
Good luck.
Thanks. Too bad the 750GB 7200 rpm drive is a bit expensive. It seems I have no choice though. Is there any specific drive you’d recommend? Anyway thanks for ll the advice everyone. It seems that I’m running around in circles. Simply put:
Too little RAM apparently, when 4GB SHOULD be enough
The HDD might be causing the random lock-ups.
+1
4 gig is really very little these days. Your system takes up a certain amount,along with any other programs you might have open (like a web browser) and Cubase uses the rest to not only play your sequence but host all plug ins. Your Virtual instruments and effects run WITHIN Cubase, talking up RAM, processing power and hard drive streaming bandwidth. Ergo, you can run out of all pretty quickly.
As I see it, you should have 6-8 gig of RAM, minimum. You should have an external 7200 RPM drive, and Firewire would be preferable to USB for sample streaming. It doesn’t look like you have that much stuff to run, so for now, a pretty small one would do, maybe 250 gig. What’s your MBP’s full capacity for RAM?
Here’s a link to a Firewire drive for $70: http://www.mwave.com/mwave/SKUSearch.asp?scriteria=AA78198&px=DN
I agree with your assessment that you would have been better off with a tower, or very possibly an iMac would have fit your needs as well. Another way to go is to try selling your laptop and buying a refurb quad core iMac with at least 8 gig of RAM. There are always refurb deals at Apple.com. Recent laptops hold up pretty well, price wise. Good luck.
It’s a maximum of 8GB RAM. Yeah… the tower would have been much better, but I am kind of against refurbished machines. If only there was some contest to enter haha. There must be SOMETHING I can do. As of right now the price would be something like this:
6GB RAM Westmere Mac Pro minimum graphics (not really necessary for me) $3400 (ugh)
I’d need speakers and a monitor as well, so another $400
I wanted Komplete 8 as well, so another $450
Yeah, I really had trouble persuading my parents to get the laptop in the first place. What a mess.
Upgrading your RAM to capacity and buying the drive I sent you the link to would be a cheaper solution, as would buying a refurb Imac which you could probably trade for your laptop, essentially.
If your basic view is"'heck, I’m screwed", well, okay…but it’s not going to get you anywhere you want to go.
For example,this machine: http://store.apple.com/us/product/FD063LL/A?mco=MjMxMjQzNTQ would rock your world, with an additional 4 gig RAM… If you get $1700 for your laptop, that’s a trade up of $300.
IMHO 4GB of RAM should be sufficient for OP’s purposes. I made do with 2GB for many years on a less powerful machine. If it is not a software issue and indeed a hardware misfire, I’d look at the hdd first.
In 32-bit you can’t even really use that extra RAM anyway. I got 12GB in my MacPro and Cubase never uses more than 2 or 3. Unless you have mountains of background tasks running there is no reason why 4GB shouldn’t suffice.
@OP: you don’t have to buy a 750GB hdd. Just get a smaller one that suits your budget.
I think that’s reasonable enough advice. I provided him with a $70 Firewire HD option. I don’t think there will be much cheaper out there, and I agree that might be a good place to start.
However, I do not agree at all that 4 gig is sufficient for much of anything. He wants to get Komplete 8. I’d be amused to watch him run some Guitar Rigs and a Massive, say, a Reaktor and anything else in 4 gig. My orchestral template takes up 12 gig. My hybrid orchestral/electronica template takes up 16 gig. I don’t think he’ll necessarily need that much power at this point, but imo a dual processor MacBook and 4 gig is just not going to take you that far these days. YMMV.