Hey everyone

Not much to go on with these posts technically.... I even asked the hardware guys to look it over to see if anything justed out at them.  

Many of the posts are about general stability relating to freezes and hangs on MAC.  The original post does not list system info or what you were  running (workflow would help here).  The link to the specs shows N/A. No systems specs and no specific issues. Much the same with the other posts. Several say the most stable was MC 7.04 and MAC OS 10.9.5.

Probably with Nitris DX!

MC 8.1 was the first release of the new feature set including UHD/4k support and AMA linking. Tons of new code to support this.  Also, 3^rd party IO required to work with UHD/4k so we add in 3^rd party drivers which came with plenty of issues.

I agree with cmush, software only MC is the most stable.  Avid hardware is close behind.  Third party IO devices are a distant 3^rd with the most  issues. 

I can’t even give you a recipe for fixing any issues as there isnt enough in each post with specifications and workflow to give me an idea of whats happening.  

Its like saying I'm sick... whats wrong with me and not symptoms.

Sorry I can’t be more helpful on this one unless you all provide more information on what is happening with your system, the specifications and what you are doing.

Marianna

Happy New Year, Marianna!

   I think that's the rub -- there's *not* much to go on, technically.  Avid's crash messages are largely "Exception / Segmentation Error in Main Thread 0x0" for a wide range of actual failures, dodgy behavior without error messages (e.g., the recurring problem we have with the GUI becoming unresponsive) and opening a support case can feel like a slow descent into madness.  

   E.g., in 10/2015, I was advised to update my AJA driver from 10.6 to 10.6.1, despite the fact that 10.6 was almost a year out of date.  When I pointed that out, i was treated to a 3-week wait for the next support response, which was "Are you still experiencing the problem?"

   I think we realize you're not responsible for the weak tech support from Avid.  You're here every day trying to help us find solutions and we appreciate it very much.  As you point out, there are going to be the most problems using 3rd party IO devices.  Of course you (and Avid) must realize that most pro houses need to be able to run Avid alongside other apps like Adobe and Autodesk so Avid hardware is not a practical option.

   Having a field-tested, certified stable 3rd party IO driver version + OS Version combo for each version of MC is the best recipe from our POV.  If absolutely necessary, I could maintain a boot image for my workstations for Avid versus Adobe versus Autodesk if they have different stable software combinations.  I can't maintain two sets of IO hardware.

Happy New Year Everyone!

I'm still pumping out spots on a 12 core Mac tower, running OS 10.6.4 with Symphony 4.05 and Nitris DX. NEVER do I have a problem with crashes! Plus, I can still use simple effects keyframes and I don't have to deal with the "Smart" Tool.

I'm buying up refurbed Mac towers and Nitris DX boxes so I have backup to my backup.  Although I own current licenses, and plan to keep them up to date, I'm staying right where I am for as long as I can.

Long story short - version 4.05 is the most stable in my humble opinion.

Thanks

Andy

I think it's very useful for people to keep posting any extremely stable systems here. (Hardware, OS, MC version, IO devices if any) I am going to try and make some kind of matrix after my current feature is locked.

By "stable" i personally mean things like:

Trim mode working smooth & FLAWLESSLY at MC4 & MC5 speeds,
Caps lock does not cause crashes,
Any IO device mentioned works (include driver version)
Segment drag works at speed
No timecode or sync issues with audio or AAFs etc etc

(I know other people will have other ideas about what stable means)

FWIW i think 8.4 is shaping up to be a pretty good one....

Many of us do build our system around a specific version of Avid MC (and in fact i think Avid should market itself aggressively this way (and execute it better!) to avoid a lot of crushed expectations - kind of a "with us it's more demanding to get it right, but if you're a pro you will do it, and we with reward you with software & harware combos that are 100% tested & 100% rock solid" - but thats a whole other discussion!)

Brickwad:

Long story short - version 4.05 is the most stable in my humble opinion.

I agree with Brickwad. MC 4.0.5 on Mac Snow Leopard is by far the most stable system. I cut a massive documentary project on it with an 8-core Mac Pro Nehalem for over three years and crashed about once a month. I still use that version whenever possible. Very responsive interface, fast stable trim, fast audio scrub.

Of course, it's a little tricky becuase there is no AMA in MC4, so I run a dual boot system with MC7.0.5 on OS 10.9.5 -- I usually use MC7 just for AMA and transcode.

Right now I'm actually cutting on MC7.0.5, which is pretty stable -- I crash 2-3 times a week. I stiil find all versions from MC5 on a little draggy.

On MC7 I get an AMPI Subsystem error about once a week that forces a complete system shutdown. Those are a big drag -- I never needed to do full shutdowns on MC4.

funckdren:

Of course, it's a little tricky becuase there is no AMA in MC4

Funckdren,

V4 does have AMA.  I use it with P2 cards all of the time.  In V5 AMA was expanded to include quicktime files, etc, but the AMA in V4 has and is still serving me very well.

Andy

Brickwad:

V4 does have AMA.  I use it with P2 cards all of the time.  In V5 AMA was expanded to include quicktime files, etc, but the AMA in V4 has and is still serving me very well.

Whoops, you're right Andy. I have used P2 on MC4, but I generally abandoned AMA on that version of MC when I started getting barraged with a variety of different tapeless formats. Thx for pointing that out though.

Gotta say that for me, working mostly on long format DNxHD36 projects that the current versions V8.4.4/ 8.4.5 on OSX10.10.5 are the most stable since MC 5.5.

There are many annoying bugs but no "show stoppers" that I can't workaround.

Software only is the most stable.

AJA IO hardware (with the latest driver) is pretty reliable now but suffers from about a 2-3 frame delay... You have to route the audio through the hardware to get sync. Generally if I'm working by myself, I toggle off the IO hardware and use computer "full screen" mode. If the director is around, I watch playback off the "TV" and live with the out of sync computer monitor.

Didn't test Avid new IO yet...

David Richardson:

 If the director is around, I watch playback off the "TV" and live with the out of sync computer monitor.

David  - in the console [cmnd+6] you can type “moncondel ” and add the number of frames to delay the computer monitor so that it is in sync w/ outboard TV and audio.  The only downside is that the command currently needs to be reinstated with each restart of the MC app.