Disk overload/audio dropouts w Ableton

[Mfk0815]

I cannot remember excactly when I did the last defragmentation of a disc. I think it is twenty years or so in the past. And I never thoughtin the meantime that defragmentation would be needed in any way. Modern filesystems helps to minimize performance issues caused by bad file clustering nowadays.

[volounteer]

@Mfk0815

It depends how bad the fragmentation is

Modern filesystems would need special memory design to avoid problems
else the seek times whether hardware or looking for cell in a different memory location and reading it out takes more time.

Disks whether hard or ram based do better with contiguous buckets of data not those scattered around.

[Anonymous]

@peach
Maybe contact allen and heath technical support.

[SteffenR]

@williamadams

https://superuser.com/questions/1594/why-cant-you-defragment-solid-state-drives
https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/disable-ssd-disk-defragmentation-forever/e9abdc3c-e018-441e-ac4c-585df62e17de
just e few

@peachlyfe101

If your drivers and software all up to date then it should work without problems
I’m sure the people at Ableton or Allen & heath will help you with that

just a starting point
https://help.ableton.com/hc/en-us/articles/360009770040-Live-10-compatibility-with-macOS-10-15-Catalina

[volounteer]

@SteffenR

Thanks for confirming what I said.

I do NOT think it is a good idea to defrag non spinning drives.
But it may be necessary depending on the design of the memory read out to ensure good audio recordings.

[SteffenR]

a SSD drive does not fragment like a hard disk does, the spread of the written data is handled with different strategies
it is useless to defragment, and the memory read out is handled by the internal controller of the SSD

MacOS X has it’s own handling of defragmentation, so it is not necessary to maintain any defragmentation by the user at all…
and it disables defragmentation on SSD

Disks whether hard or ram based do better with contiguous buckets of data not those scattered around.

this is not true, a SSD reads all data in the same speed

[peach]

Update!

I did a disk speed test on my external SSD and it was all of a sudden extremely slow.

I’m a project studio producer so I don’t need all that reliability to e.g. record a band.

I guess my solution is to have my current projects on the computer and then move it to my external when I’m not working on it. The external has been fine for this so far, I don’t know if it’s the “upgrade” to 48kHz or if something happened to the disk (it’s less than a year old and I haven’t been treating it bad so it doesn’t really make sense).

Oh and btw to everyone in here assuming: I’m not a man 😉

[volounteer]

@peach

yep

ssds get slower

Why solid-state drive (SSD) performance slows down as it becomes full

changing the bios might help

How to Fix Slow SSD Performance in Windows 10

more info
https://www.diskpart.com/articles/ssd-slowing-down-7201.html
Trick 1. Ensure your SATA controller runs in AHCI mode
Trick 2. Make sure TRIM is running

Trick 3. Avoid Disk Defragmentation

you can believe the experts or you can believe some oneeyed guy on the internet

Trick 4. Verify Hibernation is disabled
Trick 5. Enable Write Caching for SSD
Trick 6. Make sure the SSD partition is aligned
Trick 7. Securely erase SSD

[Hansiel]

Well, I see you already figured out that your problem was due to an overflowing SSD. I also used external drives before and I had to use about three of them (each had at least 1 terabyte). In fact, this is really very inconvenient. Several times I even lost a project that was in the process of rendering as the ssd was filling up. In the end, I decided to switch to cloud storage. The only limitation is your internet speed. Now many clouds can provide very high speed of both uploading and downloading files, you are also not limited in volume, which is also very convenient. I use the cloud both for storing my personal files and for work. I can access files even from the TV (if it is connected to the Internet) and it seems to me that this is very convenient. Recently, I watch many films or TV series either from the cloud or from movs.to, since I simply do not need other services. I hope you are thinking about switching to cloud storage. Have a nice day!

[volounteer]

@Hansiel

Looks like a toss up then.

You lost data on media, but not the cloud.
I have lost data in the cloud.
So far no data lost on local media.

[SteffenR]

Trick 3. Avoid Disk Defragmentation

this is what we told you all the time
what you are thinking is that they recommend to not let the drive fragment over time, but this is not…

from discpart…

Disk Defragmentation is quite useful for hard drives with moving parts since it can bring all the parts of a file together and reduce the file system fragmentation to improve the data retrieval efficiency.

However, this should never be run on an SSD because it does not have any moving parts, so whether the files are fragmented is not important. If you run defragmentation on SSD, it will add extra wear and tear by increasing the number of writing and reading, and finally lead to the SSD drive running slow and even decrease its expected lifespan. It is wise to disable the disk defragmentation on SSD.

this is what is written under YOUR link

[volounteer]

@SteffenR

I always said defragging was bad for SSDs.

I stand by my answer for that original audio problem defragging is often the necessary solution.

Just found an A&H link that said to defrag.
Wish I had bookmarked it to let you read it without searching.

[SteffenR]

always said defragging was bad for SSDs.

really? but still reccomend it?

https://community.allen-heath.com/forums/topic/disk-overload-audio-dropouts-w-ableton/#post-96454

[volounteer]

@SteffenR

Of course I still recommend it as it is the proper solution to the problem that was occurring
Not a good solution but still the only solution for using that device to get the results wanted with recording

Better to get a rotating disk but people like SSDs for some reason

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