HELP! SONAR freezing! *** FIXED ***

So if I am reading this right, you are backing up the same project that you are recording? Did I get that right?

I wouldn't backup anything while trying to record.

[edit]

I re- read your post. Sorry for my misunderstanding.

What are your audio interface buffers set to? Are you using ASIO drivers?

I appreciate the suggestions so far, however, this is a "static" dedicated system that is not on any network.  I've been recording with this setup for a few years now.  In the last year I have not installed any software, updates or plugs.  The system was working fine last week and just started having an issue today.  I haven't changed any of the settings or installed anything.  I don't see how a driver would suddenly start causing a problem without an update or change being made.

Can you please detail the characteristics of the project in question?  I am thinking the logical place to start looking is with potential issues with 3rd-party plugins, particularly those that are 32-bit.
 
Can you please try doing a quick test?  I would like to see if the problems happen if you load it in Sonar's Safe Mode and skip the loading of all the plugins (when you open in safe mode it asks you if you want to open each plugin, just skip each one), then do some dummy recording takes to see if you are then able to get past 6-7 takes.  In any case, exit without saving, after the test.
 
Could you also please list all the currently loaded plugins that are in this project?  Both synths and effects, please.  I could then do some quick research on them to see if anything turns up.
 
Here is the link to the Sonar doc for opening a project in Safe Mode.
 
http://www.cakewalk.com/Documentation?product=SONAR%20X3&language=3&help=Dialogs2.094.html
 
Thanks, 
 
Bob Bone
 

Sounds like the OP is behind on running at least Windows Update, if he has not connected to the web in one or more years.  Drivers may also be behind the times, and even possible firmware.
 
To the original poster:  It is quite possible that something is far enough behind in maintenance that you have started to have issues from X3e expecting a more current system.  This has been the case with some C++ routines from Microsoft being out of date, for some other folks in the forum in prior threads.
 
I recommend you consider getting your Windows up to current maintenance levels for whatever version you are running (7 or 8 or 8.1), and also checking to see if there are driver updates for things like video drivers or even your audio interface.
 
I was having some weird but bad problems a couple of months back, and it turned out I was behind with applying maintenance to my audio interface drivers.
 
Bob Bone
 

First thing I'd do is make a copy of the project... and load it sans any plugins.
Do you get the same crash when loop recording?
What happens if you start with a new/empty project... and work with the same type of loop recording?
If the problem persists in both these scenarios, I'd test the system's RAM (just to be sure).

Kalle Rantaaho
Whether the OP has updated Windows or drivers or not, what puzzles me is why the problems start suddenly if no changes have been made to system in years. If something has changed "by itself" my first thought would be getting the setup to the state preceeding this change, instead of starting to update. But I guess you can't do it if you don't know what has changed.
My system hasn't been updated for 5 years, and it works like a swiss clock. If some new VST I try causes problems, I simply remove it. That is a downside of my policy, of course.

Please see my second post. Freezing is generally a driver issue or something that has been done to trigger a driver issue like windows update. The solution more often than not is to update the driver. Yup possible it's hardware and firmware should be updated, maybe run some tests. And yup check the plugins. All good advice that should be taken here anyway.

First, thanks so much to everyone for trying to help.  I truly appreciate ALL responses...THANKS!
 
The 131GB includes ALL projects.  The backup took about an 1.25 hours to an external USB drive...no issues.
 
I did a few things to try and resolve the issue:
 
1) I have a thumb drive that acts as a dongle for Wave Labs.  At one point I had moved it from one USB port to another.  I did not get any obvious errors, however, when I looked at Windows event log to resolve the current issue I saw a "Side by Side" error referring to Wave Labs.  I'm not sure what that is but I moved the thumb drive back to the original USB port and the error disappeared...strange.
2)  I rebooted my MOTU interface, A/D converter and preamp.
3)  I performed a chkdsk /F but did not see any errors reported or corrected.
4)  I reloaded the project and played the loop, without doing a recording, and the project played without issue.
 
It got late and I was unable to test the original failure scenario.  I will do that tonight.  If I have the same issues I will start trying some of the suggestions posted here.

Side by side error is most likely C++ libraries being out of date, see here for example (note it may be a different version of C++ you have the error with.

https://www.ableton.com/en/articles/sidebyside/

So you need to
a) Make sure that waves plugin is on the latest version.
b) Make sure C++ libraries patches are up to date via windows update. Check the optional updates as well. You might need to run it more than once. I would recommend updating all of it myself but backup first.

By all means do what you intend to do first.

Rockin' cheers....

Sock Monkey - just remember that if you update Sonar or any other software, and have not been connected to the web for a long while, that you may have weird problems unless you also bring Windows up to current maintenance levels too.
 
Bob Bone
 

Never been a problem for me with both XP and Windows 7 Ultimate - But that because I do it a little differently. I manually update the drivers and whatnot instead of letting Windows do it. 
I do agree that up to date drivers are super important. Especially where the computer or it's components are newer than the install disk for the OS. Windows update will bring your machines drivers up to date. But I build my own and have all the latest drivers for that build stored on the data drives. In other words there's 2 ways to keep your computer running smoothly. Windows update might be the quickest and easiest for most, but for me it's a pain in the butt. 
 
One, it's a hassle to move the DAW to a location were it can go on line. All our internet is via a wireless G4 smart hub and my DAW only has a LAN port. 
Two, I live in a rural location and I pay $10 a GIG for bandwith. 
 
All I'm missing with not running the updates is 3 Gigs of security fixes and having to pay $30 for something that I don't need. This just happened to me with the office computer which I installed W8.1, it was only $90 but the updates cost me almost $40. 
 
So in that I agree with both of you that a lot of issues are fixed by keeping your drivers up to date. there is 2 ways to do this if your on the ball with your equipment.
And in the case of the OP he , like me, resolves his issues off line first.  

To add windows update is no good whatsoever for driver updates (go to third party sites for that), but it does improve performance, security and reliability for sure.

And it's not just C++ that is the issue here, there are all sort of issues that could occur if you don't update windows with your software/drivers which may not be as visible as c++ errors are. Generally the latest software is tested on the latest build of an OS.