Unacceptably long load times in Sonar Platinum

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Audman71
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2017/09/01 03:48:31 (permalink)

Unacceptably long load times in Sonar Platinum

Hello,
 
I have been using Sonar for a very long time and have mostly been very happy with it. However, recently Sonar Platinum started taking forever to load everything as each thing happens. I click to open a plugin, then wait at least 10 seconds for it to open. I play a song, wait 5-10 seconds for it to start playing and inevitably drop out partway through. Loading a project with any content could take anywhere from 20 seconds to 10 minutes or so. I set Sonar to autosave every 5 minutes, which isn't normally a problem, but now it takes at least 1-2 minutes to autosave. I could turn that off, but I run the risk of losing my work in the event of a crash. Even loading Sonar without opening a project takes about 3 minutes and 43 seconds to load completely (I timed this).
 
How can I solve this problem?
 
My specs:
 
Sonar Platinum x64 (2017.06)
Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 x64
RAM: 8GB
CPU: Intel Core i5 3.2 GHz
Sound Card: Presonus Firestudio Project (Buffer Size is set to 2048, Safe Mode set to Safe Mode 2)
 
#1

15 Replies Related Threads

    promidi
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    Re: Unacceptably long load times in Sonar Platinum 2017/09/01 05:11:36 (permalink)
    If you use your machine for other things, do they also take a while to do, or are there delays there as well.

    Have you run a chkdisk on your drives?  Also, check the system event logs for disk errors.

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    #2
    THambrecht
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    Re: Unacceptably long load times in Sonar Platinum 2017/09/01 06:50:36 (permalink)
    How long takes the start of windows?
    If it takes also a long time then you have probably a broken harddrive - (or your disc is full).
    I would first make a check for the speed of the harddisc. If the speed is very low, then your hd is just broken. There are free tools in the internet for measuring your hd.
     

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    #3
    Audman71
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    Re: Unacceptably long load times in Sonar Platinum 2017/09/01 09:11:26 (permalink)
    Thank you for your quick replies.

    promidi
    If you use your machine for other things, do they also take a while to do, or are there delays there as well.

    Have you run a chkdisk on your drives?  Also, check the system event logs for disk errors.


    I have not yet run a chkdisk on my drives (yet). The software is getting slower, as most programs do with time (I've had the computer for around let's say 3 years or so). However, none from what I can tell have become as excruciatingly slow as Sonar, with the slight exception of ACID Pro 7.0, a DAW I no longer use in part because it automatically scans for plugins, of which I have a large enough an amount that it takes several minutes to start up (I've set Sonar's scanning feature to be manual, so it shouldn't have that problem). However, ACID runs fine once I start it, unlike Sonar in its current state on my computer.

    THambrecht
    How long takes the start of windows?
    If it takes also a long time then you have probably a broken harddrive - (or your disc is full).
    I would first make a check for the speed of the harddisc. If the speed is very low, then your hd is just broken. There are free tools in the internet for measuring your hd.
     


    While that's good advice I probably should've mentioned I have a raid system set up on the hard drives I keep Sonar and my projects on, so there is little danger of data loss from drive failure. In addition, Windows boots up at the normal speed, so no problems there.

    In terms of disc space, I recently cleared 24 GB on my C: drive and 33 GB on my D: drive, though the C: Drive is filled to about 87%.

    Could that be at least part of the problem? It has run faster without that extra space, but I think it may have helped a little when I cleared that space, just not enough.
    #4
    chuckebaby
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    Re: Unacceptably long load times in Sonar Platinum 2017/09/01 11:05:51 (permalink)
    What size is that C drive ?
    It could also potentially be a plug in or synth loading samples at an amazingly slow rate.
    Have you tried opening a new project with no plug ins and do you notice the same thing ?

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    #5
    dlion16
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    Re: Unacceptably long load times in Sonar Platinum 2017/09/01 13:42:34 (permalink)
    Your c drive is way too full. I never let a boot drive get above 50 percent. That's the problem. Windows has no room to function… 

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    #6
    riojazz
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    Re: Unacceptably long load times in Sonar Platinum 2017/09/01 15:36:29 (permalink)
    The guideline I have used for thirty-some years is to keep at least 15% free space on a hard drive.  Either way, 15% or 50%, you are starting to have a situation that causes thrashing.
     
    I would also look for other programs running in the background (crapware).
     

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    #7
    Seth Kellogg [Cakewalk]
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    Re: Unacceptably long load times in Sonar Platinum 2017/09/01 15:57:16 (permalink)
    Audman71
    While that's good advice I probably should've mentioned I have a raid system set up on the hard drives I keep Sonar and my projects on, so there is little danger of data loss from drive failure. In addition, Windows boots up at the normal speed, so no problems there.

     
    Looks like the C drive is fine, but the RAID health looks suspicious to me.
     
    While you may be protected from data loss, you're still susceptible to drive slowdowns if something is failing. It could even be the RAID controller. 

    Best Regards,
    Seth
    #8
    BobF
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    Re: Unacceptably long load times in Sonar Platinum 2017/09/01 16:02:31 (permalink)
    Defrag?
     
    Does your AV software hit the top of the list for CPU/disk in task manager during the load?  When Rap Pro came out with its huge samples, I ended up excluding my Samples drive from AV checks, which sped things up considerably.

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    #9
    Anderton
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    Re: Unacceptably long load times in Sonar Platinum 2017/09/01 16:12:11 (permalink)
    I've noticed that Windows updates take a while beyond the time the computer says it's updating. Sometimes, even before opening SONAR there will be a ton of hard disk activity. If I try to open SONAR, or for that matter Studio One or any other DAW, the load time is excessive. Once Windows has finished doing its thing, programs load normally.
     
    I now take advantage of this - when I boot the computer, that's a great time to clean up, change strings, document projects, etc. By the time I'm finished, so has the Windows bootup.

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    #10
    Joe_A
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    Re: Unacceptably long load times in Sonar Platinum 2017/09/01 16:17:58 (permalink)
    Whether crapware or thrashing, something is hanging things up. I have same age desktop and new laptop (primary), and it's only after a Windows update I've ever had a slow load....just once then back to normal (fast/usual).

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    Audman71
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    Re: Unacceptably long load times in Sonar Platinum 2017/09/01 21:49:20 (permalink)
    chuckebaby
    What size is that C drive ?
    It could also potentially be a plug in or synth loading samples at an amazingly slow rate.
    Have you tried opening a new project with no plug ins and do you notice the same thing ?


     
    The C drive is 1 TB in size, so I'm not sure that would be an issue if at least 100 GB were free, which is the case.
     
    When I start a new project sonar loads it almost right away, but insert one or two synths by, let's say, Arturia in there and it slows down. And when I put Philharmonik or Addictive Drums in a new project it slows down even more, especially with Philharmonik's samples.
     
    Incidentally, does the quantity of installed plugins affect the speed as well? I have 933 plugins detected by Sonar, many of which I still regularly use with various projects, and some of which accumulated from past installs of Sonar or other programs, but as I said they are not scanned at the beginning when Sonar opens.
     
    @Seth Kellogg: It's worth looking into. I'll see what I can find out.
     
    @BobF: My CPU does not hit the top nor does my RAM for that matter.
    #12
    THambrecht
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    Re: Unacceptably long load times in Sonar Platinum 2017/09/01 22:21:46 (permalink)
    The disc space cannot be the problem. My C-Drive (SSD) on my main DAW -1- has 256 GB and there are only 50 GB free.
    I have another DAW Nr. -4- (Sonar) with only 128 GB and 30 GB free, running complex processes with iZotope RX the whole day. The system starts in a few seconds and works very very fast.
    Audiofiles are always on a second SSD (1TB).
     
    If I had this problem, I would make tabula rasa as a fresh install (Windows) on a 256-GB-SSD - only Audio (!! no office - no Outlook - no other junk !!).  !! No Raid !!
    Get a really good backup-software (50-100$), make daily backups on an external drive. Also make (monthly) a backup from the perfect running Windows as image-file. If your systems fails, restore your Windows from the image, and your system is running perfect again in 1 hour. Then play back your data which you saved daily. There is no need for RAID - as you see it doesn't help you.
     
     
     
     

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    Sacalait
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    Re: Unacceptably long load times in Sonar Platinum 2017/11/17 02:49:31 (permalink)
    Wondering if you got this issue solved?  Just recently I'm noticing projects taking a very long time to open.  I'm suspicious that it has something to do with my iLok and Wave licenses.  I just downloaded the free Sound Toys Little Plate reverb (requires and iLok).  In the process of trying to get the license to my iLok I seemed to notice some of my Waves plugins still on it.  Waves has moved away from the iLok.  I may have inadvertently moved some of my new Waves plugins to the iLok.   But, I'm speculating.   My issue started AFTER I installed the Sound Toys plugin. 

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    Audman71
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    Re: Unacceptably long load times in Sonar Platinum 2017/11/17 07:16:19 (permalink)
    Sacalait
    Wondering if you got this issue solved?  Just recently I'm noticing projects taking a very long time to open.  I'm suspicious that it has something to do with my iLok and Wave licenses.  I just downloaded the free Sound Toys Little Plate reverb (requires and iLok).  In the process of trying to get the license to my iLok I seemed to notice some of my Waves plugins still on it.  Waves has moved away from the iLok.  I may have inadvertently moved some of my new Waves plugins to the iLok.   But, I'm speculating.   My issue started AFTER I installed the Sound Toys plugin. 


     
    I should have said something sooner. I did in fact "solve" my problem, but only by giving in and essentially getting a new computer (The motherboard was almost 10 years old). I got new storage drives, new and more RAM, a new Motherboard & Processor, and a new operating system (Windows 10). It works perfectly now and better than it ever did before.
     
    As far as your issue, Do all your projects take a long time to load or just ones with Waves plugins? What type of iLok are you using? What are the specs of your machine?
    #15
    DrLumen
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    Re: Unacceptably long load times in Sonar Platinum 2017/11/17 16:25:12 (permalink)
    Sacalait
    Wondering if you got this issue solved?  Just recently I'm noticing projects taking a very long time to open.  I'm suspicious that it has something to do with my iLok and Wave licenses.  I just downloaded the free Sound Toys Little Plate reverb (requires and iLok).  In the process of trying to get the license to my iLok I seemed to notice some of my Waves plugins still on it.  Waves has moved away from the iLok.  I may have inadvertently moved some of my new Waves plugins to the iLok.   But, I'm speculating.   My issue started AFTER I installed the Sound Toys plugin. 


    Mine has recently started to get slow at loading some projects. While I'm waiting it shows the Waves icon like it is trying to authorize. I got the waves element synth and a couple of waves plugins in one the recent sales. Eventually, it goes through. I'm starting to have my doubts about Waves.

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