Hello. I am posting here because I am having a recurring problem with my DAW.
 
The problem I am having are repeated freezes of my DAW while running Sonar X2a. The freezes bring down the entire operating system; the computer no longer responds to mouse and keyboard input, and the only way I can regain control of the computer is to turn it off and restart it.  The freezes occur intermittently: sometimes everything goes fine; sometimes I have a crash.  These freezes ONLY occur when running Sonar X2; I don't have these freezes when using Sound Forge (ver. 10), or other audio software.
 
I built the DAW specifically to run Win 7 and Sonar X2. The computer has no other functions. The specs are as follows:
Processor – Intel i5 3570 quad core @ 3.40 gHz (normal clock – NOT overclocked)
MOBO – ASUS P8Z77-VLX w/ Intel Northbridge Z77 Express chipset
Memory - 2 x Corsair Vengence CMZ16GX3M2A1600C10B (2 modules of 8 GB apiece: total 16 GB), DDR3
Power - Corsair CMPSU-750TXV2, 750 watts
Firewire - StarTech.com 4 port PCI 1394a  firewire card
OS - Win 7 Home Premium 64 bit, SP-1
Cakewalk - Sonar X2a (build 351 - if I remember correctly) (I believe I have all the Sonar X2 updates)
Audio Interface – Mackie Onyx 1604 w/ firewire card installed (driver ver. 1.7 installed – is the only driver version Mackie makes for this device and this OS)
MIDI Interface – MOTU Micro Express USB midi interface (Motu “universal” driver installed – is the only driver version Motu makes for this device and this OS).
 
What I have done so far: First, I contacted CW Tech Support. Their response was that Sonar could not possible cause a crash/freeze of the entire OS, that this behavior must be due to a problem of one of the computer drivers. They did not respond when I asked them how I might further troubleshoot this problem. I then ran a test of the physical memory using Memtest+86 (ver. 5.01). I ran two full passes of the test, which took over three hours. Zero errors were reported (and I had no freezes of the computer).
 
I think my next diagnostic will be to download the Reaper demo, use it exclusively for a week and see if I have any freezes.  I suppose I could start swapping out memory modules, but because I never have this problem while using other software, and because of the successful Memtest, I'm thinking this is not a memory problem.
 
Can anyone suggest other step I can take to troubleshoot (or maybe resolve) this problem. 
 
Sorry for the long post.  Thanks for your help.  
 

Is that a 62-bit or 32-bit version of X2 you're running? What kind of plugins do you use? Using Sonar X 64 with 32 bit plugins may cause notorious problems. Even some "compatible" ones, i e 64 bit plugs with Sonar X 64 could cause crashes. I beleive there's a list of known cases in an other thread.  Spec:s look fine but you don't mention what kind of harddisks you use? If there are SSD:s involved, there could be stability issues. Try to update firmware if any of those. Also look for newest drivers for all hardware including sound card and check for the newest BIOS version. Also consider updating to X3d. Seems like CW-programmers have put a lot of effort into making this the most stable X-version to date.

hmm... uneducated guess but I'm thinking the culprit may be the Mackie. Everything else you listed seems pretty common amongst Sonar users except that interface. Might want to google for others having similar problems with that device.
 
Just a thought.

First thing is to run windows update several times and update your drivers and firmware to the latest everywhere (impossible to predict what is going on right now). Anything in the windows event viewer?
 
What's your graphics card (NVidia by any chance?) and what drivers version are you running on it?
 
Thanks...

I have seen these kinds of errors before, and I can recall a couple of things to look at:
 
1.  Is Windows maintenance up to date?  If not, some folks have had bizarre things occur, due to some of the run-time executable routines from Microsoft being out of date.  The fix for those folks was to run Windows Update over and over until all updates were applied.
 
2.  Other folks have had SONARPDR (The name of Sonar when it is running in Windows) freeze up and not be able to be flushed from memory without a restart, caused by one or more badly behaving 32-bit plugins running with BitBridge (sometimes even with JBridge) in a 64-bit Sonar installation.  You can see if this is happening to you by either already knowing that some of a failing project's plugins are 32-bit, or when Sonar freezes look in Task Manager to see if BitBridge or JBridge is running.  If so, that means that you indeed have one or more 32-bit plugins running in 64-bit Sonar.  The fix for many of these folks was to go through a process of loading a failing project in Safe Mode, but only allowing 1 plugin at a time to load, then testing out the stability of the project until one causes failure.  Then they would swap out or just remove that plugin and continue on to testing the next one in the same manner, until all loaded plugins were verified as working, or were either replaced or removed.
 
3.  It is also possible that your install or execution may have some issues, due to privileges.  Sometimes, a Sonar download and/or install can be slightly hosed, if the Run As Administrator option is not explicitly set during install, and also sometimes during launch, sometimes depending on one or more of the plugins for the 2nd case.  IF you did not install Sonar with Run As Administrator set, you may need to completely remove the X2a install, including deleting hidden appdata and registry keys, and then install again with the explicit option of Run As Administrator.  This is a different thing than just using a user account that has admin privileges.
 
4.  Some other folks have had problems where the download/install/execution (any or all of those) was done while antivirus software was running.  Weird behavior and sometimes corrupted download files have been reported (I had those myself).  It is recommended that you temporarily suspend antivirus software when installing Sonar or its additional components, and as I have had download files corrupted as well, I further recommend that even for downloading, that antivirus software get suspended or temporarily exited.  Some antivirus software does not play nicely with Sonar downloads and/or installs.
 
I HOPE that one of the above applies and can lead to a solution for your troubles.
 
I believe that since there are not widespread reports of computers crashing all over the place like yours is, that it is some set of conditions local to your system or execution environment, and therefore can likely be diagnosed and resolved.
 
Please review the above and respond, 
 
Bob Bone

i run x2 also. win 7 64 bit. one thing that helped me a lot when i had trouble was to run dpc latency checker as i go through my motions and take notes when the spikes occur, if they are occurring. are there certain times that you can make it crash? take note of any and all software running then. plugins etc. what it ended up being with me is my computer did NOT like a lot of usb cables plugged in all over the front and back. i deducted this info by seeing when it would spike and it would spike a lot when certain hard drives and usb mouse type stuff were plugged in. i now have all usb, plugged into a usb switch so that all 7 things are only plugged into one usb 2.0 plug.   my point to this story is i would have never figured out what is making my system crash in sonar without dpc latency checker running in the background.
 
http://download.cnet.com/DPC-Latency-Checker/3000-2094_4-75911432.html
here's the link, hope it helps

Hello.  Thank you everybody for your suggestions.  I will try to address the replies.
 
1)  I using the 64-bit version of Sonar.  Mostly I have been using the stock plugs that come bundled with Sonar (Cakewalk plugs, Sonitus plugs, BreVerb, etc), and I commonly use JamStix (which I highly reccommend).  JamStix is 64-bit, and I don't know about the stock plugs that come with Sonar.
 
The HD are Seagate ST500DM002 500 gb SATA drives (I have 2 of them).
 
The drivers for the audio and midi interfaces are both the newest - and only - drivers available for these devices.
 
Update to x3?  I only bought this upgrade to X2 last summer.  About a month later X3 came out.  Given that I had to pay $150 for the upgrade to X2, and that X2 has never worked properly for me, I cannot for the life of me imagine plunking down more money for what for me is currently questionable software.
 
(BTW - I've been a CW user since it was midi only.  After my CW midi-only Home Studio, I got Pro Audio, then Sonar 2, then Sonar 4, then Sonar 6, then Sonar 8.5, and now Sonar x2.  All worked without issues except for X2 - this I really distressing for me.)
 
Thanks Equality
 
2)  Another person suggested that the Mackie firewire product was very particular about which firewire interface card it plugs into.  I will see if I can find similar reports of problems on the Mackie web-site.
 
Thanks Beepster - good suggestion
 
3) Windows updates.  The current OS is Win 7 ver. 6.1.7601 sp1 (build 7601).  This computer is a dedicated DAW.  It has no connection to the internet.  So running Windows Update will do nothing for me.  If I am to update the OS, I have to figure out how to do it manually, and from a remote computer.  The Windows Event Viewer only shows WMI (ID 10) errors, which I understand to be a artifact of the SP1 upgrade, and reported by Microsoft to be insignificant. 
 
The midi and audio device are both using the newest - and only - drivers available for this OS.
 
This DAW has no graphics accelerator card in it.  I am using the graphics capabilities that are built into the processor.  I wondered if this could be a problem for me.  It would be relatively cheap and easy to add a graphics accelerator card.
 
Thanks Alex
 
4) Plug-ins.  The freezes sometimes occur when running a plug-in and sometimes occur when no plug-in is used in a project.  I cannot access Task Manager when the computer freezes because the freezes effects not just Sonar but Windows as well.  I am forced to hard-stop the computer and re-boot.
 
While I have used many previous versions of CW, this is the first version of Sonar on this computer (I built the computer, then did a fresh install of this new version of Sonar on it).  But it is highly likely that I did not Run As Administer when installing.  Re-installing is a PITA, but it is a good suggestion.
 
This is a dedicated DAW.  It has no connection to the internet, and I have no third party antivirus/firewall program on it.  So there is no possibility of an antivirus program getting in the way of the installation of Sonar.
 
Thanks Bob - good suggestions
 
Thanks everyone - keep those ideas coming!!
 
 

I was just doing a little digging a list of Round trip Latency testing and found a post with some testing done on a few popular brands.. Here's the link as it of interest to anyone shopping for an interface with Low RTL. He was not kind regarding Mackies drivers,,, unstable  Sonar is very picky about drivers. So testing another DAW might be a good idea. To bad you ended up with X2.. X3 is the stable version so far. I waited until the forum stopped reporting issues. Everyone seems happy now with 3. So you still should consider the upgrade, It will at least last you though a few more years. 
 
 
http://forum.dawbench.com...mance-Data-Base/page13
 
Mackie Onyx 1640i : Heres one I had been sitting on for a while as I didn't have the measured RTL values and the reported nominal values were, hmmm, very optimistic. I finally had the opportunity to get in front of one again to do the RTL calculations. Wow, in short the settings values have absolutely no correlation to what is delivered and even more concerning was I could not get a consistent result from the RTL utility, with the value swing around up to 80 samples at a time. Check out the cart for the actual delivered RTL , I have no idea how the DAW's could possible compensate for that amount of variance , absolutely unworkable IMO
 

OK:
 
1.  There may well be problems from not running the install with Run As Administrator.  This has definitely caused some issues for some folks, in a myriad of environments, and also it sometimes does not cause any issues for some others.  Since you ARE having issues, I would most definitely consider a complete removal of X2, including deletion of its registry keys and hidden folders and such, followed by a fresh install with the explicit setting of the installer to Run As Administrator.  I further recommend that you always launch Sonar with Run As Administrator, because some plugins get a bit persnickety without the extra elevated privileges.
 
2.  For SURE, there are some Microsoft run-time executable routines that if not up to date, cause flaky weird errors and/or crashes.  This too could be an issue with your computer, as it is not connected to the internet.  Several folks, including me, spent a bit of time for at least a couple of threads in the last couple of months or so, where it ended up that getting these particular routines up to current maintenance levels made their weird and flaky errors go away.  For this reason, I would HIGHLY recommend that you find a way to at least temporarily hook this computer up to the web long enough to run Windows Update over and over until no more updates are left to apply.  You can then disconnect it again from the web, until some other weird and flaky issues crop up.
 
If doing step 2 makes your skin crawl, you could go through a process of using something like Dependency Walker to map out the various routines that Sonar accesses, and this would show the maintenance info for these particular run-time Microsoft routines.  Of course, if they are out of date, which may well be the case, they would still need to be brought up to date.
 
3.   I used to have $450 graphics cards (2 of them), but now just use the built in graphics, like you do.  I have ZERO problems running with the on-board graphics, and have two displays hooked up with no issues, so that should not be a problem on your system, either.
 
4.  It is possible that your X2 upgrade purchase within the approximate month of X3 coming out may qualify you for a free upgrade to X3 - CERTAINLY worth digging up your purchase date of the X2 upgrade and comparing it to when X3 came out.  I recall on at least a couple of occasions, Cakewalk looked things up for a couple of folks and ended up granting them upgrades to X3 at either no charge or some reduced rate.
 
5.  There is not a number 5 at this point, but based on your review and posting back per the above, perhaps I will leave room for one, in case we end up needing it.  :)
 
IF you decide to do a removal of the current X2 and a new install of it, please indicate that, and I will post back with a detailed list of steps to do so.  I will also block out time tonight and over the weekend to be available to assist you through whatever we can do to get this resolved for you.
 
Bob Bone
 

If you are running an internal video card please consider updating to the latest chipset drivers for your motherboard.
 
James may I please ask you to reconsider connecting your computer to the internet and running windows update, you just need to throw in a network adapter if you haven't got one already (you probably do have one on your motherboard).
 
If you are recording with your DAW and you are worried about performance you can always disable your adapter/antivirus etc and re-enable it when you need it (not that you really need to nowadays either). If you are worried about updates or backups mucking up your system, well that's what backups are for, please get yourself a copy of Acronis True Image.
 
Oh and if you don't have internet access please take the machine to somewhere that does.
 
To be honest if you are not on the internet your options are extremely limited, if you are going to install the updates offline it can be very difficult to manage (if not impossible), a lot of work and you will never know if you are up to date or not. I've come across quite a lot of people with instability issues with machines that are offline, for app dependencies nowadays rely so much on the latest software version. If you are not up to date your machine will eventually slow down and will become less and less reliable (the days of getting dodgy updates on a floppy disk from Microsoft are gone). Patches and updates actually improve your reliability and performance nowadays, work well, and are far less flaky then they were in the past.... if they weren't going to do that then firms would not bother supplying them.
 
There you go... I say it's time to connect. Well hope you get it resolved.
 
Cheers....