UAD1 & problems with Powercore PCI mk2, updated

[F5D]

I have been testing my G5 Dual 1.8 june 2004 system now for a few days with 2x powercore pci mk2 and uad1. I get the following problems:

-kernel panics without even doing anything in OSX 10.4.2
-1 or 2 pocos don't show up in the poco control panel
-the computer doesn't start loading the OS and the screen stays blank sometimes when powering up the computer

The system works fine if I use only 1 powercore pci mk2 + uad1 or take the uad1 out and use the powercores together. So the UAD1 still causes problems with powercores in this computer (you had to use 2x uad1 to make 1 powercore pci/element to even boot and it still didn't boot every time you turned the power on). UA suggests to buy a PCI G5 to use with UAD1 but it works well if you use only UAD1 cards. Powercore users are in trouble in most cases. So the UAD1 have problems with both PCI-X and PCI-macs. In fact I am in a situation that I need those 2 powercores so I will have to sell the uad1. I hate to do it and I already had to sell another UAD1 to make space for the second poco pci mk2 but it seems that I have no other options.

 

[Trace]

You sold one of your UAD-1's just because you couldn't fit it in tthe G5? Man you really need to try and get a used Magma Chassis? I'm using a 7 slot and got it for less than the cost of a UAD-1. I have 4 UAD-1's in it now. This might also help with the problems you're having, tho I don't know that for sure. It just seems like the UAD-1's work well inside the Magma Chassis.

Also I'm wondering why you didn't go for the Firewire Powercore instead of the MK2's? With the limited number of PCI slots in a G5 the FW versions seems like a good option.

TRACE

 

[F5D]

Thanks for your reply Trace, but the reason, why I bought PCI mk2's was that I got them at very low upgrade price from pci & element and the powercore firewire has so much problems. I had one earlier and had to sell it and if you take a look at powercore forums, the poco firewire has more problems than the other models. It was a real nightmare and I don't want to go thru it again.

The PCI mk2 has the same great plugins and the card works alot better. It doesn't task my CPU's as much as the poco firewire does. I can also use lower latencies like 256 or 512 samples which would't be possible with poco firewire if you ever plan to use all the DSP resources of your poco and the cpu power of your mac. The poco fiwi needs the 1024 samples buffer and maybe those asynchronous doublers too to avoid 100% cpu usage and the powercore errors, like \"sync to the powercore/plugin lost\" etc... That never happens with pci powercores.

I know that I could buy a magma chassis too but I don't want to buy such a thing for 2 reasons:

1) I have never bought anything from ebay (Germany or US) and the new ones are so expensive.

2) I also want to keep my computer setup as compact as possible. I just sold my PC away to get rid of extra computer cases so a magma chassis would not help.

So, I hope that UA will bring a new more powerful UAD2 or something available SOON and I can then maybe use the plugins again. I've been running my mac without the UAD1 for 2 days now without single problem, so it's quite obvious what the problem is. Sad but true. I would keep the card if it worked but unfortunately I need the 2 poco's more at the moment.

Edit. I will still consider if I'll keep the uad1 and sell the second poco instead but I'm not sure yet. It could be that I couldn't live without the uad plugs.

 

[UAJames]

Hi F5D,
Have you reported this to TC yet? AFAIK, the MKII was supposed to have fixed this specific problem.

 

[F5D]

I will report now...

 

[G]

Hmm,
it's looking more and more like this is exactly the problem with my system and that's in Magma Chassis!
Right, time to contact TC
Gareth

 

[F5D]

TC Support asked to use the new 1.9.5 SR1 driver but I am already using it and replied to them. They said that it fixes some kernel panics in Tiger. I didn't have any kernel panics in Tiger with 1 card and 1.9.5 but now with 2 cards I get them if I have the uad1 installed too. However there should be something wrong on the hardware level too because sometimes my mac doesn't even boot after powering it up. That happened sometimes with 1 powercore element + 2xuad1 too.

Another user at powercore forums with 2x uad1 + powercore element and the same june 2004 machine reported that he got kernel panics after moving to 1.9.5 driver and had to revert to 1.9.3 and that was with 1 element. So maybe there's something wrong with the powercore driver and some hardware problems too between aud1 & poco.

Please contact TC Support soon if you experiment the same. I would be very glad if I could use all 3 cards together.

 

[giles117]

how does the system fair under 10.3.9????

 

[Trace]

I know that I could buy a magma chassis too but I don't want to buy such a thing for 2 reasons:

1) I have never bought anything from ebay (Germany or US) and the new ones are so expensive.

2) I also want to keep my computer setup as compact as possible. I just sold my PC away to get rid of extra computer cases so a magma chassis would not help.

I do understand you reservations, cuz I had the same ones. I will tell you that now that i have the Magma, it was well worth it. I wouldn't worry about ebay. I bought mine there and all went well. Just make sure that the unit comes with the special cable, cuz you'll have to pay for it from Magma and its not cheap.

As far as keeping the system compact, I do know that you can take the Magma guts out and put them in a much smaller case. I plan on doing this myself. There are several 7 slot cases that will accomodate the hardware and are well under $100.00.

One nice plus is that sometimes when I don't need my PCI cards to be in use, I just boot up with the Magma powered off and it saves on the electricity and extra wear on the UAD's.

There is also the smaller 4 slot Magma which is extremely small. Its harder to get used tho and may only come with the PCMCIA card cable, so you'd have to get the PCI card & cable for use with a Desktop. Still it is an option.

TRACE

 

[F5D]

I guess I may have found a solution for this problem. I installed all the dsp-cards in a different order now. Earlier the Powercores were between the graphics card and the uad1. Now after 3 weeks of working without the uad1 I installed it right next to the graphics card and the powercores are on the top. I have made 3 test reboots and every time the computer has rebooted without any problems, no blank screens or anything. The system has also been running now for 2 hours 15 minutes without a kernel panic. I am still not sure if the cards are really working 100% stable but so far everything has been running fine. I have been playing with powercore and uad1-plugins in logic now for some time and I keep my fingers crossed that I won't get any kernel panics. In 3 weeks I had forgotten how good the uad1 plugs sound too. I just can't live without them. I will definitely keep all 3 cards if they work now. Especially the Fairchild is awesome! Wish me luck...

 

[Dave Bourke]

I love a happy ending

Kind regards.

 

[F5D]

Ok, I have had 2 kernel panics and 1 boot problem with blank screen after my last post. The system seems to be running very well most of the time and the kernel panics appear within 5 minutes from bootup if they appear. I have been running my computer for hours without any problems if the kernel panic didn't appear right after the start up. I also checked that both powercores had still booted ok before the last kernel panic but there still seems to be an odd booting problem. The system is not 100% perfect if all 3 cards are inside but at least I get the kernel panic very soon after powering up the mac if it will appear at all so I can start working more seriously if the system has been running for an hour or so. Not a very comfortable situation but I just have to live with it.

What is also strange is that these kernel panics don't show up in the panic.log at all after the crash so I cannot send these reports to TC or UA. :|

 

[UAJames]

What is also strange is that these kernel panics don't show up in the panic.log at all after the crash so I cannot send these reports to TC or UA. :|

That is strange. Are you getting the grey "shade" that comes down telling you (in several different languages) that you need to restart your computer or it is a bunch of white on black text being displayed on the screen? The latter is usually a very nasty KP and many times doesn't get reported in panic.log since the report is what is being shown on screen.

 

[F5D]

It's the first one, the grey shade comes down and many languages...

Now somehow the system managed to record the kernel panic. In fact I got 2 kernel panics in 5 minutes now. This is currently the third reboot today and I don't know when the next kernel panic will show up.

Here are the details:

*********

Sat Aug 27 11:08:16 2005


Unresolved kernel trap(cpu 0): 0x400 - Inst access DAR=0x00000000448A20FF PC=0x0000000000000000
Latest crash info for cpu 0:
Exception state (sv=0x00FF2280)
PC=0x00000000; MSR=0x40009030; DAR=0x448A20FF; DSISR=0x40000000; LR=0x00000000; R1=0x2CA6B940; XCP=0x00000010 (0x400 - Inst access)
Backtrace:
0x00000000
Proceeding back via exception chain:
Exception state (sv=0x00FF2280)
previously dumped as \"Latest\" state. skipping...
Exception state (sv=0x413F2A00)
PC=0x00000000; MSR=0x0000D030; DAR=0x00000000; DSISR=0x00000000; LR=0x00000000; R1=0x00000000; XCP=0x00000000 (Unknown)

Kernel version:
Darwin Kernel Version 8.2.0: Fri Jun 24 17:46:54 PDT 2005; root:xnu-792.2.4.obj~3/RELEASE_PPC
panic(cpu 0 caller 0xFFFF0004): 0x400 - Inst access
Latest stack backtrace for cpu 0:
Backtrace:
0x00095544 0x00095A5C 0x0002683C 0x000A819C 0x000ABB00
Proceeding back via exception chain:
Exception state (sv=0x00FF2280)
PC=0x00000000; MSR=0x40009030; DAR=0x448A20FF; DSISR=0x40000000; LR=0x00000000; R1=0x2CA6B940; XCP=0x00000010 (0x400 - Inst access)
Backtrace:
0x00000000
Exception state (sv=0x413F2A00)
PC=0x00000000; MSR=0x0000D030; DAR=0x00000000; DSISR=0x00000000; LR=0x00000000; R1=0x00000000; XCP=0x00000000 (Unknown)

Kernel version:
Darwin Kernel Version 8.2.0: Fri Jun 24 17:46:54 PDT 2005; root:xnu-792.2.4.obj~3/RELEASE_PPC

*********

 

[dusty]

I have your same computer with a UAD-1 and a PoCo MK2 and i have no problem at all..
I think you should sell one PoCo and get one more UAD1

Frankly i've been testing both card for a while and it seems to me that the UAD-1 sound by far better than the PoCo. The Md3 isn't that impressive, really. The included plug in, beside the M X3 and eq custom, aren't that great either. The sony plug ins are great but overpriced.. i mean a G for eq+dyn is a way to much. The Vss3 and the vintage reverb are AMAZING but still they cost around 600$ each.I just my opinion though.

I hope you'll fix you problems.

I

 

[F5D]

Yes, powercore pci mk2 + uad1 work together very well but I need 2 powercores. I use already several instances of virus powercore which all need 1 dsp immediately and I need some power to run other plugins too. I agree that half of the powercore pci mk2 plugins are not that interesting but neither are all the uad1 plugins. I use mostly Classic verb, Character, Master x3, powercore01 synth and dynamic eq. I have also purchased Virus powercore multi and sony oxford eq which are great. I know, the sony is expensive but it's the best. I also like the MD3 very much. The brickwall limiter sounds better than the precision limiter and uad1 doesn't have anything like md3. It's a great mastering processor if you know how to tweak it. It just has so many controls. UAD1 still wins powercore hands down with the analog compressor emulations. I think, TC have the best \"digital\" algorithms and UA have the best analog emulations. Which one you like more depends on what kind of music you produce and what kind of plugins you need.