Hello everybody.
This is a rather "deep" problem, meaning that I already tried easy and not-so-easy solutions, so I really need an expert suggestion. I hope that some one will help me.

Some time ago I have made a dedicated PC for my audio work. This is a Lenovo notebook (T500 I think), with Windows XP Sp2 installed and 2GB RAM. I worked a lot to make it as light as possible, so there is no useless service and the network does not even exist. On it there is a Cubase 5 installation, and a lot of plugins. Windows gets some 200M of RAM, maybe less, and that's all.
Immediately I found a big problem. As soon as Cubase grows up to 1.2GB of private memory (measured with process explorer), BANG! It crashes. I increased the memory to 3GB, with no difference: Cubase crashes at that exact moment every single time, although there's still 1.5GB of free RAM to be used.
I tested the memory chips, I inverted them, I did everything I could (I think) on hardware basys, without success.
I looked for documentation, without finding any, I updated and downgraded Microsoft C libraries, .Net libraries, without success.
I tried to start some of the useless services I stopped, and they confirmed to be useless, making no change on my problem.

Right now I work freezing everytime every single track, and this is painfully slow, and of course it's not a good way to work, also because freezing and unloading the instruments, anyway, doesn't free enough memory and it's not possible to load many effects on every single track without crashing the project.

Is there anyone that already got this same problem?

I'd be deeeeply grateful for some concrete help! Thank you.

Beppi.

 

have you tried to fill up your memory module ...but not by using cubase...by using a dedicated soft, there are some out there to fully test your memory

it sounds to me as though your module is working but not fully working and when you try to access that particular part..you experience a crash

http://memtest86.en.softonic.com/

 

what kind of graphics card is in it and how much ram does it have?

you need to count that amount as used ram, because windows xp creates a memory hole the same size as the graphics card ram for moving data to and from it.

it might be what is pushing the machine into 0 ram left and crashing.

At worst, if you can't work it out, i would suggest imaging the drive, and installing windows 7, then put at least 4 gigs in it and give it a shot, nearly every issue i have ever had with operating system or hardware has become non existent since i went win7.

 

oh , and one more question, you have'nt by chance used the "turn off paging file" hack have you?

if so, here is why not to...

----------------------------------------------
There is a great deal of confusion on the internet regarding the pagefile and the “DisablePagingExecutive” registry entry. This article is as confused as any I have seen.

Disabling the pagefile will most certainly NOT prevent paging. It will probably increase it. Paging of program code, DLL’s etc., can not be prevented and does not use the pagefile. There is no need to copy this code to the pagefile as it can simply be reloaded from the original files. Disabling the pagefile only prevents paging of modified data. This unbalances the memory management system and will probably impair performance. In some cases this impairment can be severe.

The “DisablePagingExecutive” registry entry actually has nothing to do with the pagefile. This setting only effects paging of a small portion of the Kernel and this does not use the pagefile. By default Windows will keep frequently accessed portions of the kernel in RAM whenever possible. Only in the event of heavy memory load would it be paged out. Enabling the setting will force portions of the Kernel to remain in RAM at all times, even if they are rarely used. It is generally best to allow Windows to page as necessary and not impose arbitrary restrictions.
---------------------------------------------

 

you can check the memory allocation of hardware by running msinfo32 just btw
then choose memory and it should list what memory the hardware,pci devices etc are taking up, for example...

"256 MB 0xC0000000-0xCFFFFFFF NVIDIA GeForce 8400 GS "

make sure you are taking these into account when doing the math.

 

I'm on a Asus laptop Core 2 Duo 7200 2GHz (2GB RAM) with Cubase 5 running trough a "lightweight" Windows XP32-SP3 named "Windows Trust 3 Collector" (a French unattended).
A lot of useless services are also disabled, but they were "factory" disabled.
Everything run flawlessly on this setup.

So I would say that your issue may come from :

- "I worked a lot to make it as light as possible". Instead of tweaking it yourself, you better use a light unattended which has been proved to be rock solid.
- SP2 instead of SP3.
- Memory Swap File (pagefile.sys). Try a fixed value of 768 MB (min and max).

If the problem remains, format your laptop and install a standard Windows XP with SP3 and the latest drivers (but without any tweaking). If this doesn't correct the issue, then it comes from your hardware...

Good luck.

 

yes I tried... I tested the RAM in any possible way, it does not seem to be a hardware problem. I also swapped the chips and the crash experience it's always at 1.2G. Also, when Cubase crashes often remains in memory, it's not killable, and I run a second instance that, again, crashes at 1.2G.

 

It's a quite normal ATi (I thik) card, integrated in the Lenovo laptop. Anyway process explorer does not show me any occupied RAM and gives me a lot of free unused RAM instead. And anyway, the problem didn't fix when I increased RAM, so I think that it's a memory problem, but related ONLY to the application and not to the system itself. Windows perfectly manages all the RAM with no problems at all...

 

no no not at all... thanks.

 

It also runs perfectly on mine besides the 1.2GB problem. So, did you try to run Cubase5 and check the private memory parameter, by loading a lot of VSTs? Do you reach higher values?

I'll try all your suggestions, even if I already tried different XP installations and I firmly believe that the problem is somewhere else.
Thanks. Beppi.

 

I use the Win-XP "All of nothing" version which is tweaked.It performs really well on my laptop.
I think the problem could be your version of XP but there is so much hardware out there, that Im not sure at all.

 

I think that might have to do with the general limitation of a 32-bit system.
Which is, that no single application can use more than 2 GB RAM.
So even if you have 3 GB RAM, Cubase can use only a maximum of 2 GB.

You say that Cubase crashes already after 1,2 GB... maybe the display is not correct, or there is lower limit set somewhere...

 

You're running the x86 (32-bit) build of Windows XP I'm guessing? If so this is pretty much to be expected . . there is a solution too

 

Yes, I'm talking about 32 bit, of course. This is something I investigated, indeed. The limit I'm seeing is 1.2GB is of private memory ("private bytes" actually). As I read, this parameter includes all the application's allocated memory that is not shared with other applications, so "private". What's weird is that it is lower then the "working set", that should contain it. Obviously I'm missing something. So, it may well be that: if I sum two of the many RAM counters, maybe I reach 2GB and boom... although I didn't understand yet which counters should I consider. Anyway. 1.2GB is very far from 2GB and I find it hard to believe that I run 800MB of shared libraries and binaries.

Anyway, in case this is correct... how could I fix it? Is there a way?

And more: what I was curious about is... is there some one that has ever been able to run Cubase 5 with a lot of plugins, for example large Kontakt libraries all loaded in memory, exceed the 1.2GB "private bytes" limitation? Could there be someone so kind to make a test, very please?

B

 

My experience:

I have 4 GB of RAM, but use a 32-Bit Windows 7, so only a bit more than 3 GB usable.
If the RAM goes over 70% full, Cubase crashes.
I just learned to live with it, and freeze all virtual instruments, until I have a 64-bit system.

 

Would you be so kind to tell me what is the virtual memory size limit of Cubase before crashing?
Windows 7 maybe has a better management of RAM, so that it allows to see all 4GB instead of 3GB like the stupid XP does, but if the system is 32-bit the 2GB limitation on the single application should be still there.
If your task manager isn't enough just try with process explorer, it's a very safe and useful tool. Thank you a lot.

 

I've found that the maximum addressable RAM varies greatly from system to system . . I could get to about 1.4GB on an x86 XP system with 4GB of RAM before Cubase crashed.

There's two solutions I can think of . . . you can use J Bridge to load your RAM intensive instruments (Kontakt etc.) and in this way their memory use won't affect Cubase. Alternatively you can use what's known as the 3GB switch and you can adjust the amount of RAM reserved for the system and gain a bit more RAM for access in Cubase. In this manner I was able to get up to about 1.9/2GB in Cubase before a crash . .

In the end I got fed up with some odd side effects from frakking with the virtual address space and I switched to Win 7 x64

 

Oh brother

Yuppie, that are two VERY interesting solutions!
First of all this evening I will immediately test JBridge. Thanks a lot!
Anyway, what's the 3GB switch? If you are talking about the /pae switch I tried it a hundred of times without ever being able to have it work. The /3GB switch instead is supported only on the Windows server family, as it seems. Is there a difference between those two?

That's where I'll end too but how do you manage all the 32-bit software? I suppose that to get real advantage from Win7/64 (or even XP/64) you should not only install Cubase/64, but also many plugins, unless you don't use Jbridge... am I wrong?

 

I'm using Cubase 5 on an XP machine with 2Gig's of Ram. I'm able to run Addictive Drums/Kontakt Drums Lib, Trilian, Omnisphere/Ivory, and processing plugs. How do I do it? FX Teleport! I'm running Kontakt, Trilian and Omnisphere on another dedicated computer. And the Plugins on ALL computers. All machines only have 2 gigs of Ram a piece. FX Teleport can be found here.

 

3gb switch instructions..
http://dwf.blogs.com/beyond_the_paper/2009/04/enabling-3gb-switch-on-windows-vista.html

32bit cubase and plugins runs fine on 64bit windows 7. you have a x86 directory so you can install all 32bit software. i run cubase in 32bit and studio one 64bit all on the same computer ;) lovely