FSP8 freezing when left on overnight/extended periods

[THW]

Whenever I leave Studio Pro open overnight, or keep a project open and unattended for hours (let's say 6 hours on average), when I return to the PC the DAW is frozen and I need to "end task" in the task manager (Windows 11). I am wondering why this is happening and if there is anything I can do to prevent it (aside from closing the DAW entirely at the end of the session, then reloading next time).

In my system settings I have the computer set to never sleep or hibernate, and power mode is set to high performance. Hard Disk set to turn off after 20 minutes, but I don't have problems if I'm only away from the DAW for an hour or two.
Display is set to turn off after 20 minutes.
There is an option for "hybrid sleep" but I'm not sure what that is or if it's applicable since hibernate and sleep are set to "never".

I'm wondering if there are any settings I can adjust to prevent this freeze from happening and needing to force restart? I like keeping my project open so I can make edits anytime without needing to reload the entire project. This is not a huge deal -- more a matter of convenience.

Greatly appreciate any insight!

 

[sintil8]

Don't know if this will help, but is probably worth knowing about anyway... and I suppose it might give some hint as to what might be causing issue?

Give reliability monitor a peek.
Type " view reliability history " into toolbar search box, the one next to the Win Icon. It should list your puters history and list problem apps etc...
Choosing any of the data columns against known dates when the freeze occurs could list what is happening at that specific point.

Kindest regards

 

[Scansterz]

I'm not totally sure yet but I just started testing FSP8 and on a Mac it seems to freeze up after a longer period of time. I usually leave my sessions open overnight. I've noticed a freeze now. I'm going to experiment in the next few days. MacOS Sequoia

 

[John Vere]

This happens to me if I have my Motu M4 connected. If Im using my SSL2 it doesn’t happen. It’s like the Motu audio driver dies. They both are using the same USB C port. And it’s not just SP8 it’s any app that uses ASIO audio. And SP8 doesn’t freeze it just won’t play anything unless it totally restart the system.
Just mentioning this as it could be similar situation. Audio driver issues can definitely cause a freeze type problem.

 

[Jemusic]

Save your sessions and shut down. There is nothing to be gained from leaving machines on all night. You are just wearing your computer out. Reboots are good and healthy. They clear stuff out too. On a Mac its good to disconnect power weekly etc for a minute and reboot also. Clears out other parts of the memory. I have never had an issue in 30 years doing it this way. I can work all day eg 8 to 10 hours without a hitch or freeze but then its good to shut down.

 

[BobF]

My machines run 7x24x365, with sessions open days at a time. In addition to disabling sleep mode, you also have to get into the details of power settings making sure that USB hubs/ports have sleep disabled specifically and individually.

Application hangs are most often caused by hardware disappearing during a session ... IMX anyway.

 

[THW]

Thanks for all the input! I'll give suggestions a try.

 

[Number6]

Save your sessions and shut down. There is nothing to be gained from leaving machines on all night. You are just waering your computer out. Reboots are good and healthy. They clear stuff out too. On a Mac its good to disconnect power weekly etc for a minute and reboot also. Clears out other parts of the memory. I have never had an issue in 30 years doing it this way. I can work all day eg 8 to 10 hours without a hitch or freeze but then its good to shut down.

Yup..i.can't understand why people waste electricity (maybe they are testing for memory leaks) and give their capacitors more cycles. There is absolutely no need to leave things on unless you are using them. If you've got a lot of gear plugged in WiFi smart plugs help. It takes me 3 minutes to get going from scratch if I need to.

 

[THW]

To clarify, I don't leave my computer running 24/7, however there are times I will leave it on extended period, especially if ideas are flowing and I am chipping away at a project or sketching ideas.

I'm trying to determine how to diagnose why the daw freezes in those instances where it is left on longer than when im using it. This is especially the case when I'm in my large orchestral template or writing with video.

 

[BobF]

In Windows devices are configured separately from the overall sleep setting for power saving.
This is Win10 Device Manager as an example.

If Win turns these off, during idle times, it's a coin toss how the connected devices behave; especially when in use/connected to an application.

May not be your problem, but worth looking at.

NOTE: Even if you set these OFF, Windows will randomly reenable them during updates.

 

[Number6]

NOTE: Even if you set these OFF, Windows will randomly reenable them during updates.

Not sure if that would be the fault of the driver or Windows, regardless never had that problem with Windows 11. Regardless no harm in checking.

(Corrected typo)

 

[tpittman]

To clarify, I don't leave my computer running 24/7, however there are times I will leave it on extended period, especially if ideas are flowing and I am chipping away at a project or sketching ideas.

I'm trying to determine how to diagnose why the daw freezes in those instances where it is left on longer than when im using it. This is especially the case when I'm in my large orchestral template or writing with video.

When things are clicking, yes, a person needs to get the ideas down quick, fast and in a hurry! I don't believe in
leaving equipment on unused for long periods of time. I used to do that to some extent but then got to where
I was leaving equipment on for reasons of either forgetting or being lazy. My Studio is not right in my
home but in aux building real close. I solved this by having a very small system in the house (dining room)
that takes very little time to start up. It's small, so easy to put up (if company coming over).

My thought is, if a person is going to leave equipment on all or most of the time to have the proper equipment
to safely shut system down. My assumption is that folks are doing that for equipment protection and fire protection

 

[Vocalpoint]

Save your sessions and shut down. There is nothing to be gained from leaving machines on all night.

This. x100

VP

 

[BobF]

Not sure if that would be the fault or the driver or Windows, regardless never had that problem with Windows 11. Regardless no harm in checking.

Hopefully that has been fixed in 11.

 

[lokeyfly]

I'm wondering if there are any settings I can adjust to prevent this freeze from happening and needing to force restart? I like keeping my project open so I can make edits anytime without needing to reload the entire project. This is not a huge deal -- more a matter of convenience.

By the overwhelmingly good advice by all, that setting is that you turn off your machine. The time savings you're looking for of leaving everything running, won't add up to anything more than eventual unnecessary wear. Sleep modes (not that youre using them) won't be much faster than a cold boot with today's machines as well. Besudes, startups instantly purge ram, making performance more robust.

Speaking Of robust, I need some coffee. ️

 

[Vocalpoint]

By the overwhelmingly good advice by all, that setting is that you turn off your machine. The time savings you're looking for of leaving everything running, won't add up to anything more than eventual unnecessary wear. ️

And - all the OP needs is one unplanned power bump to quickly realize a valuable lesson that saving the project and shutting down is the only guaranteed way of preserving one's work.

Potential total loss of work (or in the worse case - even a computer) with a power bump/surge is a powerful teacher.

And usually happens when you least expect it.

VP

 

[John Vere]

During storm season I keep an eye out and I will totally unplug my power bar before I go to bed or if we are away.
Lightning can be crazy powerful. It can jump a 1/2 gap no problem!
The power switches on your gear normally is only disconnecting the Hot. Not the neutral or the ground. So just turning off a switch is not enough to stop a nearby lightning strike from getting into your electronics.
I use some good quality line conditioning but when I wired my studio I installed a power outlet that is easy to reach right at desk level.

Power surges can happen anytime so good power conditioning is worth the extra expense. It’s really just a big capacitor.

And turning off your computer is just common sense for reasons mentioned above. Especially flushing the crud out. My system only takes about a minute to boot up.
Important part of this is to go into startup apps and turn everything but your audio interface and the Windows security.

 

[tpittman]

During storm season I keep an eye out and I will totally unplug my power bar before I go to bed or if we are away.
Lightning can be crazy powerful. It can jump a 1/2 gap no problem!
The power switches on your gear normally is only disconnecting the Hot. Not the neutral or the ground. So just turning off a switch is not enough to stop a nearby lightning strike from getting into your electronics.
I use some good quality line conditioning but when I wired my studio I installed a power outlet that is easy to reach right at desk level.

Power surges can happen anytime so good power conditioning is worth the extra expense. It’s really just a big capacitor.

And turning off your computer is just common sense for reasons mentioned above. Especially flushing the crud out. My system only takes about a minute to boot up.
Important part of this is to go into startup apps and turn everything but your audio interface and the Windows security.

Yes, yes and yes. If there is a storm or even the possibility, my stuff gets unplugged. Electricity is not to be taken for granted.
And yes, power conditioning / backup power cannot be overlooked IMO. All very good and very reasonable information posted
by members

 

[MisterE]

Hopefully that has been fixed in 11.

Hey. It's not FSP8 and it's not Win11. I've encountered the need to reboot after leaving a song open without doing anything for long periods of times since Win7 and S1 V2. Not always, but sometimes here and there. It also seems to have something to do with leaving a fuller production open than a lean one, and having several other programs open as well.

Sure, there's something to be said for leaving a production always open in case inspiration strikes, only in the SSD era with bootup times thirty seconds or less is restarting or rebooting really still a deterrent?

 

[Number6]

Just to add, turn on power saving! Except CPU/throttling.

Power saving is a dirty word in audio, but you can configure devices to ignore power saving features on an individual basis (as stated earlier), some storage and USB devices aren't going to disconnect or screw up latency.

Can require some time with experimentation however..Windows 11 is way better at it than previous versions in my experience.