Catastrophic failure with FCPX 2.1

I have been running FCPX version 1.4 successful on my IMac 14,2 / Intel Core 17, 3.5GHz. I have both a G Tech Thunderbolt 4 Terabyte and 3 terabyte. hard drive connected via thunderbolt cable.. To use FCPX 2.1 I had to upgrade my OS X to Yosemite and then download upgrade FXPX 2.1. Since then Final Cut takes forever to load completely onto my computer (up to 10 minutes) stutter steps during playback, drops frames, and shows me a color wheel everytime I make a cut or add to the time line. I spent 3 hours on the phone with a senior tech at Apple to no avail. Any answers to this problem would be greatly appreciated. Anyone having similar problems I would love to hear about it. Evidently going back to the old OS and FCPX 1.4 not an option. Thanks.

Anytime you do a Operating System upgrade, the Mac OS has to reindex and do a bit of housekeeping before running smoothly. (Performance will suffer a bit until it is done indexing.) Has the situation improved?

Ralph wrote: To use FCPX 2.1 I had to upgrade my OS X to Yosemite and then download upgrade FXPX 2.1. Since then Final Cut takes forever to load completely onto my computer (up to 10 minutes)

I did the same, and see some similar things. FCPX also takes a *long* time to load, because I have a significant amount of third-party audiounit plugins, and FCPX revalidates those on *first launch*. Ok.

In my case though, it doesn't seem to save the results, so *every* launch attempts to revalidate the plugins again. This didn't happen previously, and LPX doesn't do this either.

This might be a permissions thing, but it might be worth checking if that's happening in your case (check the Activity Monitor for "auval" instances when FCPX is launching).

If so, you can use something like AudioUnit manager to disable third-party plugins, and then FCPX should launch quickly again - *if* that's the problem you are having with long launch times.

Sorry you are having trouble, big bummer. My first thought is something went wrong with the os or Fcpx install, or you user account became corrupted during the Yosemite upgrade. Therefore I would try the following going down the list if the step first resolve it.

1. Create a fresh user account and see if the problem persists.
2. Remove Fcpx (hold down option key in launch pad), and reinstall from the Mac App Store.
3. Reinstall yosimoite by starting up in recovery mode and install over existing yosimoite, you won't loose anything it will just repair existing install.
4. Install fresh yosimoite on an fresh external drive, change startup disk and see if problem persists.
5. Bring your mac to an Apple store for troubleshooting a hardware problem.

Let us know if we can be of any additional help.

T.

Some AU plugs are not compatible with FCP X or Yosemite. This can cause problems with FCP X starting up. Check with the plug-in dev for updates. Some that are compatible with LPX may not be compatible with FCP X.

I wish FCPX had an AU manager to turn off AUs not being used in FCPX. The Waves plug-ins are a constant cause of crashes to me whenever I try to use them in FCPX, but the work flawlessly in LPX and Digital Performer. So would be nice to just turn them off in final cut...

anickt wrote: Some AU plugs are not compatible with FCP X or Yosemite. This can cause problems with FCP X starting up. Check with the plug-in dev for updates. Some that are compatible with LPX may not be compatible with FCP X.

AU plugs?

I would not called this Catastrophic failure with FCPX 2.1 more Catastrophic maintenance issue.
First run disk permission over your drive with Disk Utility then run a Cron Job. See how that helps.

@AppleGuru

I was referring to the fact that some AU plugs (Audio Units plug-ins) are not compatible with FCP X and can cause problems.

I didn't term anything a "catastrophic failure", that was the OP.

The issue of some AU plug-ins being non-compatible has always been in FCP, even legacy.

anickt wrote: @AppleGuru

I was referring to the fact that some AU plugs (Audio Units plug-ins) are not compatible with FCP X and can cause problems.

I didn't term anything a "catastrophic failure", that was the OP.

The issue of some AU plug-ins being non-compatible has always been in FCP, even legacy.

"catastrophic failure" was for the OP. :side:

@AppleGuru

Gotcha!

I am convinced that the "bumpy" introduction of FCP X has caused it to become the easy scapegoat for any problem at all to the point of complete disregard for common-sense troubleshooting procedures.

Many times an issue can be traced to simple user error or configuration issues but is presented as "catastrophic failure of FCP X!!!!!!". :lol:

First I would like to thank everyone for their responses to my posting. Overall , they have been very helpful.

As far as this comment: I am convinced that the "bumpy" introduction of FCP X has caused it to become the easy scapegoat for any problem at all to the point of complete disregard for common-sense troubleshooting procedures.

Many times an issue can be traced to simple user error or configuration issues but is presented as "catastrophic failure of FCP X!!!!!!"

I have been working with a senior FCP tech at Apple Over the last three days we've been communicating while they viewed my screen showing FCP in action. The amount of time they have devoted to this problem and the continuing analysis of it makes me suspect that it certainly is not a simple user error. Bottom line is before, using Maverick OS and FCP 1.4 no problem. Upgrade to Yosemite OS and FCP 2.0.1 and major problems. I thank Apple for the time an effort they have put into this on my behalf. S...t happens when upgrading an OS and a program as has been demonstrated many times before. This is "Catastrophic" to me since it effect greatly on my business and my time.

Sorry Ralph - I was making a general observation not directed at you. I should have clarified.

Hi Ralph,
Sorry you are having these issues.
When you upgraded did you install the update over Mavericks or did you do a "clean install" of OS and FCPX?
I always recommend a clean install and then installing all apps freshly. This is a lot more work, requires a fast internet hook-up, but IMHO is well worth the effort. In the past I have experienced problems using updates or Migration Assistant and clean installs typically eliminate hard to find problems. I do this when doing a major OS change, not just a "point" update.
I recommend you try a fresh, clean install and go from there.

Here is an article on 10 things to try to resolve issues. Personally, I would try things in different order, like reset preferences earlier. No real reason not to.
fcpx.tv/Pages/top10troublesthoot2.html
I also always "fix permissions" after OS and software installs. I use Onyx by Titanium Software for this.
www.titanium.free.fr/index.html
As others have said, there will be a long rebuild indexing happening, and FCPX 1.4 > 2.1 has some major library changes that will take some time to resolve.

Hope this helps, Greg
Good luck, let us know if and how you resolve this.

Do not forget the must have utility, Pro Maintenance Tool from Digital Rebellion. The housekeeper option is specially recommended. This utility has kept my FCP fresh and healthy.

Thank you to everyone for all the posts. They were very helpful and in fact a lot of the suggestions you sent where later suggested by the Apple techs. I did create a new log in and , with only my hard drives showing on the desktop and the basic programs showing on the tool bar, I found the results were the same. This is after a total reload of Yosemite and FCPX 2.1 a second time.

So bottom line is:
1. I boot up my computer upgraded to Yosemite. It boots faster then Maverick.

2. I boot up FCPX 2.1. The project load-in time has increased from less than a minute with Maverick and FCPX 1.4 to close to 12 minutes with Yosemite and FCPX 2.1 before I am able to edit without drop frames in the viewer window or FCPX freezing and locking me out making me force quit the program.

3. Once the project is totally loaded in the timeline and browser FCPX works fine.

4. I can close FCPX and re-open it and the projects run fine, no long load in, providing I do not shut down the computer.

5. Starting from a boot up of the computer and then starting FCPX 2.1 the problem repeats itself exactly each time, a very long project load in or freezing and I have to force quit

6. I’ve read on a few sites that FCPX2.1 has a totally new way of handling files. If this is in fact true it’s been a negative improvement in my case. Outside of the ability to do 3D titling I have not found any particular advantages using 2.1 over 1.4. I find the adage holds true. “ If it isn’t broken, don’t fix it”. Since editing is part of my business I should have waited till all counties are heard from before taking on a new OS and an upgraded version of FCP.

I’d appreciate to hear any comments that mention file handling problems and load times with 2.1. Thanks for your input.

I will check it out.

Thank you again, for your input. A lot of great suggestions. In the meantime I’ve been working with a Senior tech for FCPX at Apple via telephone for four days, three hours a day running tests on my computer, Yosemite and FCPX 2.1. I will say, to Apple’s credit they’ve been relentless trying to solve the problem.

Here’s where we stand now and you might find this of interest for the problems you’ve been experiencing.

Through a process of elimination we’ve come to the conclusion that it’s not 2.1 or how Yosemite is processing information. To avoid this becoming a three page reply I’ll skip all the details about how these conclusions was reached. If anyone would like to know the specifics I will gladly fill them in.

At the Apple tech’s suggestion I downloaded the BlackMagic clocking app, free from the Apple store.

We then tested my 7200 rpm 3 terabyte and 4 terabyte Thunderbolt G-Tech external hard drives and found that they were reading and writing at less than half the speed that the thunderbolt drives should run. We switched out the thunderbolt cable for a USB3 cable and the drives actually ran a little faster then when connected by thunderbolt. To make sure that it wasn’t just my particular IMac I attached the drives to my new MacBook Pro and they cloaked in at the exact same reading and writing speed that could accommodate at the very best, the smallest size files. I ended up with only about six checked boxes on the Clocking app, all the rest at higher resolution where x’d out.

So why was I able to edit flawlessly on FCP1.4 and Maverick? The tech had two computers, one running Yosemite and one running Maverick. He tested his external thunderbolt hard drive on both machines and found that running under Maverick the drive read and wrote much faster then on the Yosemite machine.

This could very well account for the hang-ups, color wheels and freezes using 2.1, if you use external hard drives. He’s taken all this info to a Senior engineer at Apple to find out what might be causing this. I store all my libraries and source material on my external drives to avoid clogging up my internal drive. As I said previously, I’m editing with large R3d files ,not proxies, and what worked for me under Maverick is not under Yosemite.

I’ve been promised that they will get back to me ASAP with their conclusions. I will post them as soon as I hear.

@Ralph

What kind of read/write speeds were you seeing in the BlackMagic app?

I noticed my Read/Write speeds have improved dramatically recently and the only change to my system was the most recent update to Yosemite 10.10.3.

I have a Promise Pegasus2 RAID and its performance was "dismal" until just recently. I'm seeing read speeds of around 500 MB/sec and write speeds of 400+ when I was seeing 300-400 for both previously.

Thanks Ralph for giving us some explanations, that might be useful at some point.
Im curious to read Apple's answer to this issue.

Dimitri.

Going back over my notes here are the actual clocked speeds of the hard drives:



7200 rpm 4 Terabyte G-Tech connected with thunderbolt cable: Write = 135MB/s Read = 142MB/s on average on Yosemite OS.



7200 rpm 3 Terabyte G-Tech connected with thunderbolt cable: Write = 129MB/s Read = 130MB/s on average on Yosemite OS.



7200 rpm 4 Terabyte G-Tech connected with USB3 cable: Write = 38MB/s. Read = 42MB/s on average on Yosemite OS.



7200 rpm 3 Terabyte G-Tech connected with USB3 cable: Write = 39MB/s. Read = 43MB/s on average on Yosemite OS.



The results where the same on both my Imac and my Macbook Pro. Sorry about posting speeds between thunderbolt and USB3 close to same. That's what happens when your posting at 3 in the morning. Still these speed are way below what they should be.