Don't run CPU past 76%...

GuyJames

GuyJames

Inspired
Found out the hard way tonight... I knew running presets to 80% was a bad idea so I've kept things hovering around 77-78% thinking I was safe. WRONG! Mid gig I change to my Michael Jackson preset to play "Black and White". Here comes the big opening guitar riff and... nothing! FML :mad: unit froze had to restart and of course it takes like 30-45 seconds, quite long when the band leader is looking at you saying wtf.

so moral of the story, don't go past 76% because from what I've seen on the FM3 is a fairly large spike in CPU (up to 2-3%) around whatever the baseline CPU is at. I don't experience freezes with the FM9 when it hit's 80% but I'm going to follow suit with that unit too.
 
Might have kicked in a combo that put it over the top. I’m usually 75-78% on most presets. But good advice for sure. I turn on all of my most cpu intensive effects/ channels and trim if needed or select a mode that uses less juice. CPU can vary depending on what’s in the scene.
 
There's definitely tricks to save cpu but I'm attached to the FF comp, Multi-Comp and compulsion drive which eat cpu like crazy.
 
md1234 said:
I'm wondering if you practice with your songs/presets in the same order as your gig? And does it happen again if you use the same sequence of tapping through the presets?
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this is a good advice... I have some presets around 80 (with no spikes) that never gave problems...
I'm wondering if there's a "special" combination in your preset, and if what @md1234 suggested is repeatable you should share the behaviour with FAS team, maybe there's a bug
 
I have to two FM3's that live in different locations and they both freeze if they hit 80%. It doesn't necessarily freeze every time right away but it eventually does at some point. So I'm just not going to let let it even spike to 80% now. 76% gives me headroom.
 
md1234 said:
I'm wondering if you practice with your songs/presets in the same order as your gig? And does it happen again if you use the same sequence of tapping through the presets?
Click to expand...
I haven't noticed a trend. I sound checked through the two presets I use with no issues. Come show time it froze. The FM3's are more sensitive it seems. FM9 hangs at 80% but now I'm paranoid lol so 76% is the new limit for me.
 
It really sucks when that happens at showtime... it's a balancing act where you need to find your own tipping point. If 76% works for you, stick with that! :) thanks for the advice.
 
Happened also to me with my first use of the fm3.
I was at about 76/77 but I had a lot of cs per scene and things like that. I think it’s using a lot of cpu when you change scenes also.
 
Joshua_L said:
Happened also to me with my first use of the fm3.
I was at about 76/77 but I had a lot of cs per scene and things like that. I think it’s using a lot of cpu when you change scenes also.
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I don't see a large spike when I switch scenes because most of my blocks use scene ignore but I do have 1 or two CS's. I don't think those use CPU though unless it spikes the cpu during the scene change only and it doesn't really read on the screen. I don't know.. So yours froze and you were at 76-77 or that's where you live now?
 
How many controllers do you have in your preset?

I have a few presets which are guaranteed to freeze the FM3 with CPU not hitting 80%. I've reported/shared them to Fractal, but apparently those are not fixable due to many controllers used. I use Pitch followers and Envelope followers quite extensively. Some of my presets are below 80% but 100% freeze a device after an attempt to switch a scene, etc.
It is also affecting scene switching speed - when such preset is processing the sound (i.e. guitar volume knob is not 0), the scenes will not switch until I'm muting the guitar - I believe this is due Pitch followers producing a high load on CPU blocking other actions to keep the sound flowing.

Also, FM3 freezes quite often when uploading an IR from Cab-Lab 4 to such preset - no issues with presets which are not close to 80% and have less controllers. So I work on IRs using simplified presets and them transfer them to the main presets. Keep this in mind just in case.

Try removing a few controllers like Pitch followers if you use them and see if stability improves. This works for me, but I keep running the device on the edge anyway, as I'm not gigging a lot these days and can wait for the reboot :) The only bad thing is that my device sends a loud pop to the speakers when switching off and on, so when I'm plugged in directly into the speaker without volume control such as Genelec monitors, it brings some discomfort.

I'm rarely have any freeze issues with the presets over 80% if the controllers are not used.
 
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Chromatizm said:
How many controllers do you have in your preset?

I have a few presets which are guaranteed to freeze the FM3 with CPU not hitting 80%. I've reported/shared them to Fractal, but apparently those are not fixable due to many controllers used. I use Pitch followers and Envelope followers quite extensively. Some of my presets are below 80% but 100% freeze a device after an attempt to switch a scene, etc.
It is also affecting scene switching speed - when such preset is processing the sound (aka guitar volume knob is not 0), the scenes will not switch until I'm muting the guitar - I believe this is due Pitch followers producing a high load on CPU blocking other actions to keep the sound flowing.

Also, FM3 freezes quite often when uploading an IR from Cab-Lab 4 to such a preset - no issues with presets which are not close to 80% and have less controllers. So I work on IRs using simplified presets and them transfer them to the main presets. Keep this in mind just in case.

Try removing a few controllers like Pitch followers if you use them and see if stability improves. This works for me, but I keep running the device on the edge anyway, as I'm not gigging a lot these days and can wait for the reboot :) The only bad thing is that my device sends a loud pop to the speakers when switching off and on, so when I'm plugged in directly into the speaker without volume control such as Genelec monitors, it brings some discomfort.

I'm rarely have any freeze issues with the presets over 80% if the controllers are not used.
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Had almost identical problems/limitations ( and the pop too ) , could live with it , but now have a FM9
 
GuyJames said:
I don't see a large spike when I switch scenes because most of my blocks use scene ignore but I do have 1 or two CS's. I don't think those use CPU though unless it spikes the cpu during the scene change only and it doesn't really read on the screen. I don't know.. So yours froze and you were at 76-77 or that's where you live now?
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I never had a problem after I used less scene controllers and less cs per scene.

My main preset is about 76%.

And as stated by @Chromatizm I may have some pop from time to time and switching scenes even though it’s the same amp block and cab block sometimes takes different times to switch.

That’s also why I wish for gapeless. So I could use more amp blocks even if it’s the same amp instead of having controllers.
 
skolacki said:
Might have kicked in a combo that put it over the top. I’m usually 75-78% on most presets. But good advice for sure. I turn on all of my most cpu intensive effects/ channels and trim if needed or select a mode that uses less juice. CPU can vary depending on what’s in the scene.
Click to expand...
À few months ago I added OUT1 EQ the dedicated page of the FM3 that usually is off. I encountered the same difficulties during the seton 2 of my patches. This function eats a few % more that you do not necessarily notice in the patch views of the UI. Turning out EQ off solved the problem. I actually can run patches up to 83-85% on my unit.
 
You'd think the FM3 would just start disabling effects to free up CPU instead of "blue screening". That's what my old FX8 did IIRC.
 
lauke-lux said:
À few months ago I added OUT1 EQ the dedicated page of the FM3 that usually is off. I encountered the same difficulties during the seton 2 of my patches. This function eats a few % more that you do not necessarily notice in the patch views of the UI. Turning out EQ off solved the problem. I actually can run patches up to 83-85% on my unit.
Click to expand...
If you haven’t already, reducing the ‘echo density’ in the reverb block has made a big difference for me.
 
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