Somehow FCS2 is the industry standard, which makes me think that I've installed (and reinstalled) it incorrectly. I've never worked with a more bug-ridden program. Most of the glitches happen even after a fresh install with all prior evidence of FCS2 removed. Do I need to install it in some sort of safe mode? Prior to installing do I need to defrag or something?

My quad has plenty of space and 6gb memory. I bought Diskwarrior but it doesn't help. I do all updates. Glitches occur in multiclip, quick keys, capture, render, etc. I also get General Errors and with no warning it closes to the desktop 2-5 times per week. It's killing my business and my love for editing.

Hi Dana,

When I installed FCS2 I put in a second system drive, installed the OS, updated all the way to the most recent version of the OS (using the downloadable updates, never use the online software updates), and then finally installed FCS2. I can now boot into one of two system drives. I did this because Apple has always recommended a clean install when building an editing system or installing a major update (FCS1 to FCS2 can be considered a major update).

I didn't want to change an already stable editing system but needed to transition to FCS2. This gave me the best of both worlds; I can change the Startup Disk in the System Preferences when I need to switch back to my original system drive. I basically have two computers/systems: the newer one I now use as my primary editing system (with FCS2), and the old one which I only use when I have to update old projects.

I have not had a single problem with FCS2 since I installed it 8 months ago.

....Prior to installing do I need to defrag or something?....

Yes: "something" = Repair Permissions (Use Disk Utility) on your system drive before and after any major installations or upgrades.

Also: you do keep your media off your system drive, don't you?

Let me summarize the collective wisdom for doing a clean Final Cut Studio installation in a checklist:

1. Run Disk Utility choose repair disk, to make sure directory is in good shape, and then run repair permissions.
2. Make sure you are running the latest System Software (run Software Update)
3. Install Final Cut Studio on your System Drive
4. Reboot the system (not absolutely required, but a good measure)
5. Run Software Update again (there will be several updates to FCS2 since the install disk was made)
6. Run Disk Utility, choose repair permissions again just for good measure.

And as Martin Mayer suggested, make sure you keep media on one drive, system on another. Go to System Settings and choose a second drive that is not your system drive for the media to go on. A system crash during media capture can render a disk unstable, you don't want to do that to your system disk.

On a regular basis, you should:

1. Run Disk Utility, Repair disk, once a week on all active drives
2. If Disk utility can't repair a problem, run Disk Warrior
3. If Disk Warrior can't repair a disk problem, time to reformat the drive (and of course, you'll have back-ups of your media and project, so that's no big deal, right?).

Hi Dana,

When I installed FCS2, I updated all the way to the most recent version of the OS (using the downloadable updates, never use the online software updates), .

Thats a new one on me. What difference would using the downloadable updates vs software update make? I always thought they were the same thing but that the latter was an automatic notification that an update was available, which of course you can refuse.

Dana,

The only way FCS or any other app is buggy is because you have an OS environment that has become unstable for whatever reason.

Based on your previous posts and troubles I'd highly suggest that you get someone to consult with you in-person. There's too much information gathering required that can't be done on the 'net to really find out what the source of all your troubles are.

FCS2 is the most stable version of FC ever released; if you're having multiple issues with the app then you have a serious underlying problem with the system itself, not the app.

Thank you everyone. It's encouraging to think that I might soon enjoy editing again.

[...] Based on your previous posts and troubles I'd highly suggest that you get someone to consult with you in-person. [...] if you're having multiple issues with the app then you have a serious underlying problem with the system itself, not the app [...]

Bringing in an expert is always good, but if you can't do that for one reason or another, start with running the Apple Hardware Test diagnostic on the system (came on a disk w/ the computer) this might point out a memory problem, for example (run the extended test).

If that checks out then a clean install of the latest OS followed by a clean install FCS2 might just be the ticket. I've had to do this myself a couple of times to clear up instability problems.

The key to troubleshooting system instability is to make sure you have a clean, stable baseline upon which to troubleshoot. That way you don't waste time on problems that could have been eliminated easily through a hardware test and a clean install.

I couldn't find the diagnostic.

I've cleaned off and erased a free 270gb internal. I had been using another 270gb partitioned to 200gb. I did realize my iTunes were on the drive, which may have caused this whole thing. I also didn't realize that everything on my desktop (some rogue QT files) is stored on that bay as well.

It seems overkill to use 270gb, but stability is all I care about. I will add some other apps if it doesn't hurt anything, but I won't keep them open. BTW, can I keep and run apps on either drive?

Most of the glitches happen even after a fresh install with all prior evidence of FCS2 removed. Do I need to install it in some sort of safe mode? Prior to installing do I need to defrag or something?

Are you absolutely 100% certain you have removed all evidence of a previous install? Did you use FCS Remover (http://www.digitalrebellion.com/fcs_remover.htm)?


I do all updates.

Well, that leads me to one of the most basic questions when stability issues arise: what version of FCS, OS X and QT are you running? Randomly updating software is not going to fix anything, especially when it comes to QuickTime. From Shane Ross' informative blog: (http://lfhd.blogspot.com/2008/07/final-cut-pro-and-quicktime-versions.html)


One HUGE thing that you need to get right to ensure a really good working Final Cut Pro system is the perfect balance of Final Cut Pro and Quicktime. Quicktime is the engine in FCP, everything that FCP captures it captures as Quicktime. So having the right version for the version of FCP you are using is critical. If you use a version that is too new, you will have issues. Too old...issues. But for there was never a real comprehensive list of what version of QT works best with your version of FCP. Us editors just had to know.


This issue comes up all the time over that the Apple FCP Discussions board. (http://discussions.apple.com/forum.jspa?forumID=939) I went through pages and pages of posts before I built my new system (which is humming along very nicely, with out a single FCP-related issue thus far). I have my system locked at OS X 10.5.2 + QT 7.4.5 + FCP 6.0.2 and it has been working great.

Oh boy...I tried installing OS X after erasing, DiskWarrioring, repair-permissioning and waiting. It said 'There were errors installing the software. Please try installing again.' I tried it again with the same result.

>Are you absolutely 100% certain you have removed all evidence of a previous install?

Yes, only media files have been on this drive.

Dana, what version of FCS, OS X and QT are (were) you running?

Fcp 6.0.4, Qt 7.5, Os X 10.4.7

as mike suggested, did you try using FCS Remover? I did all the tricks to fix Compressor when it went wacky on me, implemented every suggestion that I could find to fix it and nothing. What finally worked was a clean install after using FCS remover. FCS remover is the way to go....takes hours to clean install but worth it, smooth sailing ever since....

The thing is that I've never had FCP on the drive I'm switching to.

I did a permission repair on the fresh OS X install, and got a much of things. Is this normal?
___________________________
Repairing permissions for “Bay 2”
Determining correct file permissions.
Permissions differ on ./Applications/iTunes.app/Contents/Frameworks/InternetUtilities.bundle/Contents/MacOS/InternetUtilities, should be -rw-rw-r-- , they are -rwxrwxr-x Owner and group corrected on ./Applications/iTunes.app/Contents/Frameworks/InternetUtilities.bundle/Contents/MacOS/InternetUtilities
Permissions corrected on ./Applications/iTunes.app/Contents/Frameworks/InternetUtilities.bundle/Contents/MacOS/InternetUtilities
Permissions differ on ./Library/Application Support/Macromedia/Shockwave 10/Shockwave 10 Preferences, should be -rwxrwxr-x , they are -rw-rw-r-- Owner and group corrected on ./Library/Application Support/Macromedia/Shockwave 10/Shockwave 10 Preferences Permissions corrected on ./Library/Application Support/Macromedia/Shockwave 10/Shockwave 10 Preferences Permissions differ on ./usr/bin/emacs, should be -r-sr-xr-x , they are -r-xr-xr-x Owner and group corrected on ./usr/bin/emacs Permissions corrected on ./usr/bin/emacs

Permissions repair complete
Permissions differ on ./usr/standalone/i386/boot.efi, should be -r--r--r-- , they are -r-xr-xr-x Owner and group corrected on ./usr/standalone/i386/boot.efi Permissions corrected on ./usr/standalone/i386/boot.efi The privileges have been verified or repaired on the selected volume

Fcp 6.0.4, Qt 7.5, Os X 10.4.7

Others using FCS2 on Tiger should chime in if I am wrong, but you may want (if you are sticking with Tiger -- as an aside, Leopard is super sweet, FYI) to do a clean install of the OS up to 10.4.11.

The FCP and QT mix I am unclear on, because I am not sure about the order of their release; but the rule of thumb is that you should stick with the version of QT that was current when the version of FCP you are using was released.

I feel for you and the frustration I am sure you are going through. In a perfect world this stuff would be clear cut. If it is any comfort, this is not exclusive to Macs and FCP.

Try searching the Apple Discussion for FCP, you may find the info you need there.

The thing is that I've never had FCP on the drive I'm switching to.

You haven't had FCP on that drive… explain to me again briefly what it is you are doing, because I think I'm losing track…

I did a permission repair on the fresh OS X install, and got a much of things. Is this normal?

That all looks pretty normal. As long as you see this:

The privileges have been verified or repaired on the selected volume

at the end of it with a success message in green, don't worry about it.

[...] but the rule of thumb is that you should stick with the version of QT that was current when the version of FCP you are using was released [...]

I've been keeping up w/ automatic software updates, now running Mac OS X 10.5.4, QuickTime 7.5.0, FCP 6.0.4 (on a MacBook Pro) and editing has been rock solid. The current combination seems to be doing alright. Maybe it's risky in theory, but I let Software Update install all of the system and ProApps updates as they come. I've found that they usually fix more than they break.

Especially in the early phase of a new versions life, Apple comes out with lots of little updates that fix instabilities. That's why it's usually a good thing to run Software Update after a install from the distribution disks. At least most of the time it works that way. I would not do an UPGRADE without finding out the current issues, but UPDATES are usually an improvement.

That said, for a mission critical project, if a combination of system/QT/FCP is stable, I will not change it until after the project is done.

@Mike,

Tom Vandas had given me the advice:
When I installed FCS2 I put in a second system drive, installed the OS, updated all the way to the most recent version of the OS (using the downloadable updates, never use the online software updates), and then finally installed FCS2. I can now boot into one of two system drives. I did this because Apple has always recommended a clean install when building an editing system or installing a major update.

Therefore I cleaned off a 270gb internal that only had media on it. I've installed FCS2 clean onto the new drive and made it my startup drive. I'm about to install FCS2 on it, and if anything strange happens I'm going to erase the drive again and buy Leopard.

I've installed FCS2 clean onto the new drive and made it my startup drive. I'm about to install FCS2 on it

I'm confused about whether you have installed or are about to install FCS2. Perhaps my morning coffee just hasn't kicked in, but when I go back through this thread there are some contradicting statements that are making it hard (for me, at least) to really get a clear picture of what you have done or are doing.

Hi Mike,

I cleaned off an existing media drive and last night I installed the OS and FCS2. I've made it the startup disk. My former startup drive still hosts the old glitchy OS and FCS2 as a backup for now. The quick keys glitch is resolved, but I don't know about the rest as-of yet. I was previously guilty of having itunes on the main drive, which pry gave the drive instability. Now everything is clean and I've got a new start. It may be that everything works now, but I haven't done rendering or multicam stuff. I have a deadline on Sunday, so I will know very soon.

Whether or not it works, I've got to say thanks to you, Robert, David and Meryem. It's not only a mental resolve, but as our sole income it affects my spouse and one year-old. It means a lot to have your help. :o)

I cleaned off an existing media drive and last night I installed the OS and FCS2. I've made it the startup disk. My former startup drive still hosts the old glitchy OS and FCS2 as a backup for now. The quick keys glitch is resolved, but I don't know about the rest as-of yet.

Sounds good. I hope it all goes well. I know how crippling a buggy set-up can be. Once you find your set-up to be stable, lock it down! By that I mean don't do any upgrades unless you know you need them.



I was previously guilty of having itunes on the main drive, which pry gave the drive instability.

I very much doubt iTunes had a single thing to do with your issues. It sounds to me that your problems was either

a) a QT + FCP (with possible OS) mis-match
b) a corrupt file, or
c) a bad FCS install



Now everything is clean and I've got a new start.

I have a suggestion: it sounds like this machine is used for both professional use (editing, etc) as well as personal use (email, iTunes, etc). Best practice would be to have two machines: one for work, one for personal -- but freelancers/self-employed types like you and I generally don't have that option. As a work around, I have three different users on my Mac Pro: the admin, the editor, and my personal account.

One is the only admin account and is used as the system admin (obviously). The Editor account is used only for my work. Then my personal account is used for listening to iTunes, reading blogs, email, etc.

This way, certain settings, preferences and libraries are isolated. This isn't a magic solution, but it helps me make sure that anything I do for my personal account (like installing a QT codec that FCP won't like) it won't tank things system-wide if it goes awry.

I only edit and play iTunes on the quad, but that's great advice.

All quick-keys are working now, and I'm able to use multi-clip most of the time.

I'm getting protection errors when I render, though it's the only open app after a restart.

I'm also getting consistant errors that I'm using the wrong clip settings. I captured the clips on a different Mac, so it may be nothing, although the settings are identical.

I also had to restart to have it recognize my fx1, which hopefully won't be a pattern.

Thoughts?

I just reading all this....

are you running the computer on a UPS ? bad power can be the source of much weirdness like this. I had a client system that was crashing all day long. I saw it crash when a wall mounted AC unit kicked in. UPS and a change of outlets and problem solved.

if you had error during install on a clean install of the OS, the most likely problem is a bad HD it would also explain some of your other errors and the OS getting corrupted., or possibly a bad installer DVD. does the installer DVD have a lot of scratches on it ? or the OS installer ?. however, if you have cruddy power coming in, that can also cause this as well as kill HD's.

you have to trouble shoot logically, and from one end to the other. you can't just hop around from one thing to another, or assume cause / effect realtionships like "I move the mouse left and it crashes" sort of thing.

its also possible you have bad RAM which can also cause random crashes which lead to app & OS corruption. less likely, but possible is a bad processor, an overheating processor, or a bad mobo, but those are kind of rare with macs.

you also had a mismatch of 10.4.7 with 6.0.4 which wants 10.4.11, or ideally 10.5.4 + QT 7.5. Software updates works fine for 99% of us. on RARE occasions it does mess up and you have to use a downloaded updater, but thats not standard operation procedure.

Steve - great thoughts. It's insane how many things I power with one outlet. I've been keeping my eyes open to a safe alternative to five power strips! I never knew it could cause system abnormalities, though I don't think it's the cause of my fcp probs.

As it did before, when I change the speed of the clip it either tells me a conflict occurred during a trim operation or it quits unexpectantly.
Also as it did before, it loads my custom layout differently every time.
:o(

do you have more then one user account on the machine ? are you setting up more then one ? are you enabling root user ?

loading the wrong preset is a hint that FCP is using prefs in another user account, or even from the trash on weird occasion.

try creating a new user account, log into that account, then run FCP, set it up, quit FCP, then reopen FCP and see what it does.

I'm the only user. I may physically take the other drive out of the quad to make sure.

About half the time I'm getting a "General Error" without explanation when I render to QT. The common thread with the renders that fail are that they have a lot of green in the timeline. If I render to preview before rendering to QT it helps, but I also get the same error rendering to preview. That's the same as before.

It also won't let me click to answer any prompt, though I can hit return.

Totally different HD, fresh OS install and fresh FCS2 install. :o(

I don't know how to sterilize the environment any more than I have.

Options:
1. UPS
2. Upgrade to Leopard
3. ?

...I'm getting the same general error at the same spot on my Macbook Pro, so the capture file must be corrupt, which also happens alot. I'm really wondering if this is a power consistency issue, especially since I have 15 plugs in one outlet.

bad power can manifest itself is several common ways -
random crashes
random media file corruption
random OS & app corruption
premature HD failure
other weird unrepeatable problems

one of the most common problems is spikes on the power line, and the second most are brown outs where the line level dips. both can happen if there are too many other _high_ draw items on the same line. having 3 computers + monitors could do it, especially if they are all on and doing stuff at the same time which is processor intensive. UPS will smooth out the power dips, and clean up the spikes. you really need to get your power better setup. there can be other problems too with power lines laying in parallel radiating junk from one line to another.

given that you have a situation in which power could be to blame, I'd suggest fixing that first and eliminating it as a possible source of problems first, then do the reinstalls otherwise you'll likely just continue to have problems. if you have one bad media file, its quite possible you could have more. this could be caused by a failing HD which may or may not be power related, it could just be a bad drive.

I'm going to get a UPS. I'm guessing one for a 15 plug outlet will be expensive. All the probs I'm having are repeatable, though, even though I've reinstalled the OS and FCS2. I'm going to upgrade to Leopard, which may be the answer.

I'm sure this may not be a luxury afforded to all of us - but if you happen to have a smaller drive around that you are trying to figure out how to best utilize, I've learned a trick lately that saves a lot of time when reinstalling FCP.

Using Disk Utility (Applications > Utilities > Disk Utility) you can make a disk image of all the FCP disks to the hard drive (insert the disk, click "New Image," name the disk accordingly, use the Compressed setting to save space).

Once you have them imaged to that hard drive, next time you have to do a clean install of FCP, just plug in that drive, open all the disk images, and start the install. You won't have to babysit it (feeding it disk 2 then 3 and so on), it will automatically see the next disk and start that install.

Furthermore, your computer can read the hard drive more quickly than the disks, so the install will take about 30 minutes at the most.

This is no different than installing off the disks as far as what is installed and how, it just speeds up the process and frees you to do other things.

Just a handy tip. All told, when compressed, the images for FCS2 are about 55gb. Will barely fit on a 60gb HD if you have one.