MagicQ / Macbook / Mini-wing issue.

[LXbydesign]

Any advice or a fix-it would be very helpful. :-)

 

Ok - so the other night I was running my mini-wing for the first time connected to my Macbook Pro. During the first half of the show - the software crashed 3 times freezing up and me having to restart the mac on each occasion.

 

During the 2nd half I swopped over to the dongle and ran just using the Mac. All was fine.

 

Incidentally, all the other times I have used the program on the Mac just with the dongle, Ive have had no issues.

 

Now I know the X11 emulator which MagicQ runs off for the Mac is a bit wobbly, but having the hardware connected seemed to make it worse.

 

Would it be worth partitioning the HD and running MagicQ from the Windows platform to give it more stability or am I buggered and need to just run it on a PC Laptop ?

[gyro_gearloose]

So the first time you used your particular Mac/wing setup was on a live show? You didn't even set it up beforehand to make sure it wouldn't crash? That was brave, and not a something I'd like to have to explain to a shows producers, who would be asking why the lights failed 3 times during act one. It doesn't look good, does it?

 

As with so many things pee cee related, your software should have just worked. MagicQ should have found the wing, and whatever OS your Mac is using should have been able to handle communications between them. Sadly, as you've just found out, this isn't always the case. I'll wait for a passing Mac guru to explain how to solve your problem as I don't know Macs that well. However, in your situation I'd get a pee cee running XP and remove everything except MagicQ and then carry on from there.

[c.cam108]

MagicQ will run better on Windows (a dedicated copy of Windows is best), so you might be best using Boot Camp and installing a Windows 7 partition (XP is 11 years old now - don't bother). OS X makes the process of installing Boot Camp extremely easy.

 

(This is really a workaround rather than a fix, but sometimes workarounds are better than fixes!)

[gyro_gearloose]

XP is 11 years old now - don't bother

So what if its not the newest version? If it works, why fix it? Would Windows 7 add anything for this situation that XP can't provide? Other than the requirement for more hard drive space/processing power/memory obviously :)

 

I honestly do not understand this idea of upgrading for the sake of it. If newer software genuinely provides some needed functionality then fine, upgrade, but don't do it just for the sake of doing it.

[LXbydesign]

XP is 11 years old now - don't bother

So what if its not the newest version? If it works, why fix it? Would Windows 7 add anything for this situation that XP can't provide? Other than the requirement for more hard drive space/processing power/memory obviously :)

 

I honestly do not understand this idea of upgrading for the sake of it. If newer software genuinely provides some needed functionality then fine, upgrade, but don't do it just for the sake of doing it.

 

 

As a reply to gyro- yes I had tried the hardware at home minus a lighting rig and it seemed to be running ok. Fortunately, the Mac was running just the movers and a few LED bits - and the generics were coming off the house desk so things wernt hugely critical. Although had I run the entire lot of magicQ (which I nearly did), it would of been somewhat distressing.

 

MagicQ will run better on Windows (a dedicated copy of Windows is best), so you might be best using Boot Camp and installing a Windows 7 partition (XP is 11 years old now - don't bother). OS X makes the process of installing Boot Camp extremely easy.

 

(This is really a workaround rather than a fix, but sometimes workarounds are better than fixes!)

 

Thank for that info C.Cam.

 

Im not a Mac guru - but I know a man that is - and he'll have that up and running very soon. Failing that , I'll just have to get a dedicated basic PC laptop instead.

[paulears]

I always run the mac version on my macbook, it's more responsive than running the pc version via parallels. It has also never crashed - I run it as a backup just in case, so it's been running the same shows as the PC version, and not a problem at all. Terminal and X11 running it. So something a little odd going on?

[J Pearce]

A good reason is that soon XP will not be receiving security patches, and likely not drivers for new kit.

Also I have found a clean 7 boot to be quicker than a clean XP boot, and 7 x64 is better supported than XP x64.

[gyro_gearloose]

A good reason is that soon XP will not be receiving security patches, and likely not drivers for new kit.

As long as you're just using the XP machine for MagicQ, then I don't see this as an issue really. Vista kind of put me off blindly upgrading from XP just for the sake of it, though if 7 is better then I might be tempted if I ever buy a new PC.

[alistermorton]

A good reason is that soon XP will not be receiving security patches, and likely not drivers for new kit.

As long as you're just using the XP machine for MagicQ, then I don't see this as an issue really. Vista kind of put me off blindly upgrading from XP just for the sake of it, though if 7 is better then I might be tempted if I ever buy a new PC.

 

Windows 7 64 bit is currently your best bet IME, but get it while you can before we're all force fed Windows 8, the brave new world.

[LXbydesign]

Terminal and X11 running it. So something a little odd going on?

 

Excatly Paul. Of course the above is running it quite happily 'stand alone' - but it didnt like the hardware added on.

 

Im gonna try the Win 7 partition idea first, but if thats no joy will contact Chamsys.

[harrison110]

Terminal and X11 running it. So something a little odd going on?

 

Excatly Paul. Of course the above is running it quite happily 'stand alone' - but it didnt like the hardware added on.

 

Im gonna try the Win 7 partition idea first, but if thats no joy will contact Chamsys.

 

I was having a similar issue (without the wings) intermittently. just a case of closing it down and seeing if it runs good next time... not a fix but a workaround really... but I had no problems once the software got running today.

 

Also I am thinking it might be a choking up of the mac asking too much from the speed of the hard drive so maybe invest in a solid state drive or a faster access speed drive for the future?

 

Talked to the chamsys people on this today and they recommend bootcamping win7 on as well.

 

What OS version are you running? I was having no problems until I switched to mountain lion (10.8.2) from snow leopard (10.6.8)

 

Also word to the wise: You cannot bootcamp Win XP onto a mac with OS 10.7 or higher (lion or mountain lion) anymore.