Has this started since the update to snow leopard?

yes sir

There have been a whole handful of issues created by snow leopard. I'd recommend trying the 1.9.2 public beta. It is meant to address many of these issues. It is still beta, but we hope to go full release with it very soon. You can find it at the link below.
scratchlive.net

Tried 19.2 loaded files and hardware quickly at home. Went to gig that night and didn't read hardware. Updated to 1.9.2 (19222) and now back to slow slow file loading ang to hardware reconition. thanks

??? I can't tell if the problem fixed itself or got worse. lol. Whats going on?

worse

If you are using a new mac or one from the last 1.5 years, try the MAC performance update linked below.
www.macworld.com

Is your music stored on an internal or external HD?

Do you have multiple drives in use?

How much free space do you have?

So the hardware shows up now but the loading time is very slow again?

External Drive (357 gigs free), playlist loading but no hardware. Just started doing this since Snow Leopard Update

Have you tried all of the ports and even a different USB cable trying to get the hardware to connect?

If it is still loading slow, we can try renaming the databaseV2 file. Do this with the program closed. If all of your music is on the external HD, open the external. You should see a _ScratchLIVE_ folder you should see the DatabaseV2 file. Rename that DatabaseV2BROKEN. Then try opening the program it might take a bit the first time but after that it should be less time to open up.

no dice, tried all usb ports and 5 usb cable and replaced the file. Playlist loading fast though, lol.

Do you have another MAC you can test it on?

MACs should recognize it with no issues. There aren't any drivers for us to manually install. The problem is either with the ports on the computer or the hardware.

its a macbook pro

Try the different ports, try a different USB cable. Still if no luck (which it sounds we are at this point) you will have to try another hardware box or try your box on another MAC.

If it is the box, you can call us at 425.355.6000 to arrange a Return Auth #. Have your serial number handy when you call.