I just plunked down the big bucks less than a week ago for Serato SCRATCH Live with the SL1 and reading this I do worry as I have already updated my MacBook to 10.5.4 and iTunes 8. I was about to update to 10.5.5 and thought I would read through the forums first.
Is this going to be a problem that I am up to date about this? I don't like the idea of reloading down to 10.5.1 at all personally.

Been using ScratchLive for a couple of years now, and always been pleased with the performance, stability and software updates and stuff. Lately, since 10.5 my appreciation has become a little diminished since Apple was rolling new things out, and Serato stopped keeping it up. I understand Apple’s changed a lot of things regarding reading files in FAT32 (which my external hard drive is formatted on – for Interoperability’s sake).
In two different occasions I had to archive and install Mac OS, so I could downgrade the system, in order to run ScratchLive hassle free. Although it goes fine in appearances, deep down the system is not 100% anymore after a major change like that. And I feel like back in my Window’s days.
10.5.5 is out now, 1.8.2 as well, and my hard drive will still be on FAT32, hopefully someone will come out and say it’s all save. Currently running 10.5.1 which you all know is a sh*t.

Is there any other big problems besides reading from fat32? This is not an issue for me since I have a upgraded 300GB hard drive to handle all my music.

I have run a small computer repair company for several years now and 4 of my best clients are DJ's. I have all four of them running the latest version of OSX 10.5.4 and now 10.5.5. , the newest version of serato 1.8.1 and now 1.8.2 and iTunes 8 and they all run flawlessly. In my experience I have found that repairing the disk permissions after installs/upgrades can be helpfull. I also use a free program called onyx for basic maintenance once a week and it seems to keep things running smooth. As a side note I would suggest performing ALL apple software updates as well as maxing out the ram on your computer. Hope this helps.

I wish it was all that simple, for my personal experience I'll will never update the OS to the newest one. Usually the penultimate or older. And the problem I guess some of us are having, is when our music resides in a external hard drive formatted to FAT32. ScratchLive since Mac OS 10.5.3, as I recall, shows huge lag when loading and working with the song from the external drive.
If I had to run my music from any drive (internal or external) formatted in Mac OS Extended Journaled it would be a bliss I'm sure.
But I have to stick to the FAT since I could virtually run it from any pc or mac with ScratchLive.
No brave one with 10.5.5 and external FAT drive yet?
Thx

Thanks PaidInFull. I know my mac maintenance inside and out so that won't be a problem and I have 4 gigs of ram in a machine that can only handle 3 (Sadly, wish I had paid attention before I bought the RAM.)

Since I don't own any windows computers FAT32 fails to be an issue for me.

I did all the updates and practiced some mixing and beat juggling for a couple of hours tonight and had no problems. Mac OS 10.5.5, iTunes 8, and SSL 1.8.2

ravikc,

We aren't behind on updates.
The one existing issue with 10.5.3 and 10.5.4 is not being able to use a Fat32 formatted drive without getting a lag. This is a Mac issue.. not a ScratchLIVE issue.

I hope they got it sorted in 10.5.5. If anyone has updated and uses a Fat32 drive please let us know.

okay great - thanks for the clarification - i was never sure what the exact reason was

but considering im running all mac drives with nothing on fat 32 i will do the upgrades and see what happens

thanks

Thx Zach,

But assuming the worst case scenario here, if by any chance Apple decided that's the way Leopard will read FAT drives from now on, so the lag will obviously remains, shouldn't it be the case when Serato might look for a solution? That's always been my main concern.
I do hope it won’t come to this, and my fingers are crossed in hope 10.5.5 is ok. I would upgrade and test myself, but as I said, I’m still collecting the debris from a recent downgrade.

Cheers

i just upgraded everything to itunes 8, 10.5.5, and 1.8.2

on my mac..with all mac formatted drives - no problems so far

i had one fat32 external with some music on it so i tried that - it seems to work - there is a SLIGHT lag when you load the songs to the decks..slight as in 2-4 seconds on usb and 1-2 seconds on firewire 800...i dont think its too big a problem..annoying but nothing to limit me

it may be worse on other ppls comp im running with 4gb ram on mine too so maybe that has something to do with it

thanks for the help guys - ill keep you posted if there are any problems

Konix just posted on another thread that 1.8.2 runs all fine on Mac 10.5.5. But unfortunately if you read your tunes from a FAT drive the lag still remains.
It's been happening since 10.5.3 so two whole system updates released. I fear this is the way it will be handle now. I guess the Serato team should at least speak up and either tell us we will have to stick with 10.5.1 forever or me may be able to upgrade our systems soon.

It's a serious thing actually. All this compatibility and system requirements issues. Any new Mac now will come with 10.5.5.
I do really appreciate all the work the guys from New Zealand are doing. but feel a bit let down here.
Cheers

But honestly what do you expect Serato to do? It's an Apple problem, not an SSL problem. The problem happens with Torq, Traktor Scratch, and may other programs, it's not just limited to SSL. Serato has logged the issue with Apple, it's going to be up to Apple to fix. Serato can't rewrite OSX for them.

Serato have stated that 10.5.1 is the recommended version and any new version above that, until further notice, is not "officially" supported...

scratchlive.net
scratchlive.net

I understand Konix.
I just sometimes wonder whether Apple is considering this as a problem, maybe the outcome is because they purposely change something in reading the FAT file system for security or stability, in which case they probably won't change it back any time soon. And if that's the case, I would like to see Serato doing some workaround. But then again, I'm no expert in this business.
Going to think about formatting my external to Mac OS extended.
So are you sure others VES suffer the problem in same conditions?
Cheers

I'm sure Mac is considering this a problem.
Apple caters to musicians and if there are enough musicians having an issue with it then they will do something about it.

As Konix said.. you can't expect Serato to re-write the Mac OS.
This is a problem that Apple created and I'm sure they will fix it.
At least there is a pretty simple workaround for now.

I am honestly more concerned that instead of declaring that using a Fat 32 drive under leopard is an unsupported configuration they declare the entire OS unstable and unsupported. This means if I have any other problem now Serato & Rane can just declare I am unsupported and put me through a reload hell at their leisure. It makes me uneasy about the product as a whole.


Does SSL Not cache tracks in memory anyways when you load them?

Anything that any other company does is out of our control.
We'll obviously do what we can to keep our product working well and our customers happy.
Like Konix said.. this is not just an issue with ScratchLIVE.
Its an issue with all programs that read files off of a Fat32 drive.
I highly doubt there will ever be a time where SSL just isn't supported with a Mac.
Your best bet when it comes to any program is to do research before updating.
We don't like telling people they need to downgrade their system.


This is not a caching issue. It has to do with the OSX not being able to quickly access the drive.

Apple must have just bunked some code up. I'm sure it will be fixed soon.
This is just the nature of computers and software.

ravikc,

I'm going to close this thread for now. If you'd like to open it up again just re-post;)