Software help archive

A read-only archive of old serato.com help threads.

LED light in upper right corner of software is showing up

Product
Serato DJ Pro
Version
1.6.0
Hardware
Pioneer DJ DDJ-SX
Computer
Mac
OS
Platform
-
DJ_Breeze 3:07 PM - 21 March, 2014
There were a few times last night I noticed that there was a led yellow and red light showing up on the software. I can not tell you what the light was for because it did not tell me if it was a midi or usb issue. I run my mixer levels in the green all night. I never touch the yellow or red on the mixer channels or main out. I also have the software limiting the audio to 92dB. I noticed the light when I first connect the DDJ-SX to the computer and turned on the unit. It would then show up occasionally throughout the course of the night. I did not have any audio issues and the software was running fine. I just want to know what this light could possibly be.

Thanks,
Serato, Support
Scott S 11:19 PM - 23 March, 2014
Hi DJ_Breeze,

Usually this light is to indicate to you that your computer is close to an audio or MIDI dropout, usually by trying to add to many things and the system can get overwhelmed.

There is usually nothing to worry about if this light comes on and goes away, just letting you know that it was close to the dropout threshold.

Sometimes this light can come on when using slicer/loops, loading a track, importing files, pumping the gains too high, adjusting many MIDI parameters at once or trying to add to many effects to a track.

Can you let me know what computer specs you are running?

Have you tried another high quality (usually thicker) high bandwidth USB cable?

Do you have any other USB devices connected to your computer as well? Mouse, keyboard, External Hard Drive etc?

Like I said this light is usually harmless, it just lets you know when the software may be struggling.

Regards
DJ_Breeze 12:30 PM - 24 March, 2014
Scott,

Here is the specs for my Macbook Pro:

2.9GHz Dual-core Intel Core i7
8GB 1600MHz DDR3 SDRAM
750GB Hard Drive
OSX 10.9 Mavericks

All of my music is on the internal hard drive. I am looking at finding a better USB cable. I am currently using the stock cable that came with the DDJ SX but I think that there could be an issue with it. When I am spinning I do not have any WiFi, Bluetooth or attached devices on the laptop. I was curious since the LED did not have any warning like Midi, or USB Dropout with it. I know that I have more than enough computer to run the software. I will find a new cable and let you know if this resolves the situation.

Thanks
Serato, Support
Scott S 8:12 PM - 24 March, 2014
Quote:
I was curious since the LED did not have any warning like Midi, or USB Dropout with it.


If you download the Serato DJ manual here, go to page 10 and let me know which light you are seeing, the one listed as number 18 or the one listed as number 24? Download the manual here > serato.com

Is this a constant issue? Or does it only happen now and again?

Regards
DJ_Breeze 8:48 PM - 24 March, 2014
Scott,

I am seeing the CPU warning issue light. Now when this is happening my CPU bar is not showing a lot of use. If this happens it is random and not when I am loading a track. The track is just playing. Honestly, I have not seen it flash when I am using the effects. This is only happening now and again.
jayvivet 8:59 PM - 24 March, 2014
Sorry to gatecrash but it's applicable to the thread. Can you please give an example of a high bandwith USB cable. The only ones I can see are USB 3.0. Would that be suitable or do I need to look at something else?

Thanks
Serato, Support
Scott S 9:32 PM - 24 March, 2014
Hi DJ_Breeze,

It's interesting that it is only happening randomly, and doesn't seem to be anything in particular that is causing the light to come on. Yes that is a CPU warning light, but that doesn't mean that the CPU is overloading or you are reaching your CPU limit, it's more a matter of how close you are to an audio dropout (reaching the threshold).

Try following the steps here, and see if you see any improvements > serato.com

Could there be some other program on your computer randomly sending data at a given interval that could be interfering with CPU usage? Like Anti-virus auto-scanning, an email sending/receiving, iTunes doing something in the background etc?

In Serato DJ, in the SETUP menu under the Audio tab, what is your Audio USB buffer set to? Try adjusting it to a slightly higher value, like 5ms, 10ms or 20ms. Does the issue still occur?

Quote:
Sorry to gatecrash but it's applicable to the thread. Can you please give an example of a high bandwith USB cable. The only ones I can see are USB 3.0. Would that be suitable or do I need to look at something else?

Hi jayvivet, sorry for the misunderstanding, I was not indicating that you NEED a "high bandwidth USB cable", the one that comes with the controller is perfectly fine, I was just mentioning to try another USB cable, as I know there are some cheap USB cables out there that are not made of quality components and can sometimes restrict USB data flow.

Regards
Serato, Support
Scott S 9:40 PM - 24 March, 2014
Helpful Info: Unlike Scratch Live, the warning light in Serato DJ 1.6 will not specifically go on when there is an actual drop out (Audio or MIDI/USB).

The warning light tells you that Serato DJ was not able to process something in under 1ms. Its more useful this way, as you probably already know without the light if you have an actual drop out.

We may have to refine this in the future though. Thank you for the feedback.
DJ_Breeze 3:10 AM - 26 March, 2014
Scott,

I do not run anything else when running Serato DJ. This is the way that I have operated since being a SSL user. I am not sure what happened. I have been playing on my DDJ-SX to try and recreate the issue. I have not been able to do this. The only what that I forced the issue is when I moved the USB buffer to 1ms. Then I actually had dropouts and static audio. I expected that and I never run on 1ms. Now I just recently verified my disc permissions and partitions. There was an error with the permissions. I wonder if that had something to do with my situation. I have since fixed the permissions and restarted the mac to ensure that the changes were made. I will keep playing with the controller and try to replicate the situation.
DJ_Breeze 12:32 AM - 30 March, 2014
Scott,

I have been using the software and controller all week. What I have noticed is when I plug in the USB cable and turn on the unit the LED is lighting. I am not seeing it light up during my gigs. It is only during the initial setup. I am a little at ease, but this did not happen before 1.6.1. I do not know what might have changed to make this happen. The fact that it is not happening during a gig is comforting but it is an uneasy comfort. I have another gig tonight and I will report on that if it lights up during the night.
DJ Handsome 9:55 AM - 22 October, 2015
Please someone should help me out, I use ATLP-120,SL2,HP windows 7,450gb HDD,2gb ram,2gb processor and serato dj 1.7.8.i have been playing my new set for like two weeks now and it has been working well but two days ago I had a gig and when I load a track to play in internal or relative mode,the track will freeze like half a second and plays again,this happens two or three times in a loaded track even if I don't touch the pitch slider,reducing or increasing the usb buffer size did not solve the problem,i have changed my usb cable,formatted my laptop,i have no midi device and I even Installed the software on another computer it stopped the first day and the next day it started again(usb dropout) and I have been seeing a yellow and red light on the top right hand corner on serato dj. Am confused someone should please help me out and give a solution to this pleaaaase