Also, when I save a 'recorded' file (i.e. recording a mix & then naming & saving it), it takes literally 5 minutes of pinwheel/kernal panic before it stops & saves.

I have 8 MB of Ram & My computer doesn't Kernal Panic on anything else.

How much room do you have left on your internal drive?

Have you tried rebuilding your database yet? --> serato.com

i took out my cd drive and replaced it as a hard drive. i have that as my music drive #1
750 gig ssd hybrid, 7200 rpm, 32mb cache.
i have 13 gigs free.

i also partitioned my main mac drive (same stats as above drive) where 500 is allocated for the mac, 250 for music. music2 has 88 gigs free. my mac has 208 gigs free.

haven't rebuilt the database, but i will now.

13 gigs may not be enough when using such a big drive.
You want at least 5% free space on whatever drive your using.

Try getting some stuff off that drive.
Let me know if rebuilding the database helps.

I moved some music around on my drives to create space.
44gig left on my 750 gig drive #1
44gig left on my 25 gig drive #2
257gig left on my 500 gig drive

It still takes a long time, although it appears slightly less.
Any suggestions?
Delete some music? :)

Are you importing your music from one drive/partition or all three?

How many crates/subcrates do you have?
If your crates/subcrates are collapsed does it make any difference in import time?

i have maybe 5 main crates but about 100 sub crates.
i import to one drive.
I'll try with the crates collapsed. i've been doing a lot and lately they have been wide open, though they usually weren't.

I have the same issue with 2.4. I have to use ver. 1.9.2 to do the importing because it's faster and I don't get the delay/pinwheel. I'm avoiding rebuilding the database file because I rely on the date added field and doing so will reset it to the current date. Any other suggestions ?

Btw, I have 500gb of free space on my music hard drive.

The long time is after I import music to ALL from desktop, then highlight my specific drive and then highlight that drive and drag to RELOCATE LOST FILES. It takes like 10 minutes. Kernal Panic City.

Why are you trying to use the relocate lost files feature after importing music?
The only time you would need to use that feature is if you had a bunch of files showing up pink and not playable.

Also know that relocating files takes time.
Is it Kernal Panicking or is it crashing?

@therap,

Please start your own help request and we'll help you there.

i import files from a temp desktop folder to my music drive, then to my serato ALL
i then delete the temp folder from the desktop to the trash
I then have to relocate lost files, as the place it found the music from originally (temp on desktop) no longer there exists.
if i am doing this wrong, please let me know.

10 minutes i can wait for,
but when i am relocating 10 songs and it takes 20 minutes and hasn't stopped 'pinwheeling', i force quit.

I would suggest moving the files to the place where they will live permanently and then import them into SSL. You won't have to relocate files then.

should it take 3 minutes of pinwheel for me to save a 6.5 minute audio recording?

if i drag 20 songs from iTunes, i have to put them on the desktop. once on the desktop, if i moved them to the hard drive, i wouldn't know how to find them (with 200 gigs of music) before I drag them to Serato.

Let me explain how I do things and it might help you.
I have a hip hop folder that I put all my hip hop in.
I have a house folder I put all my house in etc.. etc...

I've imported those folders into the same named crate.
I have a HIP HOP crate, a HOUSE crate, etc.

If I get, say, 10 new hip hop tracks I move them into my hip hop folder and then re-import the entire hip hop folder onto my HIP HOP crate.
This will only import the 10 new songs I added to that folder.
It will not duplicate what has already been imported.

Not saying you have to organize your files within genre folders as I have but the point I'm trying to make is that you can reimport folders without duplicating what has already been imported.


I would think not.

To figure out where the issue is coming from we'll need to strip down your setup.
You currently have music coming from two partitions yes?
We need to hide all of Scratch Live's info (crates, playlists, database) from Scratch Live to create an empty slate.
We would do this by renaming the _Serato_ that lives on the root of your partitions anything other than their original name.
I usually add the number 1 to the end of the folder so it says _Serato_1 (making sure SSL is completely shut down prior to renaming).
Once done, you should have a completely empty SSL library upon re-opening.

Now we would import a small handful of files, analyze them, and then test to see if your still experiencing the same issue.

Try that out and let me know your findings.

Note: To get your original libraries back you'll want to shut down SSL, delete the newly created _Serato_ folders that live on the root of the partitions, and rename the _Serato_1 folders back to their original _Serato_ name.

re: renaming _Serato folder: I did that 2 weeks ago per my other help request 'kernel panic'.
I didn't re: import gradually, but I will try that and re analyze everything again.
give me a week, as I gig thurs-sat.

the recording is always taking place when using my Rane 68, If that makes any difference.

When I re name crate & re analyze, I will try to organize a little better as well.

I don't know if this matters, but when I open SSL, it always takes 10 minutes before it's completely open. Not playing around time, but 10 actual minutes. My friend thought this was abnormal, but I thought it was as I have a large library. When my library was smaller, it took less time to open as I recall. It doesn't bother me, just sharing in case this is abnormal.

Thank You.

Are you seeing your tags getting written at the bottom of the screen every time you open the program?

No. But I assumed since my music was on the extra internal drive(s) that it was just loading & reading.

90% of the time if I have SSL open (playing internally on laptop or using SL4 or Rane 68) and then plug into an alternative USB source (SL 4 or Rane 68), the Apple Macbook will crash and force me to restart.

Also, I am recording live sources today, and it is still taking me 2-3 minutes (pinwheel) to save an 8 minute recording on my Rane 68.

My Rane 68 firmware is v1.30

@ erange & djtherap

Thank you guys for posting this problem and letting me know that I am not alone out here. I have had issues with importing music and serato hanging, spinning rainbow wheels, and taking way too long to add even 10 tracks for well over year now.

I've rebuilt v2 countless times, tried USB and FireWire 800 external drives, bus powered or wall wart powered, NTFS and HFS+ formats, cut down from 100,000 to 80,000 to 60,000 tracks, even rebuilt my entire library and crates from scratch, and right now I have 4 versions of serato or itch installed on my mac where I'm always testing to try and find a faster way. Any time my library is over 20-30k these lag issues crop up again.

Like djtherap, only versions pre 2.0 (1.9.2) still work without this problem, sort of, but I typically play on technics with dicers not supported until 2.0. I have had mixed results between importing with 1.9.2, using Itch, using a library smaller than 20,000 tracks, or disabling SL-video plugin but no real solution. I've adopted traktor as an alternative for many of my gigs.

Here's a link to my old thread which I have given up on, I'm starting a new one with my latest v2 files and a video showing how my mac hangs forever with the cpu usage maxed out just trying to import 14 new songs, absurd.

serato.com

Are you plugging the second USB output of the SL4 or 68 into the same computer?

Regarding the long times your experiencing.
We've stripped down your setup.
My question to you is when did the problem come back after stripping it down.
That is the answer to the problem.
I'm going to assume after stripping it down, and having a completely empty library, everything was running well yes?

I've been working and haven't had a chance to 'strip it down'. i will let you know when do.

I only use one usb output for either Rane hardware device.
I have used 2 before when using it as a sound card with Maschine, but never when DJ'ing.

Cool.. let us know how the test comes along.

More drama. unrelated on the surface but possibly related.

i am TRYING to use Serato Video.
But my video screens in SL are not showing anything. When I go to 'fullscreen', the video will show. I had Video SL & when I went to a friends who is more seasoned in video, he was perplexed at this. And now it still happens in Video SL. Video SL is checked in setup.

I have nothing but MP4's. There are no corrupt files.

I have rebooted the computer but being that this takes 10 minutes, I have easily spent an hour doing nothing.

Can I just send you a crash report so you can understand & explain why my SSL is doing weird shit?

Re-importing music will take me a week. I want to DJ, not troubleshoot for a week! This has been a long ongoing issue. It is happening on my Rane 68 at home.

If video is now part of the equation I'm going to refer this discussion to Serato's support staff as we here at Rane do not deal with Serato Video or any video related issues.

They will also be able to look at your crash reports and hopefully be able to shed some light on what is going on.

Hold tight. They will be helping shortly.

forget the video sl. i resolved that on my own. let's get back to why it takes 20 minutes to import my music.

Ok... we'll need to go through this process:

To figure out where the issue is coming from we'll need to strip down your setup.
You currently have music coming from two partitions yes?
We need to hide all of Scratch Live's info (crates, playlists, database) from Scratch Live to create an empty slate.
We would do this by renaming the _Serato_ that lives on the root of your partitions anything other than their original name.
I usually add the number 1 to the end of the folder so it says _Serato_1 (making sure SSL is completely shut down prior to renaming).
Once done, you should have a completely empty SSL library upon re-opening.
If any playlists are showing up please go into the Library tab of Setup and uncheck the 'read iTunes library' option.

Now we would import a small handful of audio files (not any video).

Try that out and let me know your findings.

Note: To get your original libraries back you'll want to shut down SSL, delete the newly created _Serato_ folders that live on the root of the partitions, and rename the _Serato_1 folders back to their original _Serato_ name.

Hey erange I have a similar problem and thread going here

serato.com

Hopefully we can both get this figured out

I linked your thread internally to this thread, but yes they seem like same scenario. good thinking on the link ;)

Thank you for posting, Auronis.

Zach I've done this like 3 times before with deleting/renaming the _Serato crate but I will do it again.

In my experience this issue has always been either with video files (which your not going to be using for this test) or a file in the _Serato_ folder.

We need to get back to square one with a very stripped down library.
My guess is you won't have this long load time initially after renaming the _Serato_ folder, opening SSL, and importing a small amount of audio files.

Once we verify that we can start adding things back to the library and see at which point it breaks again.

I know this is tedious but unfortunately its the only way to figure out the cause.

ok, will do. i'll check sunday morn after my gigs are done.

Hi erange,

Basically, what Zach said, we need to go to square one with this issue, meaning the simplest most stripped down Scratch Live library.

In this scenario I would recommend having a smaller amount of test files sitting on the same partition that the Scratch Live application installed on. Renaming the _Serato_ folders on all partitions to make the Scratch Live library completely empty (no crates, no files) and then importing those test files to see how quickly they can go.

This slow importing you experience could be potentially caused by things like:

- The amount of crates/sub crates you have
- The size and potential corruption of your database V2 file on any of your music partitions
- The fact that you are trying to import from another partition to where you application is installed.

These things could also be playing a part in how long its taking you to save recordings.

The best way I think to troubleshoot this is to get back to basics and slowly bring in each variable that you currently have in the way you manage/store your files.

Let me know how you go and if you need any further help with doing this "stripping down"

I will try starting tonight. Last night I imported 125 videos. I started at 4:44pm, and it didn't finish relocating lost files until 6:20pm. That's crazy.

@Erange

Try this, it is a temporary fix for me, I'm betting it will work for you without having to rebuild your library.

Run Video SL uninstaller.
Serato Video does not have an uninstaller in the .dmg. Uninstall like this:

Macintosh HD / Library / Application support / Scratch Live / Plugins make sure it's empty

Macintosh HD / Library / Application support / Serato has a "Serato Video" application that I deleted after entering administrator password

Now try importing some files, bet it's night and day difference

That is simply too long for 125 videos erange. Keep us updated with your progress.

Thanks for the tip Auronis :)

I wlll do the renaming etc today. Today at 12:48, I added 219 mp3s. It took 10 min. to locate the files, but it took another 20 minutes of the pinwheel. while i had the pinwheel, it said "0 remaining lost files" at the bottom (or something like that). Basically, it had found the files, but didn't finish whatever work it was doing.

Man I am trying to record some live sources. It's taking 15 minutes of pinwheel for a 4 minute song, and I am NOT exaggerating my times. I want to record 5 tracks and thats like 2 hours of time. This is a snafu!

I do have Itch latest version installed. I sold my vci-300mk2 (waiting for the 380) about 2 months ago, but I didn't feel I needed to delete the Itch application. Just sharing possibilities.

Something is definitely going wrong for sure. Have you tried this yet?

OK, I am re-opening this thread.

I had to break down and get an external drive. Too much music/videos. I already took my music off my 2 internal 750gig 2.5 7200rpm 16mb cache drives (1tb total of music). I have already copied my videos & music to a 3tb 7200rpm 64mb cache drive. I have 4 folders on it, 'Serato Music', 'Serato Video' (I created those 2), and '_Serato_' & '_Serato_Backup'.

I notices that my 2 previous internal drives each have there own _Serato_, _Serato_Backup folders. Should I combine the 2 sets to my one External drive?

Tell me the best way/correct order to proceed as far as 'Reloacting Files' and also the previously mentioned 'renaming my crates'/re importing. All audio files are mp3, all video files are mp4.

I assume with a beefy external that I shouldn't have my previous long startup & long pinwheel after recording, etc.

I can't guarantee this will solve you problem, but it certainly helps to have your files all in one place.

In regards to moving your library, you would want to check out this article and follow the steps very carefully: serato.com

The one main difference would be that you would want to combine all your crate files into one _Serato_ folder. You can find all your crates files inside the "subcrates" folder.

If you were to copy and paste these files into ONE subcrates folder within ONE _Serato_ folder, this should in theory combine all the crates in one place.

You would then need to update the file locations by using the relocate lost files feature.

Have a look at that article, and if you have ANY questions don't hesitate to ask before go ahead, I wouldn't want anything to go wrong for you :)

Good news (kinda). I moved my 2 internal drives to 1 external drive. DRAMATIC load time increase (from 10 minutes to about 30 seconds). THATS what I'm talking about! I just recorded a youtube clip into my Rane 68, and the save time was normal, no pinwheel for 10 minutes (yay!).

One small issue.

I thought I combined all crates or sub crates. However, I'm missing some music in my ALL crates. For example, I have the entire Mary J. Blidge discography, but in Serato I only see one album. I did a quick search of my drive, and I have more MJB there, It's just not in my Serato. There are several artists that this applies to re: missing from Serato, but on my Hard Drive.

What is the best way to get my music back into Scratch Live?

Let me add that I previously had my scratchlive library on 2 internal drives. i unmounted the drives, but the music & crates are still there.

Hey Erange,

That is quite news :)

Regarding your missing music though, I just want to clarify what you mean by when you say you are missing music in your "ALL crates"?

Are you referring to the purple symbol "All..." crates that Scratch Live has automatically, or are you referring to some sort of other crates you created yourself?

When you say this..


I am guessing if you were to try and play those files when the drives are unmounted, it would find that the files are missing and they would change color to red.

If this is the case, then by the sounds of it, you have put some .crate files into the _Serato_ folder on your internal drive, when those crates consist of files that are you on your drives?

I am not quite sure how you have managed this, but let me just point out that when you make a crate that consists of files on an external drive/other drive it would create the .crate file inside the _Serato_ folder than exists on THAT drive, not the one that is on your Operating System drive in the default Music folder.

Perhaps if you were to give me a step by step process about how you combined your crate files/data into one folder then I could understand whats happened here.

I just omitted the crates all together and built brand new ones.
Start up time with hard drive connected upon opening SSL is about 2 minutes.
However, I find that when I record a file it still takes more than 5 minutes of pinwheel before it saves.
For recording things other than dj mixes, I just open SSL without my music hard drive connected and it is MUCH faster (less than a minute.)
I then convert the .aif file out of SSL to an .mp3 and re-import it.
It still takes a ridiculous amount of time to import a file or relocate lost file. Relocate (re-read entire library) takes AT LEAST an hour. Ridiculous! I have resolved to not do this on gig days, as it has made me late TOO MANY times waiting on the SSL pinwheel to stop.
I guess SSL has a problem with big libraries.

Well said erange, I too have given up managing my library on gig days.

No matter how many crates or files I try to slim down on, anything after 15,000-20,000 and the library drags down, searching and loading takes forever.

Don't even get me started on importing or relocating.

Hey guys,

There has been a bit of work done on loading larger libraries for the next version of Scratch Live so hopefully this will help a bit, provided it does not introduce any new issues. Please hold tight until this is in public beta.

I have also discovered recently that if you don't use the history feature, deleting/clearing this completely can really help with issues like this, so it could be worth trying? You could rename the history folder to temporarily clear it to see if any difference is made.

Let me know if you want further instructions on how to do so.

I use history rarely, so I will try to delete it.
I have been relocating lost files for the last FIVE HOURS on my computer!!!
I had a day off that I wanted to practice, but instead I'm watching the F#ck!ng pinwheel all day.

Thank you for addressing this in the new version of SSL.

Thats not cool to be trying to relocate files for that long. Did you try dragging folders ONTO the relocate lost files button instead of just clicking it? It will help narrow the search down a bit.

To remove the history:

1. Close Scratch Live
2. Go into the default Music folder > _Serato_
3. Rename the "history" folder to "history OLD"
4. Reopen Scratch Live

The history will be gone but hopefully the load time improves a little, and yes, I can't promise the next version of Scratch Live will completely solve your issues, but I really hope it does improve things for people like yourself and Auronis :)

i always drag the specific folder onto the 'relocate' tab.
i will try that with the history.
straight up, this has been running since 3pm. it's now 11pm.

also, should i have a '_serato_' folder on my mac AND on my external music hard drive?
the only music i keep on the mac is the 'recorded' files, prior to converting them to mp3 & then moving the file to my external, then deleting the .aiff file

Thanks for the update Martin, if you could let us know when the beta is available I'd love to try it.

I have attempted to keep the history folder clear, along with rebuilding v2 databases, removing corrupt files, trying different external hard drives, internal hard drives, less crates, less songs, less videos, disabling album art, running on a Windows PC vs. a Mac, starting my entire library from scratch, etc.

The issues got much worse when moving from 1.9.2 to 2.1.1 and beyond.

Nothing really helps, I'm an IT person by day and have used Serato for about 8 years, trust me when I say I have tried almost anything to get this running smoothly.

I have done everything he did in the second paragraph as well!

I didnt notice any difference with history clear either.

Ok thats disappointing, but I thought it would be worth a shot.

I will definitely send you guys the link to the beta when its out to try :)

Auronis is right i'm also an IT person and have been using Scratch live since the beginning it seems like the higher the version of scratch live, the longest it takes to load your library, import music to your laptop. please try to fix this problem in the next version because its getting to a point that if someone request a song and i don't have i dont bother importing it because most of the times it takes to long to import and write the tags on the song.

Hey @djmickdaboss,

We have recently made some improvements in this area of our software in the latest beta builds.

We are aware there is still a lot of work that needs to be done in order to cope with larger libraries, but hopefully you may notice an improvement in the next release.

Depending on far back you go with our software, older versions had less plugins and features, so by nature used less CPU than our software now. It could be worth also disabling any plugins you may have enabled in the setup but do not use to help with this.

Cheers :)

@Martin C

Where's the download link? :)

@djmickdaboss

Version 1.9.2 was the last "stable" version for me before all the issues discussed here starting cropping up, give it a try if you can... I can't because I use dicers and sl-video. Ugh.

Here Auronis: serato.com

I can't promise its going to solve all your problems but its worth a shot!

Will 1.9.2 work with my Rane 68 or SL4?

I have a new help request where my external drive seems 'corrupt', keeps reading tags & wants me to constantly analyze 8000 files (out of 100k). I've tried moving the data to another drive, but even my cloning program says that the error is in my Serato Music folder (says nothing about Serato Video).
Just wondering if anyone has had a similar issue.

I'm not going to go into a big rant, but Rane/SSL HAS to know that if it is going to be the digital DJ 'standard', it's going to have to accommodate constantly growing libraries.

No, the Rane Sixty-Eight nor the SL4 has been released when 1.9.2 was out.

8000 files out of how many that have the issue? Have you tried moving across some of the problematic files to the internal drive to see if they have the same issue? This would be a good test to investigate if is either related to permissions issues with the external drive, or the files themselves.

What is this cloning program you speak of?



I couldn't agree more, and we are working on. This is completely on Serato by the way, Rane make the mixers and do not develop the software.

I didnt try to put it on my 2nd internal drive (i have 2) because then that potentially might be another issue with another drive. Instead I put my 'must have' music for my dj residency on there just in case the external failed. The external had a 'Mac OS can not repair drive...' error when i connected it, but it still played with ssl. I just didnt use my cues or load any videos as to not create any writing on the files

The program is CCC, carbon copy cloner.
I found errors while copying with that, so I went back & tried to repair files and then copy with another program called Data Rescue 3

My other help request is 'reading tags for no reason & missing music'.

Good thing I have skills, as I havent been able to ad music or use Serato in the lab for the last 2 weeks. Just analyzing, rescanning, copying, repairing data. I just keep my fingers crossed when I go to my dj gigs & hope the $hit doesnt crash on me.

I know this is software and software has issues but dude, I just wanna dj.

@Auronis

I cant use it either since i'm using serato video now for gigs but i will def take a look at 1.9.2 when adding music or creating new crates for sets..

@martin c

quick question if i upgrade the firmware of my 57 would it work correctly for version 1.9.2? not sure if that will create problems since in all the clubs i play at they have 57s!

Since I'm stuck copying hard drives, listen to some of the music I made when my SSL was working:

eliotrange.podomatic.com

soundcloud.com

soundcloud.com

eliotrange.podomatic.com

This one is kinda wack, but I made it freestyle on a plane from London to New York, with my VCI 300mk2 hence the theme of 'fly':

eliotrange.podomatic.com

Made this one in a hotel room in Naples, Italy with the VCI while my girl was at work:

eliotrange.podomatic.com

Hey erange,

The fact that you are getting this error message:



Could potentially hint at permissions issues with your drive, so your reading tags issue may not be completely due to the software being at fault.

I would suggest a reformat of the drive if your OS cannot repair it. Its worth ensuring that ALL files/folders and the drive itself have the correct read & write permissions to ensure you can save cuepoints etc and analyze files and have the software retain the data.

I agree with this, as I noticed when the drive error message came up and I was still using Serato regardless, I saw many files that had a lock sign on the left tab. However, I previously never had any files locked, and then suddenly many.
When I reimport these files, how can I ensure that all folders have read/write privileges?
Do I 'control-a' my folders, then 'get info'?

Yep, you are on the right track, use command + I to get info, then change all the permissions to "read & write" (you may have to unlock the lock to make changes.)

There is then a little cog wheel/settings icon down the bottom, if you click on that, then select "apply to enclosed items" you should then set ALL items within that folder to read & write.

If you can do this to every file and folder on your drive, things should improve a lot.

If you can do this, AS well as a complete reformat (which you will have to back up your data before doing of course) you should hopefully get that drive error message to go away too.

Are you familiar with reformatting a drive?

Too familiar...

Ouch :(

Any idea why your OS would keep having issues around repairing your drives?

I would assume there is some corrupt music/data somewhere. I think I will dump all of the music into iTunes and have iTunes re-read it to check for something corrupt. Unless you have a better program suggestion to check for corrupt (music) files.

I used to always dump my music in iTunes first, then dump into SSL, but I haven't been doing that in the last weeks.

I am a stickler for not importing jpegs, url info, .log, .txt or any of that onto my music drive. just mp3's. no wav or aif (other than my initial serato recordings).

Please see my other help request: 'reading tags for no reason & missing music' for updates of more complex questions.

Hi erange,

It does appear that the software is struggling to analyze the "wreckd" file there.

I would recommend removing any files you see having this issue. I see Rafael is also helping you in your other thread, I will try and have a read in there see if I can be of any assistance.

I personally feel there is no benefit to putting your music through iTunes before putting it into Scratch Live. I personally do not use iTunes at all myself, however if you use both programs then I understand this is part of your natural workflow.

As I said previously, I highly recommend completely reformatting your problem drive before doing anything else.

you guys are telling me the same thing over & over.
OF COURSE I reformatted the drive.
OF COURSE I would remove any files that appear to be damaged, but how do I know what is?
If there is a 'damaged file' icon in SSL, I delete it.
As it stands, I have none. And when I do periodically have one, it's only 1-4.

Sorry, I don't mean to frustrate you, I didn't pick up any actual confirmation that you had reformatted the drive yet and you were still in the process of doing so.

Do you still have same error messages when attempting to repair the drive?

Yes any files that would be damaged should appear with a corrupt icon so if you are removing them then you are doing the right thing.

What about did you do this?

Wow. Finally. Thank you Martin, Zach, Serato, Rane, everyone.

After 2 years of agony, I can finally drag folders into LIVE and ITCH with Video installed and not stare at my computer hanging endlessly to add a few new tracks! I no longer dread updating my music library!

Launching and load times are a huge improvement, usually under 60 seconds, sometimes under 45 to get all my crates, feels like 2008 all over again!

First live gig test run is tonight, but so far so good...

Great to hear there has been an improvement Auronis!

A couple of our developers have put in work to have our software coping better with larger libraries, and there is still more improvement to come :)

Thanks for the update!