Audacity 2.3.0 freezing

[aajax]

Have tried Aud 2.3.0 on two Macbooks, one running OS 11 and one running 14. Was able to do convert a couple of tapes with many freeze-ups and reboots along the way, but now I cannot record for more than a few seconds before it Audacity freezes and I have to reboot the Mac. I really would like to know what's going on.

[billw58]

What cassette deck are you using?
-- Bill

[aajax]

This:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07FJ ... UTF8&psc=1

[rcarlberg]

I had Audacity 2.3 freeze up on me yesterday, I closed everything else down and did a force-quit on Audacity, fearing I'd lost the file I was working on. When Audacity came back up it gave me the option to recover files not closed properly, so I was back in business.

Bottom line: Audacity is a memory hog. Keep other processes to a minimum.

[billw58]

This:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07FJ ... UTF8&psc=1

Yeah, I thought so. There's many reports on the forum of problems with that device. Try another USB cable if you have one. Plug directly into the Mac, not through a hub. I've not used one, but reports indicate it "disconnects" from the Mac (the Mac loses the USB connection) when the deck is turned off. This can result in Audacity crashing or freezing.

-- Bill

[billw58]

Bottom line: Audacity is a memory hog. Keep other processes to a minimum.

Actually, Audacity is pretty light on memory use, but it does like to have the use of the CPU when it needs it; that is, when recording and playing back. This leads to the same advice: keep other processes to a minimum.
-- Bill

[aajax]

Tried other cable.

Am plugged directly, no hub.

It happens although the unit has not been turned off. If it has recorded ok for 30 minutes on one tape, I don't understand why it can't record more than 3 seconds on the next tape.

Also, why when it freezes can I not do a soft shutdown. I have to hold down the Mac power button. Only software I've ever had to do that.

Also when it says it can recover files, it often doesn't.

This is all happening on two different computers with no other programs open.

[billw58]

Its the cassette device. As I said, lots of other users are having similar problems with it.

You should be able to Force Quit Audacity when it freezes.

If you continue to use this cassette device, one way to avoid lost recordings is to do a File > Save Project > Save Project As before you begin recording, and do a File Save Project > Save whenever you pause or stop recording.

-- Bill

[aajax]

If the device/cable is the problem, now come I am getting an input level?

[aajax]

After much sturm und drang, I finally got a whole cassette recorded. No idea why it worked or if it will work next time.