kflak

Been a couple of months since I used M4L, and now, all of a sudden, I can't open any M4L devices anymore! I tried updating both Live 9 Suite and Max to the latest versions, but to no avail. I'm running Max in 32-bit mode, so that shouldn't be the issue, either. I'm not getting any error messages, the only thing that happens is that the device grays out, and the little yellow icon spins and spins, and the text at the bottom keeps saying "Starting Max Editor"... The devices work fine, the only thing is I can't open them in Max. It's all very mysterious.

Max 6.1.3, Live 9.0.5, MacBook Pro i7 2.66 GhZ, OSX 10.8.4

Sys specs:
Max 6.1.3, Live 9.0.5, MacBook Pro i7 2.66 GhZ, OSX 10.8.4


urgent-m4l-devices-not-opening-anymore

You can try to switch to max from the dock then go back to live. Sometimes it cures the 'never opening syndrome' for me.

Nope. Doesn't seem to cure anything for me, unfortunately...

I recommend to contact ableton support about it. It should be an easy fix (usually).

Yes, I've sent them a mail. Hope they'll get back to me soon...

I am having your problem too. How did you resolve it please?

Hi Kflak,
I am having your problem too. How did you resolve it please?


I solved it by deleting the entire harddrive, reinstalling osx and then reinstalling the contents of the harddrive from timemachine backup. Normally you should be able to fix this by repairing permissions, but there seemed to be some very low-level corruption going on in my system that just wasn't possible to fix that way. So brute force it was that fixed it in the end.

Hi Jussy,
I solved it by deleting the entire harddrive, reinstalling osx and then reinstalling the contents of the harddrive from timemachine backup. Normally you should be able to fix this by repairing permissions, but there seemed to be some very low-level corruption going on in my system that just wasn't possible to fix that way. So brute force it was that fixed it in the end.
Good luck!!!


For what it is worth, I can open smaller patches such as the factory ones, but I am getting the above with my own rather larger ones. Through much messing about with the clipboard and Max already open in the background, I can just about get them to open, but not really to the point of functioning properly. Live likes to show 20% CPU, but I get 200% in Activity Monitor plus full speed fan on my MBPr....

Thanks for that Kflak.
Wow.. prety drastic.
For what it is worth, I can open smaller patches such as the factory ones, but I am getting the above with my own rather larger ones. Through much messing about with the clipboard and Max already open in the background, I can just about get them to open, but not really to the point of functioning properly. Live likes to show 20% CPU, but I get 200% in Activity Monitor plus full speed fan on my MBPr....


Yes, it was a big operation, but it also solved some other long-standing issues I had with various stuff, so it was totally worth it :-)

The best advice I have, though, is to contact Ableton support. They are very friendly and mostly very helpful… Sounds like your issue is very different from mine. I couldn't open any live devices, but they were running just fine in my Live set. Nobody's been able to figure out what exactly was wrong...

Yes, it was a big operation, but it also solved some other long-standing issues I had with various stuff, so it was totally worth it :-)
The best advice I have, though, is to contact Ableton support. They are very friendly and mostly very helpful… Sounds like your issue is very different from mine. I couldn't open any live devices, but they were running just fine in my Live set. Nobody's been able to figure out what exactly was wrong...


Thanks Kflak. Yes, I have been waiting for a reply from Ableton for a few days now...

I have had this problem consistently (or rather, inconsistently) since I got Max. In standalone, devices open. When done through Live, often times custom devices will hang and never open. Sometimes there's a very weird behavior where a device will duplicate itself indefinitely until I have to force quit it or it crashes. It seems to be that M4L is VERY buggy. Is this other people's impression as well and how can I fix this? Whenever I go to work on a device I already prepare myself for it not to work as the default behavior.

I can't confirm that M4L is very buggy. I am working with it since the beginning (was it Max 5? around 2006/7? Gosh i am old!!!!). The first year was a bit painful but I find it a stable and professional tool now. 

Bugs/crashes that I still encounter (rarely) are practically all related to heavy Javascripting or the parameter system (when updating params in complex devices from Max to Ableton). It seems to me there's something unusual going on in your installation. Do you use externals that may cause this? If not Ableton support and/or a complete reinstall of Max and Live is probaly worth a try (though in the past I found Ableton support not very responsive.. Still hoping, that now they joined forces with C74, they might be inspired by cyclings really incredible support).

And I am so old that I start rambling!!!!! OMG

I can't confirm that M4L is very buggy. I am working with it since the beginning (was it Max 5? around 2006/7? Gosh i am old!!!!). The first year was a bit painful but I find it a stable and professional tool now. 
Bugs/crashes that I still encounter (rarely) are practically all related to heavy Javascripting or the parameter system (when updating params in complex devices from Max to Ableton). It seems to me there's something unusual going on in your installation. Do you use externals that may cause this? If not Ableton support and/or a complete reinstall of Max and Live is probaly worth a try (though in the past I found Ableton support not very responsive.. Still hoping, that now they joined forces with C74, they might be inspired by cyclings really incredible support). 

Jan thank you and glad to hear from a real veteran :)!

I guess you might be spot on and confirming what I'm seeing. I use Javascript and the parameter system primarily, that's basically all I use M4L for!! The fact that you get crashes rarely gives me a bit more troubleshooting energy.. I'll try to isolate the JS part and the parameter part and see what's going on.

Thank you for your help, if I discover anything in particular I'll post here in case others are struggling!

You could try to load a new blank live set and only put in your device. Save the set and try to open the device. This way the param system in your set is freshly rebuild.

That's a great tip. If I hotswap the device with itself, I can actually open it whereas before it would constantly crash. Now at least I can open devices to troubleshoot a bit!

Great to hear. Hotwapping instead of instead of loading a fresh set is actually neat!

Make sure you have an assigned Audio interface - I was having endless issues with Max4Live devices stalling or not initialising. But once I assigned the audio device (I was working away from my music desk and interface), all the issues went away.

I just have to remember to change things around when mobile.

URGENT!!!! M4L devices not opening anymore!!??