Jesse Morris

I'm trying to build an escape room's control software in Max. I don't know how complex this compared to other people's stuff because I don't know what other people are doing, but it's talking to a bunch of devices over UDP and/or DMX, and is driving maybe a dozen audio channels. It's also got a bunch of control room user interface using bpatchers. It's about 64 .maxpat files, the largest of which has a couple hundred objects (mostly in subpatchers) We are also using Mira with it so we can reset stuff from inside the room. Normally this works great. However, sometimes Max's CPU use just flies up to 100% (of a single core), and stays there.

I don't know how to find out what is causing it. There is no incoming network traffic (I unplugged the wire, so I am quite certain), the audio status says it's using 1%, and usage stays high even if disable audio and pause the global transport. This time it happened, I even closed all Max windows - and it still is at 100%, even though AFAICT there haven't even been any patchers loaded for over 5 minutes!

When I restart and reload the project, CPU use seems to hover around 5-10%, peaking at 15% when a fair amount of activity is happening, but it drops down again after the activity subsides.

I'm pretty sure if I never load my project, max won't run away with the CPU, but I have no idea what happens in my project that causes Max to ... I don't know, leak threads or something? Can anyone help me troubleshoot this?

I'm using Max 8.1.1, on MacOs 10.14.6. CPU usage is as reported by Activity Monitor. The computer is a lower end 2018 Mac Mini.

I'm trying to build an escape room's control software in Max.  I don't know how complex this compared to other people's stuff because I don't know what other people are doing, but it's talking to a bunch of devices over UDP and/or DMX, and is driving maybe a dozen audio channels. It's also got a bunch of control room user interface using bpatchers.  It's about 64 .maxpat files, the largest of which has a couple hundred objects (mostly in subpatchers) We are also using Mira with it so we can reset stuff from inside the room.  Normally this works great. However, sometimes Max's CPU use just flies up to 100% (of a single core), and stays there.  

I don't know how to find out what is causing it.  There is no incoming network traffic (I unplugged the wire, so I am quite certain), the audio status says it's using 1%, and usage stays high even if disable audio and pause the global transport.   This time it happened, I even closed all Max windows - and it still is at 100%, even though AFAICT there haven't even been any patchers loaded for over 5 minutes!

I'm pretty sure if I never load my project, max won't run away with the CPU, but I have no idea what happens in my project that causes Max to ... I don't know, leak threads or something?  Can anyone help me troubleshoot this?

I'm using Max 8.1.1, on MacOs 10.14.6.  CPU usage is as reported by Activity Monitor.  The computer is a lower end 2018 Mac Mini.

I'm trying to build an escape room's control software in Max.  I don't know how complex this compared to other people's stuff because I don'

runaway-cpu-usage-no-patchers-open

I do have the same kind of problems. I couldn't find the reason yet…

I had the feeling it could be related to some GUI objects, like 

 feeded at "high" rates. Turning overdrive on/off may help reducing the cpu usage, closing some subpatches (without GUI !) too.

Strangely, the CPU usage is much bigger on my iMac Pro (@3.2 GHz, X.14) than on a much older MacBook Pro with i7@2.8GHz (X.12).

So sorry, I can't help, I just wanted to let you know you're not alone. I will contact support when I find the time to produce an example.

I do have the same kind of problems. I couldn't find the reason  yet…
I had the feeling it could be related to some GUI objects, like multislider feeded at "high" rates. Turning overdrive on/off may help reducing the cpu usage, closing some subpatches (without GUI !) too.
Strangely, the CPU usage is much bigger on my iMac Pro (@3.2 GHz, X.14) than on a much older MacBook Pro  with i7@2.8GHz (X.12).

So sorry, I can't help, I just wanted to let you know you're not alone. I will contact support when I find the time to produce an example.


Runaway CPU usage - no patchers open???