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FilmConvert FCPX Crash - "GPU Driver Appears to be Hung" GTX980

I

iChase

macrumors member
Original poster
Oct 3, 2007
59
4
Orlando, FL
Hello all!

I've been experiencing a hard crash resulting from using the FilmConvert plugin in FCPX and I'm pretty sure it's related to the NVIDIA Web Driver and my GTX 980.

When I drop the effect on the footage in the timeline for the first time, it loads, then the computer starts pinwheeling. Once that happens, there's no recovering it. I have to hold the power button and force the machine to restart.

Once I reboot I can reopen FCPX and see that FilmConvert is still applied to my footage. However the FilmConvert OSC is nowhere to be found. Also, if I click on the title of the instance of FilmConvert in the inspector, my computer locks right up again.

When I boot up I can see what caused the crash in Console. The message, "GPU driver appears to be hung" appears over and over. So apparently FilmConvert is not agreeing well with the NVIDIA Web Driver or possibly Maxwell cards.

If I use Premiere CC I can use FilmConvert just fine and things speed right along.

I'm using an eight core 2009 Mac Pro on 10.11.6 with the newest FCPX and FilmConvert.
 
SCSC is correct. From what little I understand, a bunch of Nvidia web driver bugs in pro apps have showed up in El Capitan. Adobe says it is due to the Metal rendering engine (I know you aren't talking about Adobe software, but the problem is the same). I'd move back to Yosemite in the mean time as a work around, but that also means you'll lose the speed gained by Metal, which is substantial in FCPx.
 
ActionableMango said:
SCSC is correct. From what little I understand, a bunch of Nvidia web driver bugs in pro apps have showed up in El Capitan. Adobe says it is due to the Metal rendering engine (I know you aren't talking about Adobe software, but the problem is the same). I'd move back to Yosemite in the mean time as a work around, but that also means you'll lose the speed gained by Metal, which is substantial in FCPx.
Click to expand...

Also due to poor OpenCL driver by Nvidia. But I hear it is a pain for any developer to get help from Apple on that because even OpenCL isn't progressing on Mac anymore.
 
SoyCapitanSoyCapitan said:
Also due to poor OpenCL driver by Nvidia. But I hear it is a pain for any developer to get help from Apple on that because even OpenCL isn't progressing on Mac anymore.
Click to expand...

That would explain the OpenCL issues I have with newly installed OS X El Capitan.

Luxmark 3 (Windows) no problems| Luxmark 3 OS X El Capitan OpenCL not good:
Luxmark Ball Titan X (Windows).PNG Luxmark 3 Ball Titan X.png

Luxmark 2.1 however on El Capitan no problems:
Luxmark Ball Titan X.png

Is Luxmark 3 using a new OpenCL instruction set?

Edit: I did some tests in Final Cut Pro, no problems appeared. Now then could be a bug in Luxmark 3.
 
Last edited:
Synchro3 said:
That would explain the OpenCL issues I have with newly installed OS X El Capitan.

Luxmark 3 (Windows) no problems| Luxmark 3 OS X El Capitan Open CL not good:
View attachment 659843 View attachment 659844

Luxmark 2.1 however on El Capitan no problems:
View attachment 659845

Is Luxmark 3 using a new OpenCL instruction set?

Edit: I did some tests in Final Cut Pro, no problems appeared. Now then could be a bug in Luxmark 3.
Click to expand...

The CL bugs are seen more in stability and calculation errors than in rendering performance times.
 
Asgorath said:
Have you tried the 10.12 driver? I just ran it without any problems on my GeForce TITAN X (i.e. no pixel errors or anything like that).
Click to expand...

I'm currently using 10.11.6.

You're right. Using OS X 10.12 Luxmark 3 is working without any problems (only 0.09% different pixels, wow). And even faster:

apic.png

I will migrate when CUDA driver and Sierra 10.12.1 are released.
 
Last edited:
My 980 also has some huge FCP X Filmconvert problems. Started in Yosemite, continue in El Cap. It works on ProRes footage, and crashes on RED raw footage. Haven't found a fix.
 
SoyCapitanSoyCapitan said:
Yeah good example!
Click to expand...

It's almost like they fixed the bugs in the 10.12 web driver or something like that. Maybe they were busy with the 10.12 release in general as well, who knows. I guess we can just keep talking **** without actually looking at the progress NVIDIA is making with each release.
 
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It's unbelievably frustrating how little Apple maintains their graphics drivers. Every update is a roll of the dice as to whether or not I'll have something vital break. It sounds like my best bet is updating to Sierra. But therein lies the kicker, I can't update my 2009 MP to Sierra, thanks again Apple!

Is the 4,1 to 5,1 firmware flash safe?

Jaho101 said:
My 980 also has some huge FCP X Filmconvert problems. Started in Yosemite, continue in El Cap. It works on ProRes footage, and crashes on RED raw footage. Haven't found a fix.
Click to expand...

What's strange is, I'm having the crashes happening on ProRes footage too. It's good to hear someone else out there is having this problem. I mean it sucks, but at least it's not a one-off case. I emailed FilmConvert's tech support and they're acting like it's an unheard of problem and they're basically saying there's nothing they can do.

I've been trying to pull a crash log for FCPX to send to them, but I can't find one as it seems the graphics driver crashes first and FCPX doesn't technically crash. The best I have is Console.


EDIT: Meanwhile, I've seen Apple has some job postings for software engineers for NVIDIA driver development. A good sign of things to come?
 
iChase said:
It's unbelievably frustrating how little Apple maintains their graphics drivers. Every update is a roll of the dice as to whether or not I'll have something vital break. It sounds like my best bet is updating to Sierra.
Click to expand...

Your best bet is rolling back to Yosemite. There were less bugs (but not perfect) in the web drivers then.

And please note, these drivers only ever had beta support for Maxwell. It's not fair to finger Nvidia on their lack of commitment. But you should note how people on this and other forums were promoting the use of Maxwell cards to professionals and they made money from this very irresponsible behaviour. Any attempt to fact check them was met with hostility.

The job posting is old news. They post it every few months and the drivers keep getting worse.
 
iChase said:
Is the 4,1 to 5,1 firmware flash safe?
Click to expand...

Yes, it's save to flash Mac Pro 4,1 to 5,1. If it doesn't work nothing happens, Mac Pro is just still on firmware 4,1

Known pitfalls:
- EFI-card needed
- Disable SIP before the upgrade
- The upgrade is easier if processing from an old OS X (I did it then in OS X 10.6.8)
 
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