[PD] dropouts when wireless is enabled (OS X)?

[Philip Stone]

This is a very old problem for me; whenever I have wireless enabled on my computer, I get occasional crackling glitches in Pd’s output, which I assume are missed buffers. This has been the case with three generations of MacBooks, and I can’t remember how many versions of OS X. It happens whether I have latency set at 25 secs, or 100 secs.

Without diving really deeply into how-to-fix, I’m just curious if anyone else has noticed this. I’ve avoided it being a problem up until now by not using wireless while performing. But this is not always possible; network music (or use of something like TouchOSC, for instance) can require wireless.

I haven’t noticed a similar issue with bluetooth: I’ve been using OSCulator with a WiiMote and not hearing the crackles, although it’s possible using the two together makes the problem worse. It’s actually hard to tell, because the behavior isn’t totally constant, except in the long-term.


Phil Stone
UC Davis