Alright so yesterday I spent like three hours wrestling with Abstein going nuts on my machine again. Figured I’d write down exactly how I banged my head against the wall step-by-step and what finally got the stupid thing working. Maybe save someone else the hassle.
Starting Point: Total Frustration
Woke up fired up to edit this week’s video. Launched Abstein like always. Boom. Frozen spinner. Just… sat there. Hung for five minutes solid. Tried clicking everything – nada. Force quit it twice. Same thing. Big sigh. Okay, time to troubleshoot for real.
Step 1: The Basic Checks (You Know, The Obvious Stuff)
First thought? Did I break it? Probably messed with something dumb.
- Checked cables: USB cable from interface plugged in? Yep. Wiggle wiggle. Still solid.
- Interface power light: Nice and green. Good sign.
- Rebooted everything: Killed Abstein, restarted my computer. Sat there waiting, hoping. Launched Abstein again. Spinner. Hung. Again. Ugh.
Felt like I wasted ten minutes right there.
Step 2: Digging Into Settings & Permissions
Time to get my hands dirty in the settings stuff.
- Went into Preferences > Audio Devices: Saw my interface listed. Selected it. Apply. Restart Abstein? Still a nope.
- Thought about permissions: Mac loves blocking things. Went into System Settings > Privacy & Security > Microphone. Scroll-scroll-scroll… found Abstein. Checkbox was ticked. Hmm. Unticked it. Ticked it again. Gave permission again basically. Restarted Abstein. Stuck spinner. Sigh.
- Did the same for System Preferences > Security & Privacy > Microphone. Forgot Mac has two places for mic perms? Yeah, checked both. Abstein was enabled.
Getting seriously annoyed now.
Step 3: The Weird Cache Stuff That Sometimes Works
Remembered reading online ages ago about clearing caches fixing weird app hangs. Desperate times.
- Completely quit Abstein.
- Went Finder > Go to Folder > typed “~/Library/Caches”. Found the folder named “*” (or whatever it was called). Dragged the whole dang folder to Trash.
- Found the Preferences file too: ~/Library/Preferences. Looked for anything “abstein” named. Trashed the .plist file. Felt risky but hey.
- Emptied Trash for good measure. Rebooted the computer again.
Crossed my fingers. Launched Abstein. Spinner spun… and spun… a little faster? Nope. Still froze. Crap. Threw my hands up.
The “Aha?” Moment (Sort Of)
Sat back, stared at my messy desk. Saw my backup audio interface – a tiny USB one I use for travel. Plugged that in instead. Launched Abstein. Wouldn’t you know it? Spun up perfectly! Loaded my project fine.
So the problem was my main interface? Weird, cause it worked fine yesterday! Unplugged the backup one. Plugged the main one back in… expecting nothing. Restarted Abstein with it plugged in… AND IT WORKED. Worked perfectly.
Conclusion? Seems Abstein just… forgot the interface driver connection? Or something threw a fit when the computer first woke up? Unplugging the good interface, using a different one, then switching back somehow shocked it into remembering its job? Honestly, feels like tech magic most of the time. Anyway, it started recording. Phew. Saved my morning.