well, i did manage to solve one of my technical difficulties which has caused numerous problems for months.

evidently my shuttle ****in' HATES nvidia geforce video cards. lo and behold, i finally thought to check the shuttle compatibility listings. *smacks forehead* DOH!

so i am running the onboard card...no screen lockups. for whatever reason, this was only happening in live. *shrugs*

so i got a video card on the compatible list. yay!

i have been able to work in live lockup free. makes things a damn sight less tedious...although now my job is once again interfering in my musicmaking... ;)