tapedeck wrote:for $1200 you shouldn't have to do any of this.
Irregardless of price or equipment or anything, you shouldn't have to do any of this to make music and do something you enjoy. Period. BUT, you definitely shouldn't have to do any of this to use the Ren, at all. This sounds painful. Reinstall OS? Update OS? Install OS on an external HD? This is ridiculous. How about you turn the thing on and just make music?
And no hate towards Akai or the Ren at all but, I wouldn't get any hopes up, especially in your case, that an incremental update in 1.4 is going to suddenly wipe away all the problems. It won't. And that's no shots at Akai, this is just reality. It's damn near impossible to squash all of these issues in one update.
If you are going to keep the Ren, that's great but if you are looking to make headache free music, in your case and many others, you are probably going to have to look into another more stable option. At least for the time being. It's better than pulling your own teeth out. Don't make yourself feel that YOU have to make it work just because you bought it. It's going to drive you crazy. If it doesn't work, it doesn't work. Find something that does and enjoy making music again.