Logic Pro 9 - Disc is too slow or System Overload. (-10010) on iMac

Logic Pro 9 error pops up even when trying to play back a single audio track.

I'm using a newly refurbished 20" iMac (2008).

System stats.
Mac OS X (Version 10.6.8)
Processor 2.4 GHz
Intel Core 2 Duo,
Memory 4 GB 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM,
Startup Disc Macintosh HD,
Bus Speed: 800 MHz
222.19 GB free space on Mac OS Extended (Journaled) 320 GB internal HD.

Using Logic Pro 9 (9.1.7).
Software running: Logic and screen capture software.

I used Logic Pro 8 for 4 years until my machine began to run very slow. I had my machine completely wiped and started fresh and have not migrated anything. New machine was set up less than a week ago.

I have been careful not to install much of anything else as I want to use this machine primarily for audio production. Useful suggestions and useful comments are encouraged and welcome.

Here is a video screen grab of what is happening.
Logic Pro 9 (9.1.7) Disc is too slow or System Overload MAC OS X (10.6.8) - YouTube

Have you tried recording to an external drive? Usually this happens when you're recording to the same drive that Logic is installed on; i.e. Macintosh HD.

Will give that a try. Though I wasn't recording. Just playing back. I'm told I should record to an external 7200 rpm drive. What do you think?

7200 rpm is the way to go.

Recording or playing back on the same drive as the program can cause that problem. It is a little suspect that one track caused it to do that though. Keep an eye on the CPU and Disk meters during your Logic sessions to see if they spike at all.

Edit - just watched the video and they for sure spiked (both of them). I'm pretty sure an external drive would solve the problem but I can't say for 100% certainty that it will as I've never seen one track cause that message to pop up. An external drive is a starting point though.

Alot of the time this means you are maxing out the bandwidth on your drive, or you are using too much DAC and the CPU cant keep up.

Id definitely avoid using an external drive to run your sessions from. The SATA connection inside your iMac is far quicker than the rate USB/FW read at. Its always best to keep it on the internal drive. Of course, if you have a Thunderbolt external drive, which is unlikely at present, that would be perfect.

Reduce the amount of plug ins you are using, or reduce the amount of tracks you have.

Your issue on the other hand is a little more strange. I'd try reinstalling Logic. failing that, try repairing Permissions in Disk Utility, then reinstalling again. Make sure you haven't got any other intensive apps running in the background (Check using Activity Monitor.) If that fails, seems like somethings up with your hard drive. I'd try an Apple Diagnostics run.