DP8 launch crash [OUCH!! UNRESOLVED]

[BKK-OZ]

Ouch!
Did you do something bad to someone in a past life or something?

I'll also isolate the plugins. At this point there are very few installed.

This is where you need to go. Be mindful that if you have run third party installers for any of your plugs, and/or had a plug start-up, the plug may have created a pref file that could be problematic.

The closest thing I have ever personally experienced to what you are dealing with is when I had a demo of a plug that had expired. I forget which one it was, but even though it wasn't instantiated on any track, it freaked out DP's AU validation routine and I could not get DP to start until I hunted it down and killed it.

Have you got any other AU host (FCP, etc.) that you could fire up? You could run through all your plugs one-by-one in that other host to see if there are any licensing or other issues going on.

I feel for you brother.

[stubbsonic]

Great idea! I opened Garageband and it validated all the AU's (DP8 also completed the validation passing everything before it crashed).

I went through all the Instruments and all the effects (fortunately there weren't very many in this stage of the process). There were some instruments that weren't yet authorized, so I finished all that in GB. I launched each plug-in and used it. Not sure if that would be enough to write over any bad pref though.

Right after I proved that all the AU's were working in GB, I trashed DP's prefs and tried again. No luck.

[stubbsonic]

Three AU's will prevent DP from loading (this time).

Reaktor5
SmartMusicSoftSynth (for Finale)
Pianoteq 5 !!!

Pianoteq is the one I need and use the most of all my VIs. I'm using 5.1.2 which was new as of a few days ago, but I see they now have a 5.1.3 available. I'm pretty sure lots of people on here use Pianoteq, so I'd be surprised if it was causing problems.

All of them worked fine in GB.

[stubbsonic]

Uninstalled Pianoteq 5.1.2, and installed 5.1.3. But the update notes only mentioned a new toy piano (!!!) and some tweaks to a model.

DP launched successfully.

So SOMETHING is causing DP to crash-- but whatever it is is not affecting other AU hosts.

It definitely is NOT the RME driver-- since neither RME software or hardware are involved.

This is so weird because I don't have anything unusual on my system other than a possible combination of things that might be unique.

[bayswater]

DP launched successfully.

So SOMETHING is causing DP to crash-- but whatever it is is not affecting other AU hosts.

Is that what you meant to say? DP launched successfully?

[stubbsonic]

Yes. When I took those three plug-ins out DP was able to finish the launch and go to the open screen.

And when I uninstalled PT v5.1.2 and installed PT 5.1.3, and yes, DP continued to launch successfully.

[bayswater]

Yes. When I took those three plug-ins out DP was able to finish the launch and go to the open screen.

And when I uninstalled PT v5.1.2 and installed PT 5.1.3, and yes, DP continued to launch successfully.

So the remaining problem is getting the other two plugins added in and DP working?

I was wondering if, when you use another host, if there is the same memory load on your Mac? So when you launch GB for example, are the plugins set up to use the same extent of RAM as when you launch them with DP?

Don't recall if you did a test of the RAM, but maybe DP is accessing some addresses that other apps aren't. Do you have Logic, or something else that could max out the Mac?

[Michael Canavan]

Uninstalled Pianoteq 5.1.2, and installed 5.1.3. But the update notes only mentioned a new toy piano (!!!) and some tweaks to a model.

DP launched successfully.

So SOMETHING is causing DP to crash-- but whatever it is is not affecting other AU hosts.

It definitely is NOT the RME driver-- since neither RME software or hardware are involved.

This is so weird because I don't have anything unusual on my system other than a possible combination of things that might be unique.

Had a feeling about this, audio card related problems are usually audio related. IE crackles in the audio, audio going silent etc. Plug in related problems are the fun crashes on start, crashes while doing something to the GUI etc. Hate saying that it sound like the Pianotech was the problem but it sure does sound that way. Hopefully this new version fixed that.

[stubbsonic]

...Hate saying that it sound like the Pianotech was the problem but it sure does sound that way. Hopefully this new version fixed that.

I still feel like we have two events: the DP crash, and the AU damages. I suspect the former causes the latter. The AU's that are affected have changed every time.

This time, there were two other plugins that were also causing DP not to launch (reaktor & makemusicsoftsynth). Reinstalling PT5 (though it was a new version) certainly repaired what was damaged with that plugin-- (because PT includes an uninstaller that works!)

But I still can't put Reaktor or Finale's synth back in. Tons of people have Reaktor & the MakeMusic synth running in DP.

I've been seeing brief screen flickers lately, and yesterday after all that other madness, I realized that even though my attached mouse & keyboard were working fine, the built-in trackpad & keyboard were non-responsive.

The GOOD NEWS is that I still have a few months left of Apple Care on this laptop. The other good news is that basically the rest of the computer works- iCal, Mail, business stuff. And finally, I have good back-ups of EVERYTHING. So, my stress levels are pretty low. I have a project I've been putting off for weeks now. Can't imagine doing it in GB, but that's my only other option. I really hate working in GB-- mostly because it is unfamiliar and I can't use it very well to polish my hacky playing.

[stubbsonic]

I reset the SMC and ran Apples Hardware Test in that special Option-D start-up mode.

The RAM test showed no problems.

Next will be to test the built-in SSD, but will need to learn more about how that is tested. I don't think my drive genius software tests SSDs, but it might.

[MIDI Life Crisis]

Delete the Audio Unit Info Cache and MOTU Audio System Prefs (located in User > Library > Preferences > Digital Performer). The former made DP6 unusable on some systems (not all). Worth a try... If you have Time Machine or an old backup, you might have to dig out the file and replace it with a version that was working prior to the DP8 install. If not, I'm sure someone could email you a copy of their file...

[stubbsonic]

I've been trashing DP's two or three prefs files after every crash.

I'll look for the Audio Unit Info Cache (do you have a path for that?).

But since the recent periods of crashes were all happening with pristine fresh installs, there is almost no possibility that I was bringing over an old corrupt Audio Unit Info Cache.

BTW- on the hardware front, I've tested my RAM and SSD with no problems found.

It is possible that resetting the SMC will have a positive affect.

But for now I will only be working on a very simple external boot volume. I'll also try keeping the console open during all DP launches going forward to see if I can catch something.

[MIDI Life Crisis]

Should be the oath provided. DP may be creating a new, unusable file. That's what DP6 was doing.

[stubbsonic]

Oh. Ok. I was always deleting that whole Digital Performer folder in Preferences. This was necessary because DP would not launch (even if the plug-ins were removed) until its prefs were removed.

[MIDI Life Crisis]

Yeah, sorry I wasn't clear. In DP6 it created a not compatible AU preference file. I'll try to find that thread for you.