Error message "Master Pointer was nil (-109)"

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JZilla
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Error message "Master Pointer was nil (-109)"

Post by JZilla »

Hey folks. I've run into a problem, and so far haven't been able to get it figured out, even with some MOTU tech support help. I'm running DP 9.01 on my Mac master computer, with the current Yosemite update. Everything's been working fine until this morning, when I can't get DP to finish starting up. It scans through the plugins, but when it gets to the end of that list I get the following message:

"Digital Performer has encountered an error.

OS error:

Master pointer was nil (-109)"

DP then crashes, and I'm back to square one. I did some quick Googling of it, and the only things I was able to turn up was that it was in fact and error message (maybe related to the Storage Allocator), and that MacKeeper claims to be able to fix it. MacKeeper seems to be malware, so I didn't head down that route.

I've spoken to Apple tech support, who figured it was a MOTU thing, and so I tried all the usual things with MOTU tech support (clean install of DP, repairing disk permissions, rebooting, trashing my DP preferences), but no luck.

Anyone else run into this problem? The kicker is that everything had been working fine as recently as yesterday, and of course, I've got a looming deadline that I need to be back and running ASAP. Any help would be very appreciated.

Thanks.

Jeff
2019 MacPro, 10.15.5, 16 core 3.2 GHz, 384 GB RAM
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cuttime
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Re: Error message "Master Pointer was nil (-109)"

Post by cuttime »

Avoid MacKeeper as though it was the ebola virus. I'd start by running Disk Utility. Perhaps several times. One utility that I do trust is Malware Bytes:
https://www.malwarebytes.org/antimalware/mac/
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mikehalloran
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Re: Error message "Master Pointer was nil (-109)"

Post by mikehalloran »

Apple support didn't recognize that? Really? Good grief, what do they teach them?

Either you don't have privileges to write to that drive or your hard drive has a bad spot and you found it. If you didn't do something to hose privileges or if that's your boot drive, you have a hard disk that is failing.

If you have a Time Machine backup of that drive, replace it and restore from Time Machine or other backup.

F you do not have a backup, run Repair Disk from Disk Utility from another drive. Keep running it till you have no errors, then get the data onto another drive, preferably a new one.

MacKeeper is crapware. Avoid.

-109 is not malware.
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JZilla
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Re: Error message "Master Pointer was nil (-109)"

Post by JZilla »

Hey guys, thanks for the responses. Yeah, I'd seen the MacKeeper popups enough times that it seemed like something fishy, and so I Googled "MacKeeper review" and got the skinny.

The Apple support guy didn't get too deep into things, seemed to think pretty strongly that it was a MOTU thing, so off I went to their tech support. It is my boot drive, and I was having Time Machine problems a while back so I stopped using it. I'll give your suggestions a try though, and hopefully get back on my feet ASAP.

I'll let you know what happens. Thanks again!
2019 MacPro, 10.15.5, 16 core 3.2 GHz, 384 GB RAM
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Re: Error message "Master Pointer was nil (-109)"

Post by csavetman »

Had the very same error message with DP9 a while back, after updating to Yosemite. Following Mike's advice, after running disk repair, ended up replacing system drive. Definitely frustrating!
Good luck!!

Carlos
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mikehalloran
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Re: Error message "Master Pointer was nil (-109)"

Post by mikehalloran »

Having Time Machine problems so you stopped using it? Oh my...

Ok... find out how many drives are bad and replace them.

The only reason to run Disk Repair on your drive is to try and get it in good enough shape to pull the data off. When the drive is repaired, this is a temporary situation.

If you were to use a third party tool, use TechTool Pro to generate a S.M.A.R.T. graph to see how the drive failed. It won't repair the drive nor will anything else.

Get a new drive, install a fresh OS. Use Migration Assistant to pull the data off the old drive.

If you were considering upgrading to SSDs, now is the time. If you do, download and install Trim Enabler.app from Cindori.org. This is not necessary if you are running Yosemite 10.10.4 or later -- in that case, open Terminal and run sudo trimforce enable
DP 11.31; 828mkII FW, micro lite, M4, MTP/AV USB Firmware 2.0.1
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Re: Error message "Master Pointer was nil (-109)"

Post by Killahurts »

Does anyone else find it curious that the exact same thing happened to Carlos and Jeff within weeks of one another, after having updated to Yosemite? It is of particular interest to me, since I have an older(2010) Mac Pro. I updated to Yosemite a couple months ago with no problems.. but I think I'll do a time machine backup as soon as I get home, and, possibly look into getting a new startup drive :wink:
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Re: Error message "Master Pointer was nil (-109)"

Post by bayswater »

Killahurts wrote:Does anyone else find it curious that the exact same thing happened to Carlos and Jeff within weeks of one another, after having updated to Yosemite?
No. The chances of any two Mac users having recently updated to Yosemite are pretty high. And the chances of two people seeing the same error are pretty high.
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Killahurts
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Re: Error message "Master Pointer was nil (-109)"

Post by Killahurts »

bayswater wrote:
Killahurts wrote:Does anyone else find it curious that the exact same thing happened to Carlos and Jeff within weeks of one another, after having updated to Yosemite?
No. The chances of any two Mac users having recently updated to Yosemite are pretty high. And the chances of two people seeing the same error are pretty high.
Good point..

So "Master Pointer was nil (-109)" is apparently DP's way of telling you your startup drive is broken. And you can still get your data off the drive, which means that DP is a fantastic hard drive failure indication utility, as well as a great DAW.
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Re: Error message "Master Pointer was nil (-109)"

Post by mikehalloran »

So "Master Pointer was nil (-109)" is apparently DP's way of telling you your startup drive is broken
Actually, it's the OS telling you that there was a problem writing to a drive. It could have been any app that gave the message. This is not a DP error.

Most often, this is a Time Machine error. In the early days it was the reason that so many were convinced that TM was a defective program. No, it was those crappy Seagate drives and the bursting caps in the early Time Capsules. TM was the messenger like DP is now, nothing more.

Any error with -109 means that the OS cannot write to the disk. If not hardware, it means that you have no permissions so you might get it if trying to save to, say, an inserted DVD. DP might pop it if trying to write to an incorrectly formatted drive. If not one of those user mistakes, there's only one choice left. When the OP said it was a boot drive, it couldn't be anything else.

I still can't believe that an Apple tech wouldn't know what -109 means.

The only thing that further diagnosis with TTP will do is give a readout like this. Notice that S.M.A.R.T parameters still show it as Passed. No, it has failed but S.M.A.R.T doesn't know it yet. This gave a Time Machine -109 error, BTW. ST stands for Seagate.

Image
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Re: Error message "Master Pointer was nil (-109)"

Post by Shooshie »

I no longer remember the specifics, but my upgrade to Yosemite was rather traumatic. Took weeks to get things smoothed out, and some never did.

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JZilla
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Re: Error message "Master Pointer was nil (-109)"

Post by JZilla »

I've been on it for quite a while, and haven't had any problems of any significance (some weird iTunes behavior was about the worst of it). Everything had been working fine until yesterday morning, so who knows.
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Re: Error message "Master Pointer was nil (-109)"

Post by bayswater »

I had one or two odd things happen on my MBP with the upgrade to Yosemite, but these disappeared with the first update. On my main audio Mac (iMac), things were fine right away, and several improvements were noticeable.

It's not encouraging that experiences with Mac updates are so inconsistent.
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Killahurts
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Re: Error message "Master Pointer was nil (-109)"

Post by Killahurts »

bayswater wrote:I had one or two odd things happen on my MBP with the upgrade to Yosemite, but these disappeared with the first update. On my main audio Mac (iMac), things were fine right away, and several improvements were noticeable.

It's not encouraging that experiences with Mac updates are so inconsistent.
Hey everyone, check to see what kind of old software you might have lurking around in there before updating your OS. Saved me a lot of headache. For audio stuff, the first stop is Audio MIDI Setup, in the utilities.
DP11, 2019 16-Core Mac Pro, Monterey, 64GB RAM. RME HDSPe MADI FX to SSL Alphalink to SSL Matrix console, and multiple digital sub consoles. UAD Quad PCIe. Outboard stuff.
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Re: Error message "Master Pointer was nil (-109)"

Post by Killahurts »

mikehalloran wrote:Ok... find out how many drives are bad and replace them.

The only reason to run Disk Repair on your drive is to try and get it in good enough shape to pull the data off. When the drive is repaired, this is a temporary situation.

If you were to use a third party tool, use TechTool Pro to generate a S.M.A.R.T. graph to see how the drive failed. It won't repair the drive nor will anything else.

Get a new drive, install a fresh OS. Use Migration Assistant to pull the data off the old drive.

If you were considering upgrading to SSDs, now is the time. If you do, download and install Trim Enabler.app from Cindori.org. This is not necessary if you are running Yosemite 10.10.4 or later -- in that case, open Terminal and run sudo trimforce enable
This right here is sage advice, I could see it as a sticky, or part of a sticky thread.. did I just write that?
DP11, 2019 16-Core Mac Pro, Monterey, 64GB RAM. RME HDSPe MADI FX to SSL Alphalink to SSL Matrix console, and multiple digital sub consoles. UAD Quad PCIe. Outboard stuff.
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