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dix wrote:Incase anyone else gets this error:

This just came up again, but this time before I did an OS restore I tried removing MOTU Clippings form Library>Preferences and that fixed it too.

I remembered that I had removed some obsolete aliases directly from the MOTU Clippings folder recently and thought I'd try removing that folder before I did a full OS restore, per the above post. I don't remember if I had done anything similar last time this came up, but it's possible.

This is excellent info dlx. Might you be kind enough to give us a step by step to what you did to fix? Can the fix happen without OS restore? This bug kills us the first time we use a clipping almost every session. Bummer.

labman wrote:

dix wrote:Incase anyone else gets this error:

This just came up again, but this time before I did an OS restore I tried removing MOTU Clippings form Library>Preferences and that fixed it too.

I remembered that I had removed some obsolete aliases directly from the MOTU Clippings folder recently and thought I'd try removing that folder before I did a full OS restore, per the above post. I don't remember if I had done anything similar last time this came up, but it's possible.

This is excellent info dlx. Might you be kind enough to give us a step by step to what you did to fix? Can the fix happen without OS restore? This bug kills us the first time we use a clipping almost every session. Bummer.

It is not a bug when you’re telling DP to access things that don’t exist anymore. The OS is telling you that it can’t read or write to those destinations.

This is a housekeeping issue and the fix is to go through the aliases and remove any that are obsolete.

It is not a bug when you’re telling DP to access things that don’t exist anymore. The OS is telling you that it can’t read or write to those destinations.

This is a housekeeping issue and the fix is to go through the aliases and remove any that are obsolete.

This makes sense, but that's exactly what I was doing - though the wrong way apparently. DP creates a folder in the prefs library called MOTU Clippings and then puts an alias for each clipping in that folder. It was deleting obsolete aliases directly from that folder that seems to have caused the problem.

Might you be kind enough to give us a step by step to what you did to fix? Can the fix happen without OS restore?

If this is in fact what's causing this error, just quit DP and drag the MOTU Clippings folder on to the desktop. When you launch DP again it will create an empty clippings folder in the library and the error (presumably) will be gone. After that, referring to the clippings folder on the desktop, I rebuilt my clippings again from scratch in DP. I don't keep all that many so it wasn't too hard. Plus I don't use project-based clippings ever.

I tried dragging the working aliases in the old clippings folder on the desktop into the new clippings folder DP had created, but that too caused the error. That's how I figured out I needed to start from scratch.

dix wrote: After that, referring to the clippings folder on the desktop, I rebuilt my clippings again from scratch in DP. I don't keep all that many so it wasn't too hard. Plus I don't use project-based clippings ever.

I tried dragging the working aliases in the old clippings folder on the desktop into the new clippings folder DP had created, but that too caused the error. That's how I figured out I needed to start from scratch.

This is definitely something caused by a newer way of DP dealing with clippings. It only happens for us with older clippings. Consistently. Try to cope to clipping window, and bam, Dp goes down. The second time = fine. Unfortunately we have dozens and dozens of older clippings.

Try to cope to clipping window, and bam, Dp goes down. The second time = fine. Unfortunately we have dozens and dozens of older clippings.

At that point do you get the -109 error? Have you tried removing the MOTU Clippings folder as I describe, and seeing if the problem goes away when you create clippings? ...I know you don't want to lose all your Clippings, but if removing the clippings folder fixes the issue that will help troubleshoot the problem.

Also, have you confirmed that all the aliases in the Clippings folder are good as Mike suggests?

dix wrote:

Try to cope to clipping window, and bam, Dp goes down. The second time = fine. Unfortunately we have dozens and dozens of older clippings.

At that point do you get the -109 error? Have you tried removing the MOTU Clippings folder as I describe, and seeing if the problem goes away when you create clippings? ...I know you don't want to lose all your Clippings, but if removing the clippings folder fixes the issue that will help troubleshoot the problem.

Also, have you confirmed that all the aliases in the Clippings folder are good as Mike suggests?

The error come up after DP goes down, the next time you try to boot DP.

Will do all these things and let you know. I do know the one test we ran a year or so ago, and confirmed with Motu, was to not use certain old clipping folders. But didn't do the alias thing. (we are meaning to just make sure the alias has a valid destination correct?

labman wrote:

...But didn't do the alias thing. (we are meaning to just make sure the alias has a valid destination correct?

Correct. But like I say above, in response to Mike, my deleting of obsolete aliases (without valid destinations) seemed to cause the error. I might have been doing that with DP running? That might have messed something up. I don't remember if it was, but messing with the prefs of a running app seems like a really bad idea! ...I'd advise you to make changes to the MOTU Clippings folder while DP is not running.

mikehalloran wrote:

It is not a bug when you’re telling DP to access things that don’t exist anymore. The OS is telling you that it can’t read or write to those destinations.

This is a housekeeping issue and the fix is to go through the aliases and remove any that are obsolete.[/quote]

Hey there Mike! In our case it has nothing to do with lost aliases. It has to do with using a clipping folder that was created along with its many clippings, back in an earlier version of DP. (I think DP 7.24) All the clippings work fine. But if you try to copy another clipping to that folder, you get the error. Its like those clippings are corrupted even though they still work. I would guess Motu changed something in clippings architecture but I dunno what.

Labman, are you seeing this behavior with Clippings folders created with newer versions of DP? If not, would it be possible to drag the old Clippings to new Clippings folders and be rid of the 7.24-created folders all together?

Our many year issue with creating clippings causing this Master Pointer error seems to be over. Turns out we must have had some corrupted Mixer Board Layouts. When Andrew B @ Motu suggested we toss all of them, we can now officially create clippings till the cows come home. YAH!

Far out! Where exactly are those Mixer Board layouts kept? ...the info might be useful to any time-travelers with the same issue that find this thread. Glad you finally got this problem behind you!

dix wrote:Far out! Where exactly are those Mixer Board layouts kept? ...the info might be useful to any time-travelers with the same issue that find this thread. Glad you finally got this problem behind you!

They are located in the mixer mini menu. Our layouts were old and are evidently not compatible with something.

Using the Mac Finder to add clippings and loose Clippings to the Clippings folder, as per the directions in the manual p.652 will reliably result in an error message “OS Error Master pointer was nil (-109)”. Regardless of whether DP is open or closed when this is done.

This occurs even if the location of the Clippings folder is NOT read write protected and permissions are the same as when all worked well. This occurs even when aliases are not involved, but actual Clippings themselves are copied to the Clippings folder using the FInder.

Nor is the problem (always if ever) related to previous versions fo clippings files, because of the 2nd fix listed below:

1. Quit DP
a. Delete MOTU Clippings folder
b. Restart DP (DP will now run, and there will be no error message.Small detail - you’ve lost a lifetime of DP clippings, which you cannot drag back in to this location in th Finder, despite what the manual says.)

2. After following #1, make a new DP clipping window, called, for ex. ALL CLIPPINGS FOLDERS.
a. Rename your old MOTU Clippings folder, which can be anywhere on your Mac
b. Drag the old MOTU Clippings folder from the Finder into the ALL CLIPPINGS FOLDERS window in DP.
c. Double click any folder inside this Clippings window and the floder will open showing the individual Clippings.
d. Drag any clipping into a MIDI file and, voila! (not viola...) . It works!
This proves the clippings were not themselves in some “old format” that DP no longer recognizes. My clippings include some made in DP 5 that work fine in DP 9.5.

MOTU, if you are reading this., Fix this bug, which I have reported to you for years! (And the other bugs I have long reported, which I confirmed still exist in DP10. Which is one reason I will not update.

Note these directions give the wrong path! It is Motu Clippings, not MOTU/Clippings

:
Clipping windows are actually folders
Each clipping window actually consists of a folder in either the Clippings folder in your Digital Performer project folder (for file-specific clipping windows) or a MOTU Clippings folder in ~/ Library/Preferences/MOTU/Clippings or C: \%userprofile%\AppData\Local\MOTU\Clippings (for global clipping windows).
Since Clipping windows are simply folders in the above-mentioned locations, you can also make clipping windows by simply creating folders (with any name you want) in those locations. They will then appear as clipping windows in Digital Performer the next time you open the project or start Digital Performer.
Additionally, folder aliases or shortcuts can be placed in any location where clipping folders are located. For example, you could create an alias to your Apple Loops folder (/Library/Audio/
Apple Loops) in the global clippings folder. This provides a way to treat any location on your hard drive as a clipping window, making its content readily available within Digital Performer without duplicating the folder’s contents.

This exact issue came up once again today (3 years later!), and once again removing the MOTU Clippings from the Library fixed it. Very weird. This time I hadn't made any changes to Clippings, but I had opened the MOTU Clippings folder and simply investigated were a couple aliases were pointing.

Good thing I posted this back in 2017! I sort of remember having this problem, but certainly did not recall the solution. I'm not sure if anyone else is having this issue, but the current me is grateful to the 2017 me for following up.

...also, hi future me! welcome back. I hope whatever year it is is better than this one.

dix wrote:This exact issue came up once again today (3 years later!), and once again removing the MOTU Clippings from the Library fixed it. Very weird. This time I hadn't made any changes to Clippings, but I had opened the MOTU Clippings folder and simply investigated were a couple aliases were pointing.

Good thing I posted this back in 2017! I sort of remember having this problem, but certainly did not recall the solution. I'm not sure if anyone else is having this issue, but the current me is grateful to the 2017 me for following up.

...also, hi future me! welcome back. I hope whatever year it is is better than this one.

YUP! Those pesky clippings are very temperamental !!!!