DP EuCon Driver causing crashing

ghobish · Post by **ghobish** » Wed May 31, 2023 3:01 pm

I am experiencing DP crashing after I save a project and quit DP. I'll get a crash report from the Mac. It's random when I simply quit, and it has been happening more frequently over the last couple of months (it happened with DP 11.21 as well). There is also some random crashing while working in a session.

I can also make it happen deliberately with this recipe:

1. Open session.
2. Save session.
3. Close session (do not quit DP).
4. Reopen session.
5. Save session.
6. Close session.

After the second close, the crash happens.

My surfaces include a Euphonix branded MC Mix and MC Control. Both have the latest AVID firmware, and I am running the latest EuCon software under Monterey 12.6.5 on a Mac Studio M1 Max/ 64GB RAM. It doesn't matter if the EuCon application is running or not, or whether the control surfaces are powered up or not, so it seems to be a driver issue.

I have sent in a ticket to MOTU support with a crash log- it was they who determined that the EuCon driver was at fault, and indeed when I disable the driver in Control Surface Setup the issue goes away. They say they have not been able to reproduce the crash.

The workaround, for the moment, seems to be enabling the driver when opening the session and (remembering) to remove the driver before saving and closing, but of course that doesn't help crashing that occurs during a session.

Is anyone else experiencing this, or would care to look at a crash log for me? As always, appreciate the help.

YouTube · Post by **James Steele** » Thu Jun 01, 2023 4:27 pm

I need to look into this a bit as I'm also using a Euphonix branded MC Control and MC Mix. Off the top of my head, I can't remember having the issues you describe, but I will try your recipe. I'm on Ventura 13.4 though. Also, although I have the latest firmware installed on the MC Control and MC Mix, I was not able to use the latest EuCon software (22.12.1 EUCON Unified Installer from 3/8/22) because it did strange things to the colors of buttons on the touch screen of my MC Control. Made them all dark. Functionally it might have been fine (I recall it actually indicated the automation state in DP beneath the track names which I think was new) but I couldn't get past how it altered the colors of all the buttons, so I reverted to 22.9 EUCON Unified Installer from 9/15/22.

ghobish · Post by **ghobish** » Thu Jun 01, 2023 5:26 pm

James Steele wrote: ↑Thu Jun 01, 2023 4:27 pm ,,,I was not able to use the latest EuCon software (22.12.1 EUCON Unified Installer from 3/8/22) because it did strange things to the colors of buttons on the touch screen of my MC Control. Made them all dark.

There was a EuCon update a few years ago that did the same thing before they fixed it... it inverted the colors. It was also tied to a Mojave security update. Good times.

YouTube · Post by **James Steele** » Fri Jun 02, 2023 6:06 am

ghobish wrote: ↑Thu Jun 01, 2023 5:26 pm
James Steele wrote: ↑Thu Jun 01, 2023 4:27 pm ,,,I was not able to use the latest EuCon software (22.12.1 EUCON Unified Installer from 3/8/22) because it did strange things to the colors of buttons on the touch screen of my MC Control. Made them all dark.
There was a EuCon update a few years ago that did the same thing before they fixed it... it inverted the colors. It was also tied to a Mojave security update. Good times.

Yep... I reported it to "Eddie" when EUCON 2022.12 was first released in this thread:

https://duc.avid.com/showthread.php?t=423292

I do not know if they will ever fix it again since the Artist Series are no longer officially supported. I just couldn't live with the messed up colors even though it seemed to work okay.

ghobish · Post by **ghobish** » Thu Sep 14, 2023 1:50 pm

Need to bump this one up, it's driving me crazy. Is nobody else experience these crashes?

I'm still on DP 11.22; Eucon is updated to 4.16.0.103, EuControl is 2023.6.0.103, to OS on my MacStudio M1 Max is up to Monterey 12.6.9. This is unrelated to the occasional colors issue that crops up. And it's not an Artist series hardware issue, it happens even when the sitfaces are turned off (but with the driver enabled).

I've also tried various combinations of running both DP and EuControl in Native/ Rosetta modes. Doesn't make a difference. And I get no corresponding crash when running EuCon in ProTools (there are other issues there but that's for another forum)!

Would anyone care to take a look at a crash report?

Thanks-

Gary

YouTube · Post by **James Steele** » Fri Sep 15, 2023 2:48 am

Yeah. I started a newer thread about this with a somewhat useful workaround until Avid and MOTU can figure this out.

Here’s the link:
https://www.motunation.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=73461

ghobish · Post by **ghobish** » Fri Sep 15, 2023 8:45 am

Thanks, I will give that a try!

YouTube · Post by **James Steele** » Sun Sep 17, 2023 1:55 pm

ghobish wrote: ↑Fri Sep 15, 2023 8:45 am Thanks, I will give that a try!

It's not all that satisfying a workaround. You have to choose "Show All Tracks" option when you choose Eucon in the Control Surface Setup dialog. This means that all tracks, including hidden tracks will appear on your surface(s). But it helps stability, because there is something causing a problem in DP when the tracks shown on a control surface are updated and tracks are shown or hidden in rapid succession, which results in DP crashing.

There is some good news. I reported this to Avid and got a response that they think they have found a fix on their end and it will be rolled into the next EUCON update. I'll be very happy to hear about this, because I recently bought a used Avid S3 on eBay, so "in for a penny, in for a pound." I'm all in for the EUCON protocol, since it is still being expanded and developed, whereas Mackie, AFAIK, is a dead protocol with no updates or maintenance.

YouTube · Post by **James Steele** » Fri Sep 22, 2023 10:50 am

UPDATE: This really good news! Heard from a contact at MOTU and they found a fix. It will be included in next update of DP which from how they made it sound isn't that far off! Light at the end of the tunnel!! Which is a good thing, because I'm really loving the workflow with the Avid S3, Avid Control iOS, AND Avid Control Desktop!

I wasn't family with Avid Control Desktop before. It's app that allows you to have a floating virtual meter bridge that you can position and size just where you want it on your computer monitor. It's perfect for my S3. I have it lined up just right above my S3 using the lower portion of my 43" 4K TV main monitor. I also set up a hotkey to show/hide it using Keyboard Maestro. I suggested to Avid on their forum that they add a hotkey feature to show/hide and a company rep responded very favorably to the idea, so that is probably coming in future version, but again, Keyboard Maestro has it covered. (I had no idea, Keyboard Maestro could do IF/THEN/ELSE logic!)

MOTUnation.com