MIDI editing corrupted in 7.02 and 7.1?RESOLVED

[Shooshie]

Do tell!
Do tell!

[williemyers]

right then…

well, I had a bit of time to kill this a.m. as I was waiting for Cambridge, MA to open up. I had all of my details for MOTU, samples ready to email and a *very* large pot of coffee to endure the inevitable "welcome to the world of busy signals" experience.

with the spare time, I thought I'd play a bit.

i won't go back through a description of the problem, if you're new to this thread, you can read it all above. and, as it turns out, it's not really relative to the "solution". but to summarize, I had (DP) 6.03, 7.02 and 7.1, all on the same 10.6.2 partition, all loading (or not) the same plugs, all other factors equal. sequences created in 6.03 worked, and edited, exactly as you would expect them to, sequences in 7.02 and/or 7.1 had the dreaded "auto-copy" syndrome.

So I thought I'd "troubleshoot" on the backup system's copy (so that I could keep the HD's pristine for when I talked to MOTU). So I booted from the backup and ran the same tests as above and got exactly the same results.

Then I committed the "Cardinal Sin" of troubleshooting…!!!
I applied *TWO* troubleshooting techniques in one go. In this case, I:
(a.) removed all non-MOTU plugs (22 VI's & 2 audio) from Library>Audio>Plugins>Components to the desktop and,
(b.) trashed *ALL* MOTU-related prefs

and guess what…..opened a new 7.02 sequence and….ka-BOOM! no more "auto-copy" syndrome!
I was seriously excited!

Pressed on, opening a new 7.1 seq. and another victory!

woo-HOO!!

And then, slowly, meticulously, I kept adding the plugs back in , one by one. Each was scanned by DP and passed. And finally, I had all of them back in and passing and still no "auto-copy"!

major woo-HOO!!

So where does it leave me? Well, all of you troubleshooting oldie/pros know better than to do what I did, but for any newbies lurking here, the reason that I referred to it as a "Cardinal Sin" is that by doing *2* major Troubleshooting steps at once, I have no way of knowing whether it was (a.) a Plugs conflict with DP 7 or (b.) corrupted pref files or (very likely) a combination of both.

And, btw, I still refer t it as an issue with "7", because when I would load up a new sequence with 6.03, it was using the same plugs and prefs as 7.02 and 7.1, and yet it did not exhibit the same behavior. If I had to make a longshot guess, it felt like one of the following:
(a.) a corrupted pref file in DP that only was "called up" by 7 (not 6), or
(b.) a plug that didn't get properly analyzed initially by 7
actually, when I compare User>Name>Library>Prefs>DigitalPerformer folder on my DP6/Leopard partition to that same folder on my DP7/SnowLeopard partition, there are a fair number of differences in the two and - perhaps notably - a file in the DP7 version called "AudioPlugInPrefs" that doesn't occur in the DP6 version.
hhmmmm…….

So I never did make the call to MOTU. By 9:30a, I had an up and running (and editing)DP 7 again and now to jump in to a serious exploration of 7.1.

Again, my sincerest thanks to all of you who offered advice/opinions on sorting this out. I was actually quite happy to know (3 days ago) that it was something most likely just on my system and not a fundamental problem with DP 7.

[Tobor]

r
And, btw, I still refer t it as an issue with "7", because when I would load up a new sequence with 6.03, it was using the same plugs and prefs as 7.02 and 7.1, and yet it did not exhibit the same behavior. If I had to make a longshot guess, it felt like one of the following:
(a.) a corrupted pref file in DP that only was "called up" by 7 (not 6), or
(b.) a plug that didn't get properly analyzed initially by 7
actually, when I compare User>Name>Library>Prefs>DigitalPerformer folder on my DP6/Leopard partition to that same folder on my DP7/SnowLeopard partition, there are a fair number of differences in the two and - perhaps notably - a file in the DP7 version called "AudioPlugInPrefs" that doesn't occur in the DP6 version.
hhmmmm…….

Again, my sincerest thanks to all of you who offered advice/opinions on sorting this out. I was actually quite happy to know (3 days ago) that it was something most likely just on my system and not a fundamental problem with DP 7.

Interesting observations and congrats on solving your issue! I should have left my 6.02 on a separate partition by itself. Perhaps some of the issues I've been having are related to these different preference files etc. from 6 and 7.x living in the same folder.

Oh well, I'm in the 6/7 transition swim now. I'm sure there's much more pertinent knowledge yet to be gleaned.

Thanks for posting the info!

Tobor

[Shooshie]

Glad to know you figured it out, but I sure wish you'd have found exactly what caused it. Why? Because it seems your problem is contagious. I'm starting to see it happen occasionally on my system in DP 7.1. It happens after I've done some MIDI editing, such as a proportional drag (Control-Drag), usually using the Shift key as well, to constrain it.

Then maybe in the next move, it looks like a big "selection rectangle" that runs the full height of the window, and suddenly... rather than what I intended, I've copied something instead.

It happens about once in 10 moves, and it takes a couple of clicks and thwacking a few keys before it stops. I'll look into it more seriously tomorrow. I've been up 36 hours dealing with a very sick wife while trying to run errands, do chores, and get some work done in DP as well.

Curiouser and curiouser!

Shooshie

[zed]

Glad to know you figured it out, but I sure wish you'd have found exactly what caused it. Why? Because it seems your problem is contagious.

It would seem that you might not have to know exactly what it was, or take the same amount of time to resolve it. You could first just dump the AU cache and see if the issue goes away, and then dump the preferences if it still persists. If your issue is the same then presumably (and hopefully) one of those actions will eliminate the problem.

I just started using the quantize pitch keyboard command (option-P), and as with all my option commands I have to press it twice in order for the action to be executed. Actually... I can just hold down the option key, but I have to press the P twice. I've gotten used to it, but I kind of wish I could resolve it sometime.

May your wife get well soon!

[williemyers]

...a possible "bug"?...

First off, Shooshie, hope all's well for your family (and you!) down on the plains.

As you all will recall from my post about 3 back, I (thought I) had resolved my "auto-copy" issue with 7.02/7.1 with a combo of plugs in and out and new prefs. Turns out I was wrong (wouldn't be the first time!)

I've been away from DP (7.1) for a day as we got whacked with a snow storm. 14+ hours on the John Deere! Anyway, I digress.....

I sat down this evening to do a new seq. and "auto-copy" was baaacckk! Ugh.

But *this time*, I decided to be very careful about what I was deleting/moving in order to trouble shoot.

Still thinking it was either plugs or prefs, And after a few unsuccessful tries, it came down to this:
In User>Name>Library>Prefs>Digital Performer, there is a file called "Filter Preferences". Whenever that file was in DP Prefs;"auto-copy", whenever it was *NOT* in there; no "auto-copy". Wasn't quite sure what it was supposed to be for, but was quite sure I could live without it. Out goes that file, no "auto-copy", back to work.

Then I'm lying in bed, looking at the ceiling and thinking, "that file's probably just there for modifications of the View Filter, Input Filter, etc."...all of which I *do* modify from time to time....particularly the View Filter.

So back to the studio, and I start "messin'" again. And, mostly by luck, I've found it....what causes "auto-copy" that is. And I'm pretty sure it'll do it on your system, as well. And I'm pretty sure it's not supposed to.
Here goes....

There are some new options on Setup>Set View Filter, notably - under Notes - "Normal", "Display Only", "Playback Only". I had to plow back through the manual (thank God for the manual) to find out what these new options were all about. They're *SUPPOSED* to be all about QuickScribe (and Quickscribe only?), but - at least on my system - *THEY* are the cause of "auto-copy". Here's the deal; you have to have "Normal" checked or you won't see any notes at all, but - with "Normal" checked - UnCheck *either* "Display Only", "Playback Only" or both, grab note(s) in any editing window except Quickscribe, drag that note(s) to a new location. If you've (unintentionally) copied the note(s), Undo, check *both* "Display Only" & "Playback Only" and try again. No copy made? That was my result.

So, at the end of the day, "auto-copy" had nothing to do with pref files, with plugs, with Snow Leopard, with stuck Option keys, USB, MIDI controllers or anything else. It had (has) only to do with what's checked or unchecked in the View Filter window.

As I said, I had a good read on what ""Display Only" & "Playback Only" are all about. They make perfect sense when using Quickscribe, but can't see why they should interact with the other edit windows.

A couple posts back I said that I was happy to hear that no one else was experiencing "auto-copy", that it was isolated to just my system. It meant that it wasn't a DP "bug", just something that I needed to sort out.
But now, I'm thinking - and somewhat nervous - that this scenario that can be created - perhaps unwittingly - on everyone's 7.02/7.1 system. I'll be most anxious to hear anyone else's results.

Shoosh, you might consider these View Filter settings and see if they have any effect on the "anomalies" you've been experiencing?
worth a shot....

Zed, haven't gotta clue about yours? Actually, your "anomalies" *do* sound more like a hardware-related situ. Or a "Universal Access" setting?

[Shooshie]

Wow! That's some awesome mental leaping my friend! It's amazing that you could figure that out, and yet it's something we all manage to do from time to time. I'm just in awe that the mind works like that.

Well, if this is indeed the final chapter, congratulations for a job well done! And if there are more chapters (let's hope not) then it just goes to show the futility of troubleshooting software. But it sounds like you've chased this bug into a corner and whacked it!


Shooshie

[newrigel]

(a.) a Plugs conflict with DP 7 or (b.) corrupted pref files or (very likely) a combination of both.

This makes a lot of sense because of the two applications conflicts on the way it sets up the pre bindings and preference files... for this reason I only run 1 copy of DP per volume.

[Tobor]

(a.) a Plugs conflict with DP 7 or (b.) corrupted pref files or (very likely) a combination of both.

This makes a lot of sense because of the two applications conflicts on the way it sets up the pre bindings and preference files... for this reason I only run 1 copy of DP per volume.

Willie, the bad news is that you had to pull a few hairs troubleshooting, the good news is you've now been accepted into the CSI lab squad. Great work.

Yet another great thing about this forum is that with all the various issues people have on display you can start to see patterns. One maddening thing about the issue I've been having is that the problem will seemingly be fixed, and stay that way for an entire session. But if I close down for the night and reboot the next day, it's back. Or sometimes just boot up a new file.

So I'm inclined to agree that that these overlapping preference files could well be causing some difficulties, and why for example 6.02 doesn't quite behave the way it did before I installed 7. I guess you have to pick a version and stick to it, at least for the moment. Otherwise we'd be trashing preferences and audio unit info cache before each session, not desirable. Perhaps the way that DP7.1 had to be programmed for Snow Leopard, or for 64 bit, or whatever, has indeed turned it into a bit of a 'different animal'.

I am confident that with a little more tweaking, internally and otherwise, 7.1 will soon be humming along even more merrily on my system.

Tobor

[ACMMD]

I just had the same problem, and was so pleased to find this post. I went in to my view filter, checked both "display only" and "playback only," and my auto-duplicating problems were over. Thanks so much for doing what MOTU should be doing.

[vladat]

@williemyers,

You're a good man, Charlie Brown! I tried checking and unchecking those damn filters after posting the help cry in that other thread I started, but now I tried checking both on again and it worked!
You just gave me my will to work back again, many thanks

For someone reading this in the future, here was my problem: when I dragged either the regions, or a group of notes in any editor, vertically or horizontally, some of them would get copied, and some deleted, totally randomly. Over a month of doing projects, since the problem started (no idea how), I believe this cost me like 20 additional hours of unnecessary dic*ing around, it was a nightmare.
You da man.