CW VSTs crashing every project [now working?]

[Update] - The shoe maker's elves must be dabbling in DAWs because everything seems to be working just fine now. No magic steps required before opening and running a project. No crashes or VST Scan hangs. The two changes on this system:
1. Installed 2016.12 Sonar update (since rolling back to previous versions or anything else did not solve the problem.)
2. Updated Win10 (Pro) OS Build  to 10586.713
- Note: I have -not- installed the latest versions noted in the Early Access sticky on CA2A and Z3TA+2. It's running fine with the previous versions which appears to be the case for most users. 
 
(executive summary to save reading all the comments)
[Original problem] - Several CW VSTs would crash a project on load or on insertion into an FX bin. VST Scan would hang when trying to scan the problem VSTs. VST functionality could be restored by deleting all keys in the registry and reinstalling them but this approach only worked as long as the PC was not restarted. Once the PC was restarted, the problem reappeared. 
- Note: Rolling back to a previous version of Sonar did -not- solve the problem and per other users a System Restore did not solve the problem. 
- Note: No issue noted with any other VSTs. 
 
[Root cause] - The most useful comments came from the CW Dev team and attributed it to a "timing issue" with a few CW VSTs which was exposed after a Win10 update in Nov.
 
[Workaround] - Run the MS Procmon tool before loading a project or inserting one of the problem VSTs as this apparntely adding a slight delay to the problem threads to keep them running. Other users noted that only a Sonar Start/Close and Start again was sufficient to load and run a project -on their systems-. 
 
[Solution ?] - CW dev team seems to have a good understanding of the issue and per the latest sticky we are expecting updated versions of the problem VSTs. 
 
 
....
 
 
Because I use it on just about every project. The original PC version has been in use for quite some time, was updated via the latest version in CCC when released. Has been fine until today. Only action was to install the 2016.11 update. The issue appears to be with a core Cakewalk setting as the Cakewalk VST Scan seems to be stumbling on other Cakewalk VSTs.
 
> Installed 2016.11 update
- let CCC install to default locations
- including the two FX updates

> Was able to work on the current project at the time
> Closed Sonar, powered down PC
> Reopened project = Crash "SONARPLT.exe has stopped working"
 
> Opened another project in Safe Mode
- The current project was fairly large, tried a smaller one.
- CA2A will crash it every time. All else seems to be OK
 
> Reset / Rescanned VST plugins (via Preferences | VST Settings)
Thought maybe the FX updates had something to do with it.
 
- VST Scan throwing "Runtime Error!" dialogs when scanning
     - LP-64_Multiband_64
     - LP-64_EQ_64
- VST Scan crashes "Cakewalk VST Scan has stopped working" when scanning
     - CA2A Leveling Amplifier
 
> Rolled back to 2016.10
- SAME issues !!?? Had been working just fine. Probably not the update, but what?
 
> Reinstalled Sonar Pt 2016.11, CA2A, Engineering FX via CCC
 
> Reset, Rescanned
   . Rescan Failed Plug-ins = checked
   . Rescan Existing Plug-ins = checked
- The VST scan seemed to be "struggling" to get thru the inventory. By this I mean it would display a dll and appear to get stuck instead of zipping through them.

> Unchecked "Rescan Existing Plug-ins", rescanned
- Noting the scan would still appear to hang on various Cakewalk dlls (i.e Rapture Session, RMix, Z3ta+2, etc.) 
   . I would close the scan status window and hit Scan again
   . It would eventually appear to complete the scan, noting "7 new" plugins
 
> Tried opening the small project.
Crash. Safe mode still shows CA2A to be the culprit
 
> Deleted aud.ini. rebooted, tried opening the small project.
Crash. Safe mode still shows CA2A to be the culprit
 
> Deleted CA2A in the MS Control Panel | Programs & Features
Eliminated both the original install and the latest update.

> Reinstalled CA2A via CCC
 
> Tried opening the small project again.
Crash. Safe mode still shows CA2A to be the culprit
 
> Tried another Reset/Rescan
- Opened a project in Safe Mode without loading CA2A. All working.
- Added an instance of CA2A to the PC of a track. All working.
- Saved and closed project.
- Tried to reopen the same project.
Crash.

.....
I have to think some core setting/dir must be corrupted. It's not like these are dodgy 3rd party plug-ins. The only action other than running Sonar as usual was the 2016.11 update and that worked for at least one session.
 
Any expert insight would be appreciated. In the meantime I'll be digging deeper.  
 
[dedicated project DAW]
Win10 x64, latest updates, Asus X99A, i7-5820, 32MB, Radeon HD 5450, Roland QC4
 
 

im sorry to hear about this. I know the frustration when you cant complete tasks such as opening a project.
Anyway, I loaded up CA2A in a few FX bins here (Im on windows 8.1 X64 / Sonar X64) and it works fine here.
I also decided to give the Pro Channel Module CA2A plug in a try and same there, all good.
 
So we get to the point, Are you all up date on your Windows updates ?
There might be a C++ update that needs to be done. typically those are the important ones.
You can also try and re personalize by holding down CTRL+Start Sonar.

Chuck, also just noticed you're on Windows 8.1 and I'm on 10.. Maybe that's the difference?

@dlesaux
 
Aud.ini is located in the following directory.
C: / Users / <your user name for the PC> / App Data (hidden directory) / Roaming / Cakewalk / SONAR Platinum 
 
Please note I tried deleting this per my original post to force Sonar to rebuild it.
 
It did not solve the problem. 

jackson white
@dlesaux
 
Aud.ini is located in the following directory.
C: / Users / <your user name for the PC> / App Data (hidden directory) / Roaming / Cakewalk / SONAR Platinum 
 
Please note I tried deleting this per my original post to force Sonar to rebuild it.
 
It did not solve the problem. 

Thanks Jackson! Please keep us posted on any response from the bakers. I'm sure we're not the only ones having this issue. Based on Chuck's feedback, it also seems to be related to Windows 10 users.
 

bitflipper
The first time I tested this, SONAR crashed after simply dragging CA-2A into an FX bin. However, I was unable to duplicate it on several subsequent attempts.
 
Faulting application name: SONARPLT.EXE, version: 22.11.0.111, time stamp: 0x583d02e6
Faulting module name: CA-2ALevelingAmplifier_64.vst3, version: 2.0.1.97, time stamp: 0x5802558a
Exception code: 0xc0000409
Fault offset: 0x0000000000085e88
Faulting process id: 0x1118
Faulting application start time: 0x01d24ca35a102aea
Faulting application path: C:\Program Files\Cakewalk\SONAR Platinum\SONARPLT.EXE
Faulting module path: c:\program files\common files\vst3\CA2ALevelingAmplifier\CA-2ALevelingAmplifier_64.vst3
 

Thanks for trying to replicate this bitflipper!

Did you reboot the PC after updating Sonar?  I noticed other drag and drop issues with Sonar after updating, which were resolved with a reboot.
 

The VST scan issue might be a clue.  There was an old trick, not sure if it still applies, but running Sonar as Administrator and re-scanning the VST's fixed some folk's problems.

Confirming the problem after deleting all entries in the registry and reinstalling from CCC.
 
1. Regedit/Delete all entries for CA2A (3x)
2. Reboot
3. Rollback to 2016.10
4. Reboot
5. Open Test Project
    - confirmed CA2A missing
6. Reinstall CA2A from CCC
7. Open Test Project
    - confirmed CA2A missing
8. Run VST Scan | Rescan Failed Plug-ins" checked
    a. Hangs on "Scanning CA-2ALevellingAmplifier_64.dll"
    b. Close toast
9. Run VST Scan | Rescan Failed Plug-ins" checked
    a. Completes scan, shows 2 new found
10. Able to open test project. all good. 
11. Able to open client project. all good
12. Reboot 
13. Project CRASHES. 
....
Why is VST Scan is having problems with what appears to be a clean and approved install of Cakewalk products?
Why is rollback NOT solving the problem?
....
I'm back to getting a mix done now that I can open the client project (as long as I don't reboot ....)
 
No time for further troubleshooting. Will file a Problem Report when I have time, but may not happen until next week.
 
 
 
 

I have been using cakewalk for years. And to me it's becoming actually more unstable. Now I have the same problem. It crashes when I try to open a project. I did however get it to open and run. I loaded a WDM driver instead of ASIO. This is not may preference and simply will not work for me. If you find the true root to the problem I would be very thankful for any advice you can give me.

False alarm - I now have the same problem with 2016.09 - a newly restored image file. Last night it worked fine with loading 1 song, but today it crashes. I uninstalled and reinstalled CA-2A and uninstalled Engineering FX suite. Now I have no audio, I have to shut down and reboot my AVB Ultralite. I'm still wondering if something frothe internet is doing this. It makes no sense at all. Or is Command Center doing something strange.
 
CA-2A is not showing up after a few reboots, so I did a VST scan both check boxes and it's stuck on CA-2A. Close and reopen Plat and this time hit reset and then scan, Stuck on Rapture. Since I hit reset now it can’t find crucial plugins like Ivory, etc.
 
I’ll revert back to the 2016.09 image and this time disconnect the internet and won’t open Command Center. Cakewalk needs to give us some kind of explanation. This is really weird.

So far so good. I reverted again to my 2016.09 image file from 10/23 and I disconnected from the internet and didn't open Command Center and it all worked fine opening several projects and working several hours and closing and reopening Plat. So we'll see how that works until someone has a rational explanation for what in the world is happening. Right now I had to reconnect to the internet to run my backup system

Confirmed that I can consistently crash any project with the CA2A using both the previous and latest update after rebooting the PC. 
 
-IF- I delete all CA2A entries in the registry, reinstall it and rescan VSTs, Sonar works as expected. Once I reboot, every project with a CA2A in it will crash on open. Including a simple test project with nothing in it but one track and the CA2A in the PC. 
 
I doubt it has anything to do with any "internet related activity". The fact that Cakewalk VST Scan hangs/crashes when trying to scan and other Cakewalk VSTs are looking dodgy sounds more like some core configuration issue.
 
I don't use them but the LP64 EQ and MB will also crash when trying to add them to the FX bin and RaptureSession_64 is also suspect as it was hanging on the VST Scan.  
 
I'm booked out for the weekend, should be able to get to the problem reporter on Mon.  
 
 
 

 
My crashes are still the same run time error you got, but it's not quite the same as yours or even what I was having yesterday with the CA-2A. Today after reverting back to 2016.09 and a successful day of working on several projects with no internet connection.
 
I reconnected the internet and the run time errors did come back, but it turns out that the pattern is different and very reproducible. Now every single time I reboot and open Plat the 1st time I get a run time error, but then I can reopen Plat and as many songs as I like with out getting any more runtime errors, until I reboot and start the process over
 
It's like the first error seems to crash some background service that was causing the run time errors and then all is well. I'm not having any problems with CA-2A. In fact right now Platinum opens to the default Plat template, which has no FX or plugins and I still get the run time error from that.. I did disable Cakewalk analytics in case that contributed and that didn’t help.
 
This is very strange I don't remember ever seeing that error in the past. Have you tried rolling back to 2016.09?

No I haven't seen that error , just the generic "needs to close" message. I'm done for today, but I'll try safe mode tomorrow and see if CA2A is the issue. I don't think I've ever used LP64. Maybe I'll try reverting back to 2016.09 although that's where my trouble started.