Sonar stays in memory after close

Most of the time when I work on music projects, my work time is concluded with (and due to) a Sonar crash. I have come to accept this as the norm, though every session is concluded with a string of expletives at Cakewalk. Knowing how time-consuming it is to track such things down, I have just lived with it. 
 
However, one thing seems really troubling, and that is that I can't get SONAR.EXE out of memory after it crashes, which requires a complete reboot of the PC. After a crash, the Task Manager shows Sonar right up top consuming 2Gb of RAM. Choosing End Process does not clear it out. Any idea what's happening?
 
Also, because my projects are thick and complex, they can take 5+ minutes just to load, so on the occasions where a Sonar crash does not end my working session I will leave the project open, and sometimes it is a few days before I can get back to it. I only use the computer for Sonar, iTunes and light web browsing. Is there a reason why leaving a project open like that would cause problems?

Thanks for the quick reply. How do I know which of my plug-ins are 32-bit?
 
Also, my hard drive is spinning like crazy all the time. Looking at the disk chart in resource monitor, it's maxed out much of the time, no surprise since I can hear the thing working anyway. 
 
 

jkoseattle
How do I know which of my plug-ins are 32-bit?

 
I click on a plug-in in the Browser and right at the bottom of that window it gives some details on that plug-in, including whether it is 32 or 64 bit
 
cheers
 
andy 

synkrotron

jkoseattle
How do I know which of my plug-ins are 32-bit?

 
I click on a plug-in in the Browser and right at the bottom of that window it gives some details on that plug-in, including whether it is 32 or 64 bit
 
cheers
 
andy 

What browser? I don't see anything that says that. Plug-in manager? The Synth window itself? 

http://forum.cakewalk.com...yannoyed-m2640092.aspx

mudgel

Adq
http://forum.cakewalk.com...yannoyed-m2640092.aspx

That's a 3 year old thread related to an issue with X1.

There is absolutely nothing new with this.

jkoseattle
Most of the time when I work on music projects, my work time is concluded with (and due to) a Sonar crash. I have come to accept this as the norm, though every session is concluded with a string of expletives at Cakewalk. Knowing how time-consuming it is to track such things down, I have just lived with it. 
 
However, one thing seems really troubling, and that is that I can't get SONAR.EXE out of memory after it crashes, which requires a complete reboot of the PC. After a crash, the Task Manager shows Sonar right up top consuming 2Gb of RAM. Choosing End Process does not clear it out. Any idea what's happening?
 
Also, because my projects are thick and complex, they can take 5+ minutes just to load, so on the occasions where a Sonar crash does not end my working session I will leave the project open, and sometimes it is a few days before I can get back to it. I only use the computer for Sonar, iTunes and light web browsing. Is there a reason why leaving a project open like that would cause problems?

I have that issue of Sonar remaining in memory either after simply closing the program or after the occasional hang. Control Alt Delete to Task Manager and then stopping Sonar is a simple routine for me. No reboot needed. Just takes a few seconds. Annoying, but I've gotten accustomed to it.

I also recommend diagnosing issues like this with sysinternals process monitor and explorer.

There are lots of reasons why a process might hang around in memory even after the UI is gone. For example, it could be waiting on a resource to release, or for a cleanup task to finish. The fact that you can't kill it using Task Manager indicates to me that it might well be hung on a driver call that hasn't returned. That is, it may have made a call into say the ASIO driver, which in turn called the user-mode side of your M-AUDIO driver, which then finds itself  waiting on a kernel mode completion that is hung for some reason. I also see Sonar hang around in memory from time to time and often just powering off the MOTU device and then powering it back on frees things up, or sometimes simply unplugging the Firewire cable does the trick. 
 
You might want to check the user community (if any) on the M-Audio interface driver you're using to see if others have similar experiences. Flaky interface drivers can cause lots of issues with a DAW, some of which you wouldn't guess could be caused by your interface.
 
Good luck!

I get this too. Not sure what the underlying cause is, but unplugging the usb cord from the external sound card (a Cakewalk one) for 10 seconds or so seems to release sonar.exe.  Then I plug it back in and normally am good to go.  However, I do find that the level of aggravation this causes tends to drain any enthusiasm I had for making the music, and half the time I press the 'Steam' icon instead!

Wood67
I get this too. Not sure what the underlying cause is, but unplugging the usb cord from the external sound card (a Cakewalk one) for 10 seconds or so seems to release sonar.exe.  Then I plug it back in and normally am good to go.

I don't have any MAudio devices, but I've seen references to this before.
 

These hanging issues sure do remind me of prior threads where BitBridge or JBridge is unable to clear memory, and Sonar hangs as a result of some resource not releasing.
 
BitBridge and JBridge are 2 bridging programs that make it possible for 32-bit plugins to be used in 64-bit Sonar.  BitBridge is freely included with Sonar, and JBridge is a commercial program that performs a similar function.  
 
Many many folks have moved to try to completely eliminate the use of 32-bit 3rd-party plugins in a 64-bit Sonar installation, or at least reduce their use to as few as possible - for precisely these kinds of reasons.
 
A lot of the larger software companies recognized the issues that can arise with mixing 32-bit plugins in a 64-bit host program, such as Sonar, and many of them have invested time and effort into upgrading those plugins to 64-bit - most of the time as a free update.
 
If you look in Task Manager, and see either BitBridge or JBridge running, then you know that at least one of your loaded plugins in a project is 32-bit, and potentially can cause Sonar to hang or crash, sometimes also followed by an inability to cancel and restart Sonar.
 
The very few 32-bit plugins I still have are in a separate plugin folder, and only those that I have repeatedly tested and found to be stable are ever placed into that folder, and then that folder is included in the VST search paths in Sonar's plugin manager.
 
I hope some of the above is of use to you.  I would also offer that once I moved to almost completely using only 64-bit plugins (all new projects are only using 64-bit plugins now for me), Sonar instantly became tons more stable.
 
Bob Bone