benstat


To anyone who has been having problems with Helper:

I've just finished a new version. It hopefully fixes some of the problems that Keni has been having, plus adds a couple of new toolbar buttons (one of which is a little bonus as thanks for all your testing work Keni, see below). It also adds a couple of features that won't be of much use to you, but will be a huge help to me when it comes to finding and fixing bugs.

Here's the link to download it:

http://www.staton.co.uk/downloads/sonarx1helper_v0.9.5.1.zip

Just extract the zip file to the same folder that contains the old version of Helper (make sure to close Helper if it's running first).

Why do I need to install it?

Firstly, it adds two new buttons:

1. Show Track View
2. Show Markers View

There are also two new files in the zip file:

1. ResetPreferences.cmd
Double click this in Windows Explorer to reset all your Helper preferences to their default values. This could be very useful if there is a problem with your preferences (which I suspect may be the case for some of the problems that have been reported).

2. GenerateReport.cmd
Double click this in Windows Explorer to generate a report which contains relevant information about your PC. It saves it to a file on your desktop called 'SonarX1HelperReport.txt'. When the report has been generated, it asks you to email the file to me, and gives my email address. It does not store any personal information, nor does it transmit any information at all over the internet. If you have any problems with Helper, simply generate the report, then take a quick look at it in Notepad to satisfy yourself that there's no sensitive information in it (there isn't), and finally email it to me. I'll do the rest!
It contains information such as the version of Windows you are using, whether it is 64 bit, what the current Helper version is and what the preferences are, what folders and executable files the c:\Program Files\Cakewalk folder contains etc. All really useful stuff for me when I'm trying to find and fix a problem.

Both of the above files will be extremely useful in helping me find and fix Helper problems, and therefore I would be grateful if you would install this version, especially if you are having problems at the moment. Things like this make it a lot easier for me to improve Helper.

Many thanks,
Ben

Yorolpal & Marshall (and anyone else with problems that I haven't already sorted out or found the cause of): I would be very grateful if you would install the new version, then double click 'GenerateReport.cmd' and follow the on-screen instructions.

benstat

Marshall


Hi Ben

Since installing X1 Producer in December it has not crashed once for me, and this includes using your Betas 1 and 2. Unfortunately X1 crashed on my try using Beta 3 for the first time. I rebooted X1 and then helper won't open - "encountered a problem" etc. 

Bill

Hi Marshall,
Sorry to hear about your problem with Helper. I have some follow up questions if that's OK:
 
1. Presumably it gives you this error every time you open Helper?
2. Does a reboot fix it?
3. If not, try running Helper as Admin.
4. Failing that, what version of Sonar do you have?
5. And what version of Windows?
6. Finally, have you installed all versions of Helper so far into the same folder on your PC, or did you use different folders for each version?
 
Hopefully this will begin to help me figure out what's going wrong.
 
Many thanks,
Ben

bitman


Hmmm. I have no 32 button.

Maybe because I'm on a lowly 32 bit box.

benstat

Keni


Hi Ben...

Hide multidock on startup isn't working for me at all...

Keni

This is definately troublesome! Are you using a floating Multidock, or a Multidock on a different monitor screen perhaps? That may be the cause of it and I am aware of a couple of problems with that.
 
Also, would you mind adding Sonar to the Utilities menu again, then running 'GenerateReport.cmd' which is in the same folder as SonarX1Helper.exe. It will generate a quick report and save it on your desktop. Then it asks you to email the file to me. Part of the report shows the registry settings for the Helper Utilities menu item, as well as all the important Helper preference settings, Windows/Sonar/Helper version numbers etc. It's all extremely useful info when trying to fix problems like yours.
 
My next priority is proper multi-screen support, and that will include a long hard look at current related features such as Multidock On/Off. Hopefully I'll iron out all your problems as part of that and get you an update soon.
 
Many thanks for your help!

Keni

benstat

Keni


Hi Ben...

Hide multidock on startup isn't working for me at all...

Keni

This is definately troublesome! Are you using a floating Multidock, or a Multidock on a different monitor screen perhaps? That may be the cause of it and I am aware of a couple of problems with that.

Also, would you mind adding Sonar to the Utilities menu again, then running 'GenerateReport.cmd' which is in the same folder as SonarX1Helper.exe. It will generate a quick report and save it on your desktop. Then it asks you to email the file to me. Part of the report shows the registry settings for the Helper Utilities menu item, as well as all the important Helper preference settings, Windows/Sonar/Helper version numbers etc. It's all extremely useful info when trying to fix problems like yours.

My next priority is proper multi-screen support, and that will include a long hard look at current related features such as Multidock On/Off. Hopefully I'll iron out all your problems as part of that and get you an update soon.

Many thanks for your help!

Hi Ben...

I hope you're fast asleep right now!

The forum has been down for a number of hours and I was away with a client for a while... I hope you got the report I sent to your email address...

I'll also be happy to give you the screenshot if you know of a screen capture capapble program that comes with Vista 32? I have no graphics stuff on that machine that I know... There is Photo Gallery??? I'll check that out asap... I won't run Media center on that machine so if it's there I'm sunk too... the graphics program I use on this (web) machine is a nice freebee called Fastone... I don't know if it will install on Vista but I'll look into it (I know it has screen capture)...

Keni

benstat

Elffin


Top work sir! This really helps a lot - thanks for your efforts

Have you any ideas how to get rhythm symbols back into scroll view? Is the menu customisable there or would it be a floating type similar to Sibelius?

Hi Elffin,
Sorry for the late response, only just noticed your question. I'm sorry, but I'm not sure what you mean by ryhthm symbols or scroll view!?! Can you give me a bit more information please?
Thanks,
Ben

adrian4u


Everything I wanna say - great job!

for now I didn't mess with preferences a lot, but it seems for me that "launch Sonar when launching Helper" function is inactive...
No big deal...
But, Benstat - I also think ahead - and it could be great if this helper or future version - could have few improovements - dor work with additional little touchscreen:
- scalable window
- scalable (or few sizes to choose from) buttons
- "free assignable buttons" - or more buttons to choose from
- ability to rearrange wiev and buttons layout. In example - to fi it with 800x480pix 7" touchscreen.
 
And I think about it because have a (o Lord, help me) plans, to use additional small LCD's (USB or DVI connected) to place them right above my controllers and put there an audio analizator, another plugin, and - to use one touchscreen to quick navigation thru commands.....

I hope I'm not a only one who thinks about using small-size touchscreen in the studio, to have most ofteu used icons and commands just under single touch of the finger.
And your helper is ideal in mind for this purpose. As I wrote above - it's great job, gerat piece of soft and than you for making my studio life more simple....
But ot's aldo a "software platform" with lot of possibilities. Does it work like a keyboard emulation or something? to generate keyklicks or keystrokes?
Maybe - do you think in future to make commecial or open source version, which could be user-definable and editable?

thxx one more time,

Adrian