No longer giving up

First off - a BIG thanks to everyone who tried to help out the last month or so with all my problems. You guys have been really super great.
So now - with yet anther deadline.. I'm having more crashes. The latest issue:
Can anyone think of a reason why Sonar would crash when trying to save?
I have had zero problems with my computer  with other programs

Sometimes when I save Sonar says 'Not Responding' at the top and then that little Windows spinning blue circle just spins forever and then I'm forced to shut down.

I'm almost at the end of my rope. I tried everything, tested my system, ram and drivers. But if Sonar can't do something as simple as save my project then I don't know what else to do. The only other issues I can think of are
- Maybe it has something to do with Vienna Ensemble Pro which has a decouple setting. That is supposed to stop the host (Sonar) to try and communicate with the Slave computers when saving, but you never know.
- My soundcard EMU1616m does not have official windows 7 drivers yet. Just a beta. I've tried that and the Vista drivers but I don't think that would have anything with Sonar not being able to save on occasion

For what its worth here is my error code:

The program SONARPDR.exe version 17.5.3.282 stopped interacting with Windows and was closed. To see if more information about the problem is available, check the problem history in the Action Center control panel.
 Process ID: b64
 Start Time: 01cae275b2d6acf5
 Termination Time: 91
 Application Path: C:\Program Files\Cakewalk\SONAR 8.5 Producer\SONARPDR.exe
 Report Id: c6b36c0c-4e6e-11df-adfc-001fe2064a87

Every time I've been able to conclusively identify the cause of a hang, it's been related to the audio interface or its driver. In those cases where I did not have enough information to determine a cause, I strongly suspect that those were probably also caused by the audio interface or its driver.

"Not Responding" means that the application is waiting for something, and whatever that something is it's not happening. Most of the time, it's something external to the DAW itself, such as the audio interface or its driver.

I mention this because by now you're probably wondering if switching to another DAW might solve your problems - sadly, it probably won't. Not if your problems stem from the audio interface or its driver.

- My soundcard EMU1616m does not have official windows 7 drivers yet. Just a beta. I've tried that and the Vista drivers but I don't think that would have anything with Sonar not being able to save on occasion

 
See Bitflipper's response.
Believe it or not, a lot of times the host (Windows) has to make the save work - not Sonar. Afterall, your project's files don't get saved to Sonar, they get saved somewhere within your OS's file system.
If the drivers and the OS don't communicate well . . . . . .
 
Brian

audio interface

Is there one you could recommend? I was thinking MOTU or one of the cakewalk interfaces. They all seem to be up to date with the latest Win7 drivers

passenger57

Tom Riggs


What kind of midi interface are you using? I ask because some of the usb midi devices can cause weird issues when saving or closing sonar x64 on win x64.

The other thing that has happened to me like that was caused by buggy Nvidea drivers. Downgrading the video drivers got things stable again. 

What kind of midi interface are you using?

The M-Audio Keystation 88es  plugged into the computer via USB

Test this.... before you close a test project or save it unplug the usb cable and then try. see if that helps. Also make sure you have the newest driver for the keystation. I have used a motu fastlane (usb) and m-audio 2x2 (usb) with the recent 64 bit drivers. The motu was causing some issues sonar hanging and bitbridge crashing. I have used the onboard midi from a delta 1010 (pci) that I just sold as well the the midi on the RME (pcie) card I now have with none of the problems. I have been testing the m-audio 2x2 (usb) for a few weeks with the beta drivers and it has not caused any issues. The midi interface may not be the cause of the issue but it is something you can test and eliminate.

I agree with Bit that the audio drivers could be at issue. If your sound card has both wdm and asio you could try the one you are not already using to see if it behaves better.  Don't give up just yet you may be close to getting it resolved.

Have you tried if there's crashes when you use the onboard soundchip?

Disable the EMU1616, switch to ASIO4ALL or any other than ASIO.
If there's latency or crackling, don't mind. If it doesn't crash, you're proven something.

jimmyrage


Have you tried running in 32 bit mode?  64 bit is probably working well for some folks but I not one of them.  I was having frequent crashes in 64 bit but in 32 bit my system runs much mors stable. 

Going to have to agree with jimmy here. I've just had to re-install windows because  my MOTU 24IO was not working at all well with W764bit: The drivers are just not up to the job yet. Now that I am running in Windows 7 32bit everything is just working. Had to take a 4Gig memory hit, but stability is more important than big plugs.
 
My advice - go back to 32 for now, and wait for a few more driver revisions before dipping your toes in the 64bit waters.

I've had that type crash happen when I had the Midi Outs to a device enabled. Deselecting them stopped the problem. If you're not driving an external device with data from Sonar, you can leave them off.

Passenger57,

You reference "computers"...Are you running a network of computers with different synths on separate computers?

The smoke has cleared unless you depend on rewire. Right now there is very little that wont work in 64 bits. Each of us has different needs but overall what 64 bits offers is far greater then just greater memory or bragging rights. It really is more stable, faster and more secure. Win 7/Vista 64 bits is not just hype but a much better computing environment for all computing needs. It looks better too.

I am loving 64 bit. I hope (or I should say pray) it stays this way.

Only for awhile.LOL We tend to use as much power as we get even if we don't need to. Just as our income may rise our expenses seem to rise quicker.

Passenger57 ... this is the sympathy post, because I know what an utter bastard it can feel when the damn thing won't work, and you feel you've tried everything humanly possible

I'm just sorry you're having such a difficult problem.

fwiw my 64 bit works better than anything I've ever used, so maybe there is light at the end of the tunnel somewhere. But I know this doesn't really help. Sorry. Hope it works soon.

Chin up.

I had similar crashes while trying to use my Emu 0404 with the same 64-bit drivers as are available for your card.  I removed the Emu and replaced it with a Cakewalk UA-4FX USB unit and have not had a crash since.
juan

I second the sympathy motion.  It really sounds like you are close to having the answers and finding the culprits, so I would keep pressing on just as you are.  Even if you end up back in 32-bit land (where I still am) or with a 32/64-bit hybrid solution (which quite a few people use) it's not a bad place to be, especially if you are able to work crash-free.  Good luck!

passenger57


First off - a BIG thanks to everyone who tried to help out the last month or so with all my problems. You guys have been really super great.
So now - with yet anther deadline.. I'm having more crashes. The latest issue:
Can anyone think of a reason why Sonar would crash when trying to save?
I have had zero problems with my computer  with other programs

Sometimes when I save Sonar says 'Not Responding' at the top and then that little Windows spinning blue circle just spins forever and then I'm forced to shut down.

I'm almost at the end of my rope. I tried everything, tested my system, ram and drivers. But if Sonar can't do something as simple as save my project then I don't know what else to do. The only other issues I can think of are
- Maybe it has something to do with Vienna Ensemble Pro which has a decouple setting. That is supposed to stop the host (Sonar) to try and communicate with the Slave computers when saving, but you never know.
- My soundcard EMU1616m does not have official windows 7 drivers yet. Just a beta. I've tried that and the Vista drivers but I don't think that would have anything with Sonar not being able to save on occasion

For what its worth here is my error code:

The program SONARPDR.exe version 17.5.3.282 stopped interacting with Windows and was closed. To see if more information about the problem is available, check the problem history in the Action Center control panel.
Process ID: b64
Start Time: 01cae275b2d6acf5
Termination Time: 91
Application Path: C:\Program Files\Cakewalk\SONAR 8.5 Producer\SONARPDR.exe
Report Id: c6b36c0c-4e6e-11df-adfc-001fe2064a87

 
I was reading a lot of the replies to to you and wanted to chime in.
 
Here's a list of all the problems I've encountered with SPE 8.5.3 64bit on Windows 7 Pro 64bit ...
 
Sonitus EQ and Compressor crashes ...
Audio Driver crashes ...
Random crashes no matter what I was doing ...
Crashes when I would save a project be it CWB or CWP ...
Blue Screen crashes ...
Program not responding crashes ...
But yet, nothing else crashed. Windows ran great, I tried a couple of games ... no problem at all.
 
I resolved all of the above issues by replacing my RAM. Every problem was caused by a faulty chip. I ran Memtest 86 (Which did not find anything wrong.) and I ran the Windows 7 Memory Diagnostics (Hit F8 while booting). The Win 7 test reported I had bad RAM.
 
I have had none of the issues I mentioned above since I replaced the RAM.
 
That being said ... a lot of plugins don't work with Windows 7 x64 bitbridge in my opinion is a bust. I now have a dual boot system that I use. I can load Windows XP Pro 32bit or Windows 7 Pro 64bit. Everything in SPE 8.5.3 works perfectly for me under Windows XP 32 bit. The only problem I have encountered is ... the volume in Session Drummer drops significantly when I open up a project in Windows XP 32bit that I originally had open in Windows 7 64bit.
 
My suggestion ... check your RAM with more than one diagnostics program if you haven't already. Oh ... if it's Corsair RAM that you have, they force you to use Memtest 86 before they will issue an RMA. Bad thing in my case because ... Memtest said my memory was OK. I had to buy a second set of chips and prove to them that fixed the problem before they would do anything ... still waiting for my replacement chips. Going on a month now. :(
 
Shane