New User - Some Problems

[petearch]

Sorry about this long message but I want to make sure I'm as clear as possible.

I was previously using the demo version (32 bit) and was still having a lot of crash problems (as reported in my other thread regarding constant crashes). However, in a strange way, these crashes persuaded me yesterday to take the plunge and purchase the full version. I was fed up of losing work I had done, at least with the paid version I can keep saving regularly!

My latest problem with the demo was that I was getting Audio problems when using the Halion Sonic plug-in, another reason I thought to pay and also use 64 bit. I prefer Halion 5 but that wouldn't load at all without hanging RC. Even setting the buffer to 2048 made no difference. I tried removing the VSTi and just using the built-in Soundfonts but the clicks and pops continued until I removed a single track (any one track would do it).

So I un-installed the demo and restarted my PC . This was because I was aware that the un-install doesn't completely remove everything and I wanted a clean install. It shouldn't matter of course because the 32 and 64 bit programs are separate and shouldn't affect each other. I carefully installed the 64 bit full version using the 'special install' instructions mentioned in the other thread.

To my dismay and surprise when I started the 64-bit version, my previous arrangement was loaded automatically, along with my MIDI and Audio settings! Additionally it also loaded my Halion Sonic instance and gave me an error message. I can't remember what the message was (probably the same as I'm reporting below) but I wasn't surprised, as it had tried to load the Halion Sonic 32 bit version into the 64 bit RC! Surely there should be separate VSTi files for the 32 and 64 bit versions? I certainly hope so as I plan to switch between the two as I have some 32 bit-only plug-ins and I don't want to have to keep unloading and re-loading each time I switch.

Another interesting point is that after un-installing the full version it doesn't then ask again for your unlock code after re-installing. I would have thought it should do that?

The problem I have now is that although I can load both Halion Sonic and Halion 5, as soon as I try to select one of them on a track I get the following error message: 'Error when instantiating plug-in "HALion5.dll". Please contact support'. I have emailed support separately about this error as well.

One more thing I have noticed so far: The Phrases list only contains the Generators. I seem to remember there was a Samples section containing Generic and Guitar patterns in the demo. What has happened to all of those?

[themixtape]

When I uninstall, I make sure that I delete the remaining folders inside the AppData/Roaming folder... there's a RapidComposer folder that remains, and some subfolders with settings. I delete those after uninstalling, and it's a fresh install.

Re: Halion-- no clue man, I don't use Steinberg products... nothing but bugs, from my previous experience.

Have you tried using RC as a VST inside your DAW, and routing it to Halion? Maybe that would help.

re: the missing Phrases... that could be a corrupt Phrases.rcPHRS file. Try doing the full uninstallation (as I mentioned above)... and installing the newest version that is coming out tomorrow (2.5). All the Phrases should be included (we revised the Sample phrases which are now called PianoSample01-08. Three of the Phrases didn't work with all chords, so we removed them.

For registered users, there are 200+ additional Custom phrases that I made, covering all kinds of styles (classical/basic/pop/funk/chiptunes/techno,etc... these will be available as a download for registered users.

Good luck!

[petearch]

Ok, thanks Chris,

I already removed the stuff in the AppData folder but it made no difference.

I've never had any bug problems with Halion before. I'll try it as VST inside Cubase but haven't got round to that yet. I just needed some basic stuff cleared up first.

I'll try the new version tomorrow and I'll wait for Attila to respond to the other issues.

[petearch]

Well, very strangely I thought I'd try again deleting the AppData folder and this time it was a fresh install. Perhaps I didn't remove it properly last time although I thought I had.

I also no longer get the error message when allocating Halion to a track, although Halion 5 just hangs again (like it did in the demo) but Halion Sonic seems to be ok.

All the phrases are back now too, so I'll shut up for a while and look forward to tomorrow's update!

[musicdevelopments]

Hi Peter,

I am sorry it took so long for me to reply. It was because of the
preparations for todays release.

Unfortunately there are a small number of plug-ins that have not worked well
with RapidComposer, and Halion is one of these. The reasons are not fully
known but these plug-ins probably use a weird software protection mechanism.
We did not give up and will contact Steinberg asking for hints about their
plug-in behaviour.

About the uninstallation: the installer does not remove the RapidComposer
data from C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\RapidComposer. If you want a
clean install you need to remove this directory manually. We are looking for
a more capable installer to use in the future.

Thanks,
Attila