Synthmaster 1 was great for me. Just picked up 2.5 yesterday. However, I'm crashing PT 9.0.6 when I load SM. I'm using Win7-64. I've tried both the 64-bit and the 32-bit versions, with the same result. The SM log file is empty. I've made sure that all traces of SM1 were removed before installation, also. Any suggestions on where to go from here?

Are you running PT as "administrator" ?

Yes, I've tried it both ways, as Administrator and not. Same result. The failure occurs as soon as the GUI is displayed.

The very first time I loaded it, it went through the process of building the wavetables. PT then gave a "The plug-in could not be made active because a DAE error was encountered (error #-7401)" error. After that, it wouldn't allow SM to be made active, saying "There is not enough memory". I watched the process manager, and PT only uses about 640M of RAM at that point. At that point, SM is inactive. If I try to activate it manually, I get the message "Access violation occurred, unable to read location: 0x3F72FBB7". Note that this is a completely empty session, with just a single instrument track with Synthmaster on the first insert.

After the first failed load, and after restarting ProTools, the failure occurs as soon as the GUI is displayed. I've gone between the 32-bit and 64-bit versions, and the behavior seems to be the same.

I've also removed all VST wrapped plugins from the database, but there's no change. So, I don't think it's some conflict with another plugin.

OK, it looks like I got it to work, with a couple of caveats.

I wrapped the 64-bit version with jBridge, and then imported it into ProTools using VST-to-RTAS 2.11. So far, it looks like the jBridged VST version works just fine, although the native RTAS version still causes PT to crash instantly.

It also looks like there might be some kind of a naming issue with the SM FX version. When I go to wrap that, VST-to-RTAS complains that Synthmaster is already in the database.

We're getting closer, but not quite there yet. The rotary encoders don't seem to be working right. When I click and move them, the jump around, but stay in their original position. I changed "Bipolar Easy Knobs" from Yes to No, but it didn't change the behavior.

When I put the plugin in "Bypass" mode, I can adjust the rotary encoders just fine. However, when I take it out of "Bypass" mode, they jump back to the position they were in. Does this sound like some kind of issue with the jBridge auxhost? I've change that to run as admin, and also to Bypass Visual Themes, as I do with the Protools executable.

Also, the rotary encoders under the Matrix section seem to work fine.

I've done all my tests with PT9 on Windows 7, and I didnt encounter such issues.

OK, still getting the instant crash with the bundled RTAS, but no biggie.

In jBridge 1.5, there are a number of options you can set. I threw a bunch of them on that were off, including:

Performance mode
audioMasterGetTime hack
Use thread safety measures in auxhost
Force whole GUI refresh
Sluggish GUI hack
Run in existing auxhost,

and

Use legacy integrated mode (v1.2), which was on already

I'm not exactly sure which option or combination of options did the trick, but the rotary knobs are now working.

It almost looked like they were receiving constant MIDI updates before, which was causing them to reset. That would explain why they started working when I pressed "Bypass", but the knob would reset when I turned it back on.

Also, in this latest setup, I'm using 32-bit SM.

Anyway, the jBridge/VST-to-RTAS solution works for me.

And one last configuration, I verified that the 32-bit version wrapped with VST-to-RTAS works just fine without jBridge. Is there anything I'm missing by using a wrapped VST rather than the bundled RTAS version, such as a key input?

Thanks.

I too am getting instant crashes, but in 8.0.5 LE on Win XP Pro SP3. 2.5.4.139 RTAS just won't work here. VST works fine.

As for the rotary encoders on my controller not properly controlling parameters in the plugin, I complained about this issue before without getting acknowledgment. Perhaps the issue has to do with the fact that I have the original Axiom with stepped encoders. They go click-click-click as I turn them, whereas the newer Axiom has smooth turning encoders.

In my case, the issue with the rotary knobs wasn't related to hardware. It was just the software knobs. I think there was something about how jBridge was refreshing the MIDI data, or maybe the GUI, or something like that. Anyway, changing the button settings as described above fixed it. It wasn't an issue with the non-jBridge VST.

I did a complete controller reset by reloading the default set of personalities and now the controller knobs work correctly when assigned to various VI parameters.

But, instantiating the RTAS version still results in an instant Pro Tools crash.

Is this Windows or Mac? If Mac, would you be able to send me a crash log?

Thanks!

Unfortunately it's Win XP SP3. When I try to instantiate Synthmaster in PT 8.0.5 LE, the pc grinds for 15 seconds and then I get a C++ runtime error that refers to the Pro Tools exe and says that the application requested the runtime to terminate in an unusual way. When I click OK, Pro Tools blinks out of existence.

When I check the Event Viewer, it says: Faulting application protoolsle.exe, version 8.0.5.60, faulting module msvcr80.dll, version 8.0.50727.6195, fault address 0x000046b4.