Demo version crashes constantly

[petearch]

Windows 7 32 bit, I installed it yesterday but had a dozen crashes in an hour so I gave up. Also, does the demo not yet include the Melody Generator? That is the bit I am most interested in.

[J.F.K.]

I understood that the Melody generator will be included in the next version 2.3. The crashes are currently normal. Maybe this is a little improved in the next version. We'll see.

[petearch]

So is it only the demo that crashes a lot or does the full version have the same problem?

[themixtape]

2.3 is a lot more stable. The full version crashes sometimes, too. But 2.3 is a LOT more stable. Hang tight as the official version will be released in a few weeks.

Can you tell us exactly what you're doing to cause crashes? And are the crashes repeatable?

Thanks!

[J.F.K.]

So is it only the demo that crashes a lot or does the full version have the same problem?

Has nothing to do with the demo. If you want to spare your nerves, I recommend that you wait for the next version.

[musicdevelopments]

Thanks for the replies.

I wish we could have released a bug fix update but there was not a suitable point of time to release an update during the development. So the next version will contain dozens of fixes for stability issues, and many workflow improvements, thanks to Chris.

I ask you for some patience until the next update is finished. Believe me, the melody generator is worth the wait.

[dsan@mail.com]

I'm using version 2.21 full. I rarely experience crashes.

I believe it has to do with how this, or any Windows, program is getting installed.

I used to experience a lot of crashes because of my, then, installation methods. I have found that by doing the following has eliminated many problems for me. I have posted these methods many times but they seem to go unnoticed.

1.) After downloading, right click on the *.exe installer and select properties.
2.) "Unblock" the file. This is VERY important as Windows will not allow all code to be installed. Especially if the registry is affected.
3.) Run the *.exe installer "As Administrator". Again, VERY important, especially if you have not disabled UAC.

By using the method described my crashes have been minimized. Now, they seem to happen most often if I do something I should not.

RC was one of those programs I had heavy crashes with UNTIL I installed as described here.

RC seems to want to install immediately after download. Do not allow it to. Instead, go through the steps I have outlined and your results will be better I am sure.

Try it, you may like it.

Good luck!

Happy Musiking
dsan

[petearch]

It didn't seem to matter what I was doing, it just kept crashing. As far as I can remember I was just dragging sample phrases and entering some chords. As a user of only about 1 hour, there wasn't much else I could figure out to do!

I have tried the suggested install method. I uninstalled first then re-installed as suggested. Strangely, it recovered my last session and all my MIDI/Audio setting are still there so maybe it didn't fully un-install!

I'll see how I get on with it now and report back.

[musicdevelopments]

Amazing! Thank you Dennis for posting this trick.

I was thinking a lot why some people experience LOTS of crashes while many others see only occasional crashes.

I am still not sure what the difference is between installing with or without Administrator rights. Maybe all this is connected with Data Execution Prevention.

Thank you!
Attila

[dsan@mail.com]

You are welcome Attila! Anything I can do to help I am happy to.

Not being a programmer I cannot say why it works better to install the way I have described. Likewise I think it has something to do with Windows DEP but can not say for certain.

What I do know is that since using the described method on any installations I do not experience the crashes and problems that others seem to have and complain about. If I do not "unblock" I see a lot of program error and crash prone.

Let me know if I can be of additional assistance.

Happy Musiking!
dsan

[themixtape]

Yes, dsan, THANK YOU for this.

I believe since RC installs a lot of its data into Users/User/AppData/Roaming/RapidComposer that it might have something to do with Administrator Rights in Windows 7.

My recommendation ALWAYS is to go to Windows control panel:

DISABLE USER ACCOUNT CONTROL FULLY!!!


Control Panel
then User Accounts and Family Safety
then User Accounts

Then "Change User Account Settings"

THEN... set that slider to NEVER NOTIFY. It's probably on the second highest notch. NO. Slide it all the way down, confirm... and get out of Control Panel.

I HATE THAT WINDOWS THING. I honestly think that has a LOT to do with certain users' instability problems. This is a Windows default, so REMOVE IT, definitely!

[/i]

[dsan@mail.com]

I concur with disabling UAC, if, and ONLY IF, the following conditions are met:
1.) You are the ONLY user of said computer, AND,
2.) Your computer is NOT networked.

UAC serves a valuable purpose, that being to limit installations.

While it is a nuisance, for most users UAC is really necessary to avoid installing software that is not wanted. By giving an alert message the user can decide if software [wanting to install itself] should be installed or not. Malware comes in when you least expect it.

Personally, I leave UAC enabled due to our home network, the fact there is no virus protection on my main DAW PC and the possibility of another visiting "unsavory" sites or accidently getting hit with malware. So far I've been lucky.

Just a thought. Of course YMMV.

Happy Musiking!
dsan

EDIT: A thought occurred to me. In the case of RC, automatically installing after download, having UAC disabled, will likely cause the *.exe file "blocked" and not allowed to install properly.

[J.F.K.]

DISABLE USER ACCOUNT CONTROL FULLY!!!

THEN... set that slider to NEVER NOTIFY.

Incredible! A suicide.

[petearch]

Well, reporting back as promised.

I have been using the software today, so far without any crashes having followed the install steps specified by Dsan (thank you!). I would suggest to Atilla that this is somehow built into the installation so it installs properly, or at least add the instructions to the installation process. You have probably already lost some perspective purchases when people experience the crashes and then mostly tend to give up.

I would certainly not recommend disabling UAC, it is there for a reason. Other programs (including music software) install correctly with it enabled so I see no reason to disable it for one program.

I have watched the videos and I am now reading through the tutorials. Next step will be to read the manual. So far I am extremely impressed, it is a fantastic piece of software!

However, I can't seem to right-click on a phrase to bring up the various sliders, etc. in order to change the default phrase. Is this something missing from the demo?

As mentioned earlier, I will probably wait until the Melody Generator is available before purchasing as I don't want to buy now and then have to pay more for an upgrade. Do you have any idea how soon it will be available please?

One final thing, I am trying to load Halion 5 (Steinberg) as a VSTi in the standalone version. It loaded fine, but then when I try to assign a Halion sound to a track(instead of the built-in soundfont)it just hangs (i.e. shows 'Not Responding' with the little blue revolving circle). It has been doing this now for about 30 minutes, is it time to Task Manager it and try again?

EDIT: Regarding the right-clicking, I've realised it needs to be a generated phrase, not a standard one. New user syndrome!

I gave up on Halion 5 after 45 minutes but Halion Sonic seemed to load ok. So there seems to be a problem with using the software with Halion 5 which is pity.

[dsan@mail.com]

Glad to hear you are getting along better now petearch

To be clear, any software downloads will be blocked by Windows, requiring the procedure to "unblock". I have seen this on *.exe, *.rar, etc. I have made it part of my process that immediately after download I open properties and "Unblock" before doing anything else with the file. That is, providing I trust the source. Then I go the next step of running a scan on the file to insure it is not infected (at least as sure as I can be.) Then I move it from my download computer to my DAW computer.

As for your problem with VSTi's, I typically route RC out of Comp1 to Comp2 via midi lan to my DAW so I haven't played with loading a vst into RC. Sorry I can't help you with that.

You may want to run H5 standalone and pipe RC into it via midi. If you need a good virtual midi interface look here:
http://www.tobias-erichsen.de/software/loopmidi.html


Yeah, 30 minutes is too long. Time to use Task Manager.

HTH

Happy Musiking!
dsan