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DISCLAIMER: Upon using this guide you agree I will not be held responsible for any damages or other liabilities. This is not an official or professionally authored tutorial and is in no way affiliated with Cakewalk. This is here for you guys, If I'm right or wrong shouldn't matter if it comes down to that sort of thread, but please appreciate me taking the time to write up a way to get things running smoothly that has worked for a few people whom I initially showed this too before posting it publically.
You can skip my little story here and get to the fix info, but I suggest you at least skim through it so you know what was going on.
However, despite wether or not you read my tale of computer turmoil, I am almost positive that my method will fix several people's problems. Even improve your systems performance.
As you can see by several of the posts by other members and posts of my own outlining several problems (some of which were unique to others including myself) .. Which you can locate here http://forum.cakewalk.com/tm.asp?m=6170 ... 4;� (Long list of problems, some very bizarre live encountered with SP5. Question for everyone too...) [/link] and here http://forum.cakewalk.com/tm.asp?m=6169 ... 34;�(Sonar 5 Pro : Several different crash descriptions, Symptoms, and what triggered it.) ... and my being persuaded into 4.0.4 http://forum.cakewalk.com/tm.asp?m=6259 ... 5;� (This Post Regarding 4.0.4) ....But I come with good news .. Well, it started out as 4.0.4 dropping out every few seconds no matter what settings were used, what drivers, what plug ins were unloaded, it couldn't even play through a simply MIDI file. This was random and very new but I'm sure it isn't a common bug for 4.0.4 , not only was Cakewalk acting up but for some reason Fxpansion BFD XFL even though it has a dedicated disk alongside Drum kit From Hell Superior (on the same driver) was completely unusable and using 75% of RAM. No matter what settings I used the program simply wouldn't work, I had recently installed the newest patch. At first I thought Sonar was the problem because of the dropouts so I loaded it into some other programs I own and as a stand alone starting out with 2% usage on my CPU and 85% free RAM ... However my cable connection decided to pull the old intermittent connection bullshit that it sometimes does because various reasons in our area. Being a Networking Professional, Old School Hacker, Old School Visual Basic 6 and Visual C++ 6 Programmer, and so forth I feel confident that I can usually figure out just about anything on my own and end up telling Tech Support how I fixed it and how far off they were .... But this obviously was a problem with the service itself .... Eventually I called Comcast got my Modem back online and there we have it, at KVRaudi.com about 10 people complaining about the recent builds of BFD with the same exact problems of mine ... So I rolled it back to a stable build I had in a backup and now BFD uses 10% of the RAM at it's peak (leaving about 70% to whatever else).
the point is that hours without a cable or dial up connection to use caused me to look deeper into the problem and use my sometimes neglected computer genius to troubleshoot things.[:D] ... 1 , well actually 2 very interesting problems were 4 rather moderate computer viruses and 2 Trojan downloader programs (probably how they got there) no doubt from going to somewhere deep within the slums of the Internet recently probably having disabled Norton and Spy sweeper because of working on a resource intensive program like Sonar or a Video Editor.
Because Sonar 4.0.4 and Sonar 5.0.1 (both producer editions) were having some very odd problems .... And a few new ones. Aside from any and all mentioned above the VST Adapter was now no longer detecting any VST, VSTi, MFX, etc.. plug ins and only a select few registered DX,DXi, and Rewire programs were appearing as well within Sonar and the Plug in Manager.
Frustrated I decided to dig deep into the registry ... I found some interesting b/s ... Apparently can be a problem with some of our installations not providing or attaining information to/from the registry correctly. I also came across just several other things that were absolutely wrong... I compared this to a backup before Sonar 5 was first installed and before 4.0.4 was installed and there was absolutely some entries that were wrong.
So ... What To Do ? .... Well I'm about to inform you.
Here is what I Did... The End results are Sonar 4.0.4 working without crashing, dropping out, or causing other problems. I have also been able to use Sonar 5 Producer Edition without a single crash or bug for the past 24 hours (literally straight).
This came along with neither programs hogging RAM or CPU, which I might add I found to be because of plug ins were not unloading properly (some of them weren't installed correctly in the first place by the adapter)
BEFORE YOU DO THIS !!! PLEASE !! MAKE A BACKUP OF YOUR REGISTRY & Create a system restore point. If you have another backup utility that's fine, but the registry needs to be backed up. THIS IS AT YOUR OWN RISK I am willing to answer any questions, please try to PM them to me or e-mail them to me at xxpyro66xx@aol.com if you need help ... I will do what I can. Remember this may or may not fix your problems, This is intended for Windows 2000 all the way up to Windows XP Professional 32bit users.
Optional but strongly Suggested Preparation
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[*] Download a the demo version of Tuneup Utilities 2006 and CCleaner They can be found at http://downloads.com ... You might also want to download FreeRAM Pro , this is a GREAT RAM monitoring program that frees up RAM safely, effectively, and also has some advanced functions regarding paging files, unloading DLL's faster, Large System Cache (which I wouldn't suggest if you have a lot of RAM), and Executive paging ... The program has been essential to me when troubleshooting to see what plug ins and programs were not unloading properly (BFD continued to suck in RAM once it closed all the way down to where I only had 10% of my 2 GB of RAM availed when it crashed). Use Tuneup Utilities to optimize your system, I suggest enabling the functions to run explorer and the task bar in separate processes, removing some un-needed special effects, services, and accessing some advanced Hard drive configurations. You can also fix registry errors and even Defragment your registry. I also suggest that you turn off indexing services unless you need them. CCcleaner toy should use to remove any registry errors currently on your system as well as any junk files (minus the bottom category provided), You will be surprised how much junk you accumulate in a 12 hour span (sometimes up to 1 GB of Junk data not including temp Internet stuff)
[*] Get O&O , Diskeeper, Perfect Disk, or some other type of defragmenting program. If you are a diskeeper user use the settings that detect to see if your MFT file table needs to be expanded in size and either way DEFRAGMENT YOUR FRIGGIN DISKS !!!!!! And make a schedule for it to do so Daily, every 2 days, or at least once a week during a time period where you won't be interrupted by it running.
[*]Tidbit: I am a firm believer that keeping your computer on keeps it healthier than constantly turning it on and off between uses as most people do several times within a day. This is bad for the system, think of how most materials react when they are Hot then Cool then Hot again then cool etc.. Setting your power options to turn the Hard disks off after a 3 - 5 hours of inactivity and your monitor off after about 2 - 3 hours of inactivity (or even sooner). Power settings for the disks keep them from the strain of starting and stopping the way booting does AND more importantly turning your monitor off instead of using a screen saver saves an Uber amount of system resources. Do you guys have any clue as to how much having a screen saver degrades your system's performance ? It's silly , hard to believe since it's not on, but it does. [/I]
[*] PLEASE visit the forums of your products manufacturer before upgrading right a way to the latest patch. It could be wonderful or it could ruin a scheduled recording session for someone hiring you to record ... or just screw with your own projects. BFD and Sonar are the most recent prime examples of this with BFD's latest build and Sonar 4.0.3's problems before 4.0.3b and 4.0.4 (which introduced some new ones).
[*] If your project folder is not too large I suggest backing it up to another drive or at least making a copy of it somewhere else on your drive before doing anything I am about to tell you.
[*] Turn off your System Sounds !!!! Also Disable any On Board Audio via your BIOS, in my system it was disabled through the southbridge , it is completely useless, and interferes with things. Further more Turn off your system sounds, turn off AOL, AIM, YIM, ICQ, Anti Virus Programs, Disconnect from the Internet if you don't need it, shut down your spyware sweepers, and only run programs which are absolutely essential !! If you have to have these programs open, I know some of you absolutely must have your RSS feeds, Forums, and Instant Messengers try to use a "Lite" version of the program if one is provided (AIM Express uses little resources) and be sure to turn off their sounds or make sure the sounds are going to an audio card other than your recording one.
[*] If you have a USB Drive that has sensitive data in it and have space in your computer, simply open up he case, take the IDE drive off the USB adapter (that's all it is), and make it an internal drive !! It may be slightly slower than USB 2.0 but not in a significant manner what so ever. Your disk will live longer if you monitor it's S.M.A.R.T information (if its smart enabled) and use programs such as Speed Fan to control and monitor the temperature of your system devices. On Newer computers the Bios should have System Health Monitoring options that do the same thing, so there is no need.
[*] BACK UP YOUR PROJECTS TO WHATEVER IS AVALIBLE. I don't care if you need 200 CD-RW's or 25 DVD-RW's, use a secondary internal or external drive, but hey "Crash Happens ®
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__________________________________b]Step 1: Cleaning out the junk & Sonar Problems in the Registry [/b]
NOTE TO ADVANCED USERS: If you know what to remove and what not to remove yourself from the registry or during a custom install please skip to the last few steps of this guide. Thanks !
Rules of Thumb:
When Exploring the Cakewalk folders you may come across folders with settings you may wish to keep. You do not have to delete these, probably the best ones to avoid deleting or altering are the Product Key, Program Path (where it's installed), and your VST folder's default location if it is correct.
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[*] Hopefully you took my advice and got rid of several other problems using one of the recommended or another good application for the sorts. Remove any and all errors that are found. This is simply a routine thing that should be done anyway that the average person has no clue about.
[*] Go To START > Run , in the text field type in "regedit" and click OK
[*] Your registry editor should appear. The first thing you want to do is to back your entire registry up, it will not take long at all, save it to a disk, your HD, desktop, wherever. To do so go to file and simply hit export. Make sure you select to export "ALL" ...
[*] Make a System Restore Point label it something like "Before trying Holly Would's Sonar Fix"
[*] Now either use the Find Tool (if you know what your doing) or think of the structure like a windows directory. The directories (as we will call them) HYKEY_CURRENT_USER, HYKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, and HKEY_USERS are the places you will want to look but it wouldn't hurt looking in the other 2 (or 3) either. Here are some instructions based on my configuration.
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For HKEY_CURRENT_USER
[*] Open the directories separated by ">" as follows:
[*] HYKEY_CURRENT_USER > Software > Cakewalk Music Software
[*] Under these folders are some settings that may need to be corrected such as default directories, some plug ins may need to be deleted (you can delete all plug in entries anyway as they will be restored later via the VST adapter) … You should not remove the Excluded List however, that way you don't have to deal with manually excluding crap like AC3 Filters, Roxio, and Nero stuff.
[*] When Your Done Go Back to the first screen.
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For HKEY_CURRENT_MACHINE
[*] As before open, in order ... HKEY_CURRENT_MACHINE > Software
[*] Scroll down to the VST folder, make sure the path on the VST folder itself is the default location for your VST plug ins (i.e. C\program files\cakewalk\vstplugins) change if needed.
[*] You may also delete any plug ins (preferably any having problems) but it doesn't matter because they will be re-added to the registry once the VST Adapter is run again.
[*] you may want to check for any plug in entries (and delete them) that do not exist on your system at all as well. Usually a registry cleaner will do that for you.
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Return to HKEY_CURRENT_USER > Software > Cakewalk Music Software
Now this is where things get a little more complicated. You need to have a sense of what your doing by now to perform these steps safely. Or you can skip to the next section, separated by the "--------------" line. Under the Cakewalk Music Folder there are several more folders, if you recognize the entry's (do not delete single lines out of a tree / tag , only alter them if you know what your doing) as something that you would like to keep on the computer then leave it there. There is absolutely no harm in leaving it there even if you un-install the program with intentions of re-installing it. The installation will read the Product Key, Company Name, User Name, VST Folder Location, Program installation directory, load most of your settings, and so forth.
You should also visit the following Keys:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Cakewalk Music Software\Cakewalk VST Adapter
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Cakewalk Music Software
these 2 keys are where all of your plug ins, vst adapter stuff, and several other settings are contained. Make any necessary changes, however I do not suggest removing the catalog of plug ins that way the VST Adapter will not have to scan everything.
just to make sure nothing was missed Go to Edit > Find and enter the following terms, use find next on each until there are no more results to display. Make sure to uncheck all boxes under the find options except for Keys.
- VST Adapter
- Cakewalk
- Sonar
- VST
Coming Closer To The End ( :
- If you have Sonar 3, 4, and 5 : delete all entries for Sonar aside from values like the installation locations, default folders, personal settings, and the product key. Unless you wish to remove them as well. It is entirely up to you.
- If you only have Sonar 4 & 5 first make sure you have migrated your settings to Sonar 5 and that you did not delete them in the previous steps, then delete Sonar 4 from the registry.
- If you only have Sonar 5's Full Edition, not an upgrade, then I'm not sure why your registry would be mixed up. However if your having problems delete what needs to be deleted for Sonar 5.
- If you wish to roll back to a previous version of Sonar.
quick reminders..
- Delete any Entries for the VST Adapter aside from settings you wish to keep.
- Delete any entries for plug ins that have expired trials, are crashing your programs, or if you are experiencing problems with VST Adapter not registering the programs correctly. Using the reset button the current build of the VST Adapter appears to be part of the cause, it does NOT remove the registry entries as it should.
- Delete anything within the Cakewalk Music Software and all sub directories of it if you wish. The Same goes for the VST folder(s).
Almost Done
This is the most important step of all, it is what decides if this will really fix your problem or not. So far I have had 4 personal friends correct their problems by cleaning their computer up, defragging, etc.. Running a registry cleaner .. By Following the directions above and the directions you are about to carry out. IF ANYTHING GOES WRONG simply use your System Restore Point you created earlier. Do not restore the registry file you exported unless you mess something up before completing these tasks and wish to promptly start over.
OK ...
First Un-install the VST Adapter using the Add/Remove Programs list under the control panel or by clicking the un installation file under the start menu group for the program. MAKE SURE YOU USE A CUSTOM instead of the normal uninstall function.
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Uninstall the Sonar version based on the information in the last steps that apply to what applications you have installed. ONLY un-install Sonar using the provided un installer only !!
[*]Choose custom un-install
[*]on the first window do not delete anything (unless you specifically want or need too) except for the un installer and all files in the main program directory. Once you get to Sub directories no longer highlight those programs unless you really want to go through installing all of that stuff again slowly.
[*] on the next window you should see files located in C:\Windows\System32\ , delete all of them despite any warnings about other programs using them.
[*] the next screen will display the Registry entries (except for any you may have removed yourself). I suggest once more keeping the User Data and Install Key that way you don't have to type it up when you re-install.
[*]Finish the installation then repeat the process for any other versions except for Sonar 3 if you happen to have it.
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FINAL STEPS (YAY)
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[*] NOTE: It is extremely important that you install to the same exact locations as before.
[*] Reinstall Sonar 5's full version if you have it. If not..
[*] Reinstall Sonar 4
[*] Apply Patches 4.01, 4.02 (which I suggest stopping at), 4.03, then 4.0.3b if you have both it doesn't matter as long as you have 4.03b. For maximum stability I suggest stopping at this build. For some reason 4.0.4 seems to cause problems for Sonar 5 and itself for some people and for other people 4.0.4 works fine. If you had Sonar 3 installed, Migrate your settings of you need them otherwise hit cancel !!!!! Do not register your plug ins yet, don't bother installing the wma and quicktime b/s at the end of the installation.
[*] Having reinstalled and patched Sonar 4 you should install Sonar 5.0.0
[*] Do not run the VST Adapter unless you removed them all from the registry !
[*] If you removed them do so after the next step.
[*] Start up Sonar 5 Producer Edition, you should notice it takes less time to load, and there are no memory leaks. Even if this is not the case (speed wise) you should NOT migrate your settings from Sonar 4 unless you absolutely have to have them (I did not test it with migration) and proceed to run Sonar 5, Set up your Audio Cards, perhaps try a quick test run of a project within it. You should unless you removed them see all of your plug ins still listed in the synthrack and effects rack.
[*] Close the program
[*] I strongly recommend Running Cakewalk Audio Finder and moving all of your projects to their own personal folders, this is how Sonar 5 works anyway.
[*] Whatever you decide to do, the following step should be to use the VST Adapter and correctly set up the locations of your plugins. Do not hit re-scan existing or failed plugins, I also do not suggest sleeting do not use VST prefix (it makes Plugin Manager a lot easier to use to organize your plugins into new folders based on their prefix that should be their brand name.
[*] Run Sonar 5, verify the plugins were all enabled that should of been, close the program.
[*] Run the Plugin manager, make sure to exclude any plugins as needed, however do not arrange them yet.
[*] Exit all Cakewalk Applications and use one a free program or demo like Tuneup Utilities 2006, Registry Mechanic, or CCleaner available at http://download.com ... This should eliminate any errors in the registry caused by this procedure and the programs should no longer have problems in the registry and work as stable as other versions of Sonar do. Bugs and crashes are not escapable SO MAKE SURE AUTO SAVES IS ON. If a Sonar 4 project crashing a lot, load it into Sonar 5 after checking to see if the crashes are caused by something else ... And Vise Versa, Just save any presets for plugins your using, perhaps even make notes of the current panning scheme etc. Then load the project files manually unto Sonar 4 by selecting them all and dragging them to the window.
PRESTO. You should now have Sonar 5 working much better than it previously was if not as completely stable as the build's bugs will allow, work around the known common ones. I have yet to have a problem when I was the one having the strangest it would have seemed.... Sonar 4.0.3 seems to be much more stable than 4.0.4 and I have had a few people who tried this with me tell me once 4.0.4 was installed that Sonar 5 started acting up. However this wasn't the case for some people, 1 of them suggested that if you install 4.0.4 after installing Sonar 5 that the problems will occur but not if you update to 4.0.4 (or lower) before installing Sonar 5.
I wrote this up relatively fast, forgive any grammatical or spelling errors. Also You can screw off if you disagree with any of it because I saw it with my own eyes and it has worked for more than just myself on different types of systems (mine was the only Dual Processor) Your feedback however is welcome, please just make it mature critique, perhaps make some suggestions yourself.
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My Follow Up Post
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I really hope some of you have benefited (or even tried) from parts or all of my above Tutorial, A LOT OF THE PROBLEM WAS MAINLY JUNK & WRONG REGISTRY DATA.. [/size] and if not that most of it (as somone I actually sort of argued with on the matter pointed out) were certain plugins, for me BFD XFL's latest faulty patch. SO I hope my tutorial Based on what I did and the result being the complete stability of all 3 versions of Sonar, their latest patches, on my system has helped the readers. Just letting everyone know that my Sonar 5 hasn't crashed once after at least 72 hours total use until 5 mins ago. HOWEVER the crash was caused by Several Factors NOT A SONAR 5 Bug...
For some reason the previous instance of BFD XFL was left loaded in my memory (since BFD loads most of itself directly into RAM). MY RAM resources were only at only around 45% according to my RAM manager's log and when I re-loaded BFD XFL it didn't load all the way (and I didn't notice at the time, but did shortly before the crash because of missing buttons and unloaded sounds). So the Ram was so low that when I went to go change a track Icon thumbnails wouldn't load, innocently thinking I needed to refresh the thumbnails it didn't help so I went and clicked on the folder's properties I caused my RAM manager's setting to auto-free RAM when it goes below a certain amount and that uses the CPU. So the Free RAM Program went haywire incessently trying to Free RAM while I was performing all of these operations in Sonar and with the Folder and the RAM literally hit 100% usage and so did the CPU according to Sonar. Frantically now knowing what the hell was going on I tried to shutdown the Ram manager (FreeRAM Pro btw is what I use) but when bringing Sonar out of Focus, or well trying to, by clicking the systray for it, that really did it .. Sonar and Explorer both froze up and I had to end process on explorer. Explorer crashed because the track icon folder's properties and such I was trying to use.... So I think from now on I'm going to keep the auto-freeing of RAM function disabled for when it drops below 128 mb of 2GB [:D]
But thus far I am absolutely in Love With Sonar 5 and the program is working extremely better than the first 2 installations of it because of the method I used above. I love the track Icons however I wish they could be viewed larger without maximizing the tracks ... I love the acsess to the piano roll from track view, and I just love all of it.
My few friends I mentioned in the tutorial that use Sonar 5 haven't mentioned any problems since I helped them get theirs stable as well.
I would also like you all to note that I still have 3, 4 , and 5 all installed. And I ....
should have added this step as well, If you un-install any previous versions of Sonar make sure to delete any registry keys that got left over or things from Sonar 5's registry entries that got carried over from the previous version that should not have. I strongly suggest not using the migration tool but instead editing the registry (if you know how too !!!!!!) and copying the keys for the settings and other stuff you want carried over.
Question Have many people with ONLY Sonar 5 Producer Edition, the full version had as many problems as people who upgraded ???[/size] I have not read many posts where I saw problems from full versions.
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