Waveform FREE 12.5.11, no external plugin usable?

[talby]

Am I missing on my computer the installation or configuration of an important package?

On Linux (Debian, old-stable, "Bullseye", with KDE 5.20.5) I installed from the Debian repository packages "lsp-plugins" and "calf-plugins", and also placed the files from some other dowloaded "VST" and "VST3" type plugin into the corresponding folders on the plugin folder path. According to the VALIDATION function, the only plugins which would have a chance to work are the "VST" type plugins. Any other plugin type ("VST3" and "LV2") does not pass the validation test. For those I get the following strange output where there appears constructed a path to the plugin file which of course like this does not exist:

Code: Select all

Started validating: /home/myusername/http:/calf.sourceforge.net/plugins/Analyzer
Random seed: 0x341d35f
Validation started
Strictness level: 5
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Starting tests in: pluginval / Scan for plugins located in: /home/myusername/http:/calf.sourceforge.net/plugins/Analyzer...
Num plugins found: 0
!!! Test 1 failed: No types found. This usually means the plugin binary is missing or damaged, an incompatible format or that it is an AU that isn't found by macOS so can't be created.
There was no plugin file found at: /home/myusername/http:/calf.sourceforge.net/plugins/Analyzer
FAILED!!  1 test failed, out of a total of 1
*** FAILED

But even worse, none of the "VST" type plugins which passed the VALIDATION test can be used. Instead, it lets WF freeze so that I have to kill the WF process.
The "VST" type plugin can be added to the track, but when I go ahead and try to open its GUI by double clicking on its symbol in the track's plugin-chain view, WF obviously tries to paint a plugin window, sometime seen as a bigger sized, empty, semi-transparent rectangle as a shadow on top of the main WF window, sometimes seen by a blinking cursor in a completely to cursor size shrinked plugin window, which cannot be handled in any way, and... end of the story.
In the task bar I see that it there was created a new window. But neither that new window nor the main WF window react anymore. The main window at least can be minimized and maximized and fully drawn again, with the shadow of the new window on top, but the new window appears to open as a ghost only. WF is frozen in this state and ending the WF process by the KDE system monitor is the only way to continue. The built-in sandboxing did obviously not provide protection, neither.

I for testing the issue installed the evaluatuion version of Reaper, and _ALL_ plugins work there.
How might this come? Is this a tremendous WF12.5.11 issue, or is my Debian installation missing some package which WF might depend on but has this not documented?

Any idea on how to analyze this, or better: how to solve this?

[Kott]

It's hard do guess what's happened on your side.
Is the audio engine works at all? What if you put a some build-in instrument and try to play?

[talby]

Waveform works quite nice in my Linux setup, as far as functionality is offered, also with built-in effects. The only thing which fails, and this fails completely, is the handling of external plugins.
So, are you using Debian (old-stable, "bullseye") with KDE, and external plugins work for you? This information would already be a hint that it might not be Waveform failing but my personalized OS installation. Or do other users experience the same issue?

[talby]

Found something!

Forum member UnionS8 mentioned ( viewtopic.php?p=8671494#p8671494 ) that "When the plugin sandboxing is turned on, Waveform crashes more often. It's well known issue".

So, I gave it a try and turned it off. The tested "VST" type plugins now seem to work!
In detail, I turned sandboxing OFF, inserted a VST plugin to the chain, and this works just fine.
Then I turn sandboxing ON again, right away save and close the project, try to reopen the project (with the sandboxing feature still ON and the plugin in the project in place), and simply opening the project lets WF freeze.

Solution for me for the moment: no sandboxing under Linux.

BUT!! Very strange!! The CALF plugins of "LV2" type work as well, if sandboxing is turned OFF. They still do not pass the validation test because in that test not even the file is found (see my orignal post). However, they just work fine.

[pough]

I'm pretty sure that the plugin validator doesn't work with LV2 plugins. The project page only mentions VST, VST3 and AU plugin types.

https://github.com/Tracktion/pluginval

[talby]

Thanks for this information.
Hmmm. Would be better to simply print a message that the tool is not capable to validating LV2 format instead of reporting a failure of validation as if the plugin wouldn't be programmed well.