Crashing Metro

[twaboom]

Hi;

The latest version dosn't seem to be stable on my G4 867 PB. After loading several soft synths and recording a few tracks it crashes. Here are the gory details;

Apr 2 21:01:51 localhost /Volumes/PB HD/Applications/Metro G4 Folder/Metro G4.app/Contents/MacOS/Metro G4: kCGErrorFailure : Not a PNG file

Apr 2 21:01:52 localhost /Volumes/PB HD/Applications/Metro G4 Folder/Metro G4.app/Contents/MacOS/Metro G4: kCGErrorFailure : Not a PNG file

Apr 2 21:12:06 localhost crashdump: Crash report written to: /Users/timreed/Library/Logs/CrashReporter/Metro G4.crash.log

Apr 2 21:26:48 localhost /Volumes/PB HD/Applications/Metro G4 Folder/Metro G4.app/Contents/MacOS/Metro G4: kCGErrorFailure : Not a PNG file

Apr 2 21:26:49 localhost /Volumes/PB HD/Applications/Metro G4 Folder/Metro G4.app/Contents/MacOS/Metro G4: kCGErrorFailure : Not a PNG file

Apr 2 21:43:35 localhost crashdump: Crash report written to: /Users/timreed/Library/Logs/CrashReporter/Metro G4.crash.log
**********

Date/Time: 2003-10-09 23:18:36 -0500
OS Version: 10.2.8 (Build 6R73)
Host: Tim-Reeds-Laptop.local.

Command: Metro G4
PID: 569

Exception: EXC_BAD_ACCESS (0x0001)
Codes: KERN_PROTECTION_FAILURE (0x0002) at 0x01c2f02a

Thread 0 Crashed:
#0 0x00063fec in __code_start__
#1 0x00062d60 in __code_start__
#2 0x00086f38 in __code_start__
#3 0x000865f4 in __code_start__
#4 0x000863cc in __code_start__
#5 0x000864b0 in __code_start__
#6 0x00085414 in __code_start__
#7 0x000039e8 in __code_start__
#8 0x00003868 in __code_start__

Thread 1:
#0 0x90042588 in semaphore_timedwait_signal_trap
#1 0x9003e7b4 in _pthread_cond_wait
#2 0x90233198 in TSWaitOnSemaphoreCommon
#3 0x9023bf78 in TimerThread
#4 0x90020c28 in _pthread_body

Thread 2:
#0 0x90073ba8 in mach_msg_trap
#1 0x90005ed0 in mach_msg
#2 0x953ddd60 in _ZN15XServerMachPort14ReceiveMessageERiPvS0_
#3 0x953d1798 in _ZN16MIDIInPortThread3RunEv
#4 0x953d55dc in _ZN7XThread9RunHelperEPv
#5 0x90020c28 in _pthread_body

PPC Thread State:
srr0: 0x00063fec srr1: 0x0000d030 vrsave: 0x00000000
xer: 0x00000000 lr: 0x00063fc8 ctr: 0x0001fbd6 mq: 0x00000000
r0: 0x00000000 r1: 0xbffffb00 r2: 0x01c2f020 r3: 0x00020026
r4: 0x00000131 r5: 0x00000024 r6: 0x0000002c r7: 0x00000a03
r8: 0x00263010 r9: 0xa0220a00 r10: 0x01eea010 r11: 0x01bdc000
r12: 0x90003a40 r13: 0x00000000 r14: 0x00000000 r15: 0x00000000
r16: 0x00000000 r17: 0x00000000 r18: 0x00000000 r19: 0x00000000
r20: 0x00000000 r21: 0x0020d7ec r22: 0x00000000 r23: 0x00000000
r24: 0x00000000 r25: 0x00000000 r26: 0x00000008 r27: 0x00000400
r28: 0x0020e304 r29: 0x0020d7f0 r30: 0x00062c4c r31: 0x00063fc0

**********

Date/Time: 2003-10-14 21:13:25 -0500
OS Version: 10.2.8 (Build 6R73)
Host: Tim-Reeds-Laptop.local.

Command: Metro G4
PID: 988

Exception: EXC_BAD_ACCESS (0x0001)

[Jerm]

What are the names of the synth plug-ins?

[Scoot]

I do have occasional crashes using some soundfonts and I base it on the soundfonts themselves. Nothing I can recreate consistantly but it does seem to happen when memory is getting tight....and I htought 768MB was a good amount to have.

There are also a LOT of plugins out there that are not 100% universal with all VST capable programs for example.
Take for instance the sampletank update which states - fixed a problem with metro........does that mean it only happened in metro, or were only metro users able to find it?


scoot.

[Jerm]

does that mean it only happened in metro, or were only metro users able to find it?.

That means that it happened in Metro but was a problem in the plug-in. It may or may not have happened in other hosts.

If you are experiencing crashes with a particular plug-in it would be very helpful to get crash logs. If the crash is repeatable then it would be extremely beneficial to get the user to crash within a debug build so that the crash log will pinpoint the exact location in the code.

Any registered user who can get a repeatable crash and wants to help determine its source will be provided a debug build and if they can get us a crash log that occurs within Metro then they will get a free upgrade to 6.2 and possibly versions beyond that.

[twaboom]

I was using Ritmo, Crystal and FreeAlpha for sure. It crashed several times and I may have had mda DX10 going one of those. I'll try and get a repeatable crash but I suspect it's like Scoot says and is related to low memory. My PB is maxed at 640 MB and I suspect I'm getting pretty low. I've noticed that synth volumes seem to fade in and out when I get to much going at once. I'm new to the plug in thing. Is that a sign of maxing out memory or reaching an upper note limit?

I'd be happy to try a debug build if it would help.

Tim

[Jerm]

There was a recent problem with Crystal. Have you asked them about an update? I have a fix in 6.2 but the problem should be fixed in the plug-in. The author knows about it. We may release a 6.1.0.11 or 6.1.1

[twaboom]

I'm using the Crystal 2.4.9 AU which is supposed to correct errors in Metro, Rax and Digital Performer. Actually, I had better luck tonight with no crashes using Ritmo, Crystal and FreeAlpha (didn't try mda DX10) ...but.... when I try and load another saved sequence, Metro quits unexpectedly. This is reproducable.

Tim

[Jerm]

Good. Email me the Metro document.

Crystal 2.4.9 is the one that will crash when the plug-in is unloaded. At least in Metro 6.1.0.10.

[Scoot]

I do remember 2.3 or early 2.4 crystal causing quite a few crashes....then again.....what is the author's incentive to fix them since it is a free program? Also the soundfonts that came with it were a bit buggy........from within the DLSMusicDevice I could get metro to quit using them....so there were problems there unrelated to crystal.

I do recall crystal pushing my 450MHZ to breaking point too.

I am not slamming crystal......in fact I'm in the process of downloading 2.4.9 to see the improvements.


scoot.

[Jerm]

Don't get me wrong. Crystal is a great plug-in and the author is a very good programmer and is also responsive. I think the VST version of Crystal 2.4.9 will work better at this time until the AU problem is fixed either in Metro or preferably in Crystal. Note that the same exact problem in Crystal occured in Sampletank 2 version 2.0.4 and was fixed in 2.0.5.

[twaboom]

I just swapped the Crystal AU for the VST (CrystalCarbon) version and that seems to have done the trick. I'm no longer crashing when closing the file. Sorry, I'd probably caught the issue if I'd done a more thorough search of the forum. The Crystal web page says;

"The Audio Unit version of Crystal fixes compatibility problems with Metro, Rax, and Digital Performer. "

...must have been a different problem though!

I'll let you know if I come across the original crash problems.

Thanks again for all the help.

Tim

[Jerm]

This problem was introduced in Metro 6.1.0.9 I think. The reason it was introduced was because Apple specifies in the AudioUnit specification that a certain sequence be performed when setting the number of input and output channels. This particular sequence, for some reason, turns out to be incompatible with certain plug-ins.

[kaboombahchuck]

If anything would crash my G5, I always figgured Crystal would. However, having the luck of being a complete idiot, I assumed the VST Crystal carbon would be the way to go.... I have ran multible instances of Crystal with no issues... what a cool instrument!