VEGAS 3 Crashes on launch (so does acid 4)

» Fri Dec 31, 2010 11:46 pm

I have recently installed an RME HDSP system. Since then both ACID and VEGAS have more often than not crashed upon launch. When they do load, they run pretty well and I get stuff done. I have not done much performance tweaking as I am of course in the middle of a project.
after many, many horrible sound card experiences in the past 5 years, I had a creative LIVE in there while waiting for my RME stuff to arrive, and everything was running fine with that, though anolog audio I/O was totally unuseable.
System
p3 700 256 pc100ram
RME HDSP with Multiface
PNY Nvidia geForce2 mx200
Win98se
all current 98se patches (except media player *shudder*), drivers, current versions of SF products. Except vegas4, obviously.

The intermittent problems during loading are driving me nuts. It gets to about 6% loaded and stops. The whole machine crashes, too, so I have to sit though Scandisk. I am scared to close apps to free RAM for other work. longtime SF user, from sound forge, acid1.0, and vegas 1.0 beta. I use acid and vegas constantly while in production, flipping between them along with fruityloops.

I have a feeling someone is going to tell me that RME drivers are crap. I am praying I am wrong.
I reloaded DX8.1 and the latest Nvidia driver. no luck.
Should i reload the SF products as well?

» Sat Jan 01, 2011 8:07 am

If the whole machine crashes, this typically indicates a driver issue.

One thing to try.

In your Vegas 4 install folder there is a directory labled

X:\Program Files\Sonic Foundry\Vegas 4.0\Audio Hardware Drivers

In this folder is a file

sfasio.dll

Rename this file to sfasio.dll.xxx

This will disable ASIO support in Vegas 4. See if the problem persits.

Peter

» Fri Dec 31, 2010 8:23 pm

I flood the forum regularly with RME related problems, however, in Vegas 3 the newest RME drivers are pretty damn stable.

For one thing are you running Acid in ASIO mode then opening vegas which is MME at the same time? Thing can get ugly there

also try first setting the totalmix mixer so that all input faders are down at -inf before launching. Otherwise there can be feedback loops that crash the system pretty quick

also try with " check input " OFF in the Hamerfall DSP Settings window

as a fellow svcker...errrr RME user, hopefully we can work thru these problems together. Ramallo from this forum also uses RME stuff

» Sat Jan 01, 2011 1:32 am

Well, thanks. I have been waiting for audio I/O that does what it promises, and RME seemed to be a company that got good marks from most user reviews, great marks from most critic reviews in pro mags, and they did not seem to be a company that would go out of BUSINESS anytime too soon.
Prior to this, I got burned by

Metalithic Digital Wings for Audio ("You just have to learn to get used to blue screens" -metalithic tech support)

Event (back when I used VST and they, ahem, took over a year and a half to deliver working promised asio drivers, although VST was a horrible POS at the time as well)

Gadgetlabs (went out of business)

Seasound (went out of business)

M-Audio (got 2 Delta 1010 pieces from a bad batch of hardware, lost appetite, tho they had awesome tech support)

MOTU (Weirdest driver issues ever...896 could not play back 24 bit audio without crashing the machine)

Echo (Tried a new 24 bit Gina during what was apparently a period of unstable driver releases, went back to old gina)


I kept my original GINA all through the misery of trying the other cards, and it worked well with my SF stuff. I finally sold it because it was the weak link in my studio being unbalanced and not 24 bit capable.

I know there is no definitive consensus as to whether or not RME is going to screw me, but I am determined to make it work if I have to learn C, or whatever, and write the drivers myself.
In this case, i find I am able to open old projects consistently. I think I have a corrupted audio file in the projects that crash when opening.
I will also disable the ASIO support. I never had much luck with ASIO anyway.

» Sat Jan 01, 2011 2:14 am

I got burned by echo and midiman as well

RME is weird in their tech support, sometimes so amazingly helpful and other times condescending, arrogant and ignorant at the same time. I have have built the exact " RME Reference PC " from their site and have tons of trouble with it, twice now

Things are afoot tho, hopefully it will get better

if 16 inputs and outputs are enough for you, you cannot beat the soundscape mixtreme in my opinion. Before mackie took over there, tech support was first rate, and long long ago, they developed very stable drivers. Only problems are TDIF I/O, no multi card ASIO support

» Sat Jan 01, 2011 2:07 am

Thanks, but I have not yet upgraded to Vegas 4. Does the fact that I am using Vegas Video 3 (without any video) change your reply? Vegas 3 does not have asio support, correct?
I will try to find the file and carry out your the suggestion anyway.
I forgot to mention I use Waves Gold Bundle 3.6 and plenty of SF plugins in almost every project I do.
Older projects seem to open fine. Its the recent stuff I worked on that is crashing. The Vegas file I mentioned crashes at "11 percent" consistently
when i try to open it, and indeed crashes the whole system. Corrupt file? Bad waveform? Plugin issue? Or are we still thinking its a driver problem?