Topic: GR-55 Floorboard software crashes a lot (Read 2453 times)

BasV · « **on:** February 11, 2012, 02:45:22 PM »

Hi,

I have the GR-55 floorboard software installed on my Mac (Snow Leopard). The software look good, but it crashes a lot of times. Also, when I try open the help menu, nothing happens.
Does anyone have the same kind of issues with it ?

Cheers,
Bas.

Elantric · « **Reply #1 on:** February 11, 2012, 02:56:25 PM »

Be sure you are using the latest correct version for you operating system

BasV · « **Reply #2 on:** February 11, 2012, 04:27:12 PM »

Hi Elantric,

I'm using OSX 10.6.8 (SL) and floorboard version 20110929, is that the latest correct version ? The sourceforge.net only gives me this version (haven't seen any others...)

Cheers,
Bas.

EDIT: I just saw other version, one later version (published yesterday 10th Feb??) which appears to be for both SL and Lion, except that version doesn't even start at all, crashes 100% at startup.

gumtown · « **Reply #3 on:** February 11, 2012, 08:55:28 PM »

just posted a new mac lion & SL version yesterday, but forgot to include the framework files.
Will fix that one tommorrow,
the older version is for Tiger to Leopard (i86 & ppc) but 32 bit only.

BasV · « **Reply #4 on:** February 12, 2012, 05:04:02 AM »

Hi Gumtown, i will try the new version when you posted, it will most likely solve a lot of the crashes, but if it does, does it help you to send the crash reports ? I will gladly help to improve it, after all, it's a very well designed editor :-)

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

gumtown · « **Reply #5 on:** February 12, 2012, 05:13:55 AM »

Fixed the Mac SL_Lion version problem with an update.
Try it and let me know if it does the job

BasV · « **Reply #6 on:** February 13, 2012, 05:34:43 PM »

I tried the new version a couple of times, but still regular crashes although there seem to be slightly less of 'm. Looking at the crash report it looks like something is going wrong by working with the fonts in the application. Do you want to send me crash reports to you ?

Cheers,
Bas.

gumtown · « **Reply #7 on:** February 13, 2012, 05:40:05 PM »

Quote from: BasV on February 13, 2012, 05:34:43 PM

I tried the new version a couple of times, but still regular crashes although there seem to be slightly less of 'm. Looking at the crash report it looks like something is going wrong by working with the fonts in the application. Do you want to send me crash reports to you ?

Cheers,
Bas.

yes please

gumtown · « **Reply #8 on:** February 13, 2012, 06:58:53 PM »

Can you tell me if it crashes on startup, or when "connected" to the GR-55 only, or just at random intervals.

teleholic · « **Reply #9 on:** February 14, 2012, 12:14:22 PM »

Gumtown, I booted into 64-bit (SL 10.6.2) mode just to test the latest version you put up and it still crashes at startup...the midi device not setup box appears and beach-balls on the startup screen...the 32 bit universal version works fine...Thanks!

BasV · « **Reply #10 on:** February 14, 2012, 01:57:15 PM »

It starts up just fine and connects to the gr55. I can work with it for a while and usually, when selecting a parch in list on the left, it waits like 2 seconds and then crashes. It seems to be random. I will save the crashreports from now on and send them to you.

Cheers,
Bas

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Elantric · « **Reply #11 on:** February 14, 2012, 03:45:19 PM »

Quote

it waits like 2 seconds and then crashes. It seems to be random. I will save the crashreports from now on and send them to you.

Might try disabling Wi-Fi and see if that makes an impact.

I must disable Wi-Fi on my Mac's anytime I'm playing with Audio or recording (or working with MIDI ) - or else i can get random stutters, or random noises.

BasV · « **Reply #12 on:** February 15, 2012, 04:30:19 PM »

Disabling wifi, that's odd, then again, one can never how weird bugs can be (trust me, i have some experience in this area haha)
I'll try it, see if it makes a difference.

Gumtown, I have two crash reports for you, i hope they will provide some kind of a clue.

Cheers,
Bas

gumtown · « **Reply #13 on:** February 15, 2012, 05:17:07 PM »

Same problem in both crash reports, after the midi sysx data has been dispatched, possibly the midi device is not ready from the last dispatch.
Might need to slow down the mac version midi response timings.

Anyone else with the same issue on the mac?

Elantric · « **Reply #14 on:** February 15, 2012, 05:21:35 PM »

I'm quite happy with Leopard 10.5

I have no interest in LION - as most of my apps do not run on it.

BasV · « **Reply #15 on:** February 15, 2012, 05:45:19 PM »

Hi Elantric,

I'm working with Snow Leopard and very content with it. I did my research on LION and indeed as you stated, doesn't seem to be wise to upgrade to it at this point in time. I've seen a lot of complaint by musicians having trouble with their daw's, equipment, drivers, etc. (some even mentioned that Lion is Mac's Vista.....)

Cheers,
Bas.

Elantric · « **Reply #16 on:** February 16, 2012, 12:49:20 PM »

Quote

did my research on LION and indeed as you stated, doesn't seem to be wise to upgrade to it at this point in time. I've seen a lot of complaint by musicians having trouble with their daw's, equipment, drivers, etc. (some even mentioned that Lion is Mac's Vista.....)

Totally agree

And looks like its about to get worse:

http://createdigitalmusic.com/2012/02/what-mountain-lion-will-probably-mean-to-you-as-pro-creative-users/

I hear a lot of pro users afraid that Mac OS X will suddenly turn into iOS, making their computer into a giant, hinged phone they can’t use any more. Mountain Lion, the update Apple introduced privately to a handful of journalists hand-picked by their PR, may throw more fuel on those fears. Apple brought over some familiar features from iOS to Mac OS, and even prods users into installing apps from the App Store or containing some special developer key.

But I spend a lot of time talking to developers about what it’s like to work with Mac OS, and looking at how this impacts your experience as a user. So, even though I wasn’t on Apple’s short list, I can say with some confidence that this announcement – unless we hear something new – most likely means:

1. You’ll probably switch off this new Gatekeeper feature and use whatever software you want.

2. The name “Mac OS X” will be “OS X,” but you’ll keep calling it the Mac. (Heck, some of you will still call it Macintosh. Just don’t say “ex,” okay?)

3. The notification system isn’t all that different from Growl. If anything, that continues an Apple tradition of aping ideas from the third-party that goes back to the days when OS releases began with the word “System.”

4. Those of you using Mac OS to make music will probably continue to do so, because the OS still has the benefits that are the reason you use it. Those of you who use other operating systems, we’ll continue to look at how to get the most out of those.

That’s it. Really. You can safely ignore the debate – on all sides – likely to rage about what this OS update means. The stuff that matters most to us as musicians isn’t necessarily what matters to other people. (Now, you might personally decide you like iCloud and notifications and other little features; I’m just saying they don’t directly impact all music software. Nor do I see any indication they’ll get in the way if you don’t like them – and to the extent they do, you should be able to switch them off, as in notifications.)

In fact, even if music devs decide they want to make themselves compatible with the new app safeguards without getting on the App Store, they can get a developer certificate (apparently a few minutes’ work). My guess is, given almost no music devs have jumped into the App Store as distribution model, this means this changes nothing. And because those same developers usually certify their software before they say it’s compatible with a new OS update – on Windows as well as on the Mac – the certificate could even be a good indication that an app was tested on Mountain Lion.

Given the overheated coverage talking about how this revolutionizes computing or turns the Mac into an iPhone or an HDTV or the spawn of all that is evil or something, I thought I’d – for once – write something a little shorter. Mac hardware and software have loads of stuff that isn’t available on mobile. (For instance, I’ve gotten no indication yet that Thunderbolt, which is increasingly looking like the future of pro I/O in very cool ways, is coming to mobile platforms any time soon.) And the guts of Mac OS X remain the same under these surface-level changes – even if some people find them a bit creepy.

There’s a lot of understandable worry about how iOS and Mac OS X – erm, “OS X” – are merging. But under the hood, it’s the same OS.

For a great overview, free of lots of spin, check out Jason Snell at Macworld:

Hands on with Apple’s new OS X: Mountain Lion

Apple gets a lot more attention – and more impassioned emotions – these days. But the only really fundamental change I’ve seen is Microsoft blocking third-party Windows desktop code on ARM. That’s the kind of developer restriction that does make a platform entirely irrelevant for music development, in contrast to iOS, OS X, Windows on Intel, Linux, and even Android, all of which remain viable. I’m not saying Microsoft’s decision doesn’t have its own rationale – it just means you probably won’t be hearing about Windows and ARM on this site after this little story.

Apple has a way of ruffling feathers – heck, I can’t think of a way to make this announcement that could get people more upset. But I think in the long run, that Windows ARM decision may be more far-reaching, in that it – unlike this decision – really will cause communities of creative developers to completely ignore a platform.

If Apple does do something that causes serious problems for music development, believe me, you’ll hear about it here.

More about OSX Mountain Lion here:
http://news.yahoo.com/apple-previews-mac-os-mountain-lion-140017035.html

Deacon Blue · « **Reply #17 on:** February 16, 2012, 08:42:41 PM »

The Floorboard crashes usually only when I make changes in the unit (not the Floorboard) and then ask for a Patch List summary.I use a laptop with Win xp. It happens once in a while. to be honest, it's not a big deal, just a nuisance. Still, I'm very impressed with it!

BasV · « **Reply #18 on:** February 17, 2012, 04:59:48 PM »

Hi Elantric,

I'm gonna be positive but causious about the next releases, just to be sure my soft and hardware keeps running after an update. On this one, I won't be an early adaptor !

Cheers,
Bas.

tekrytor · « **Reply #19 on:** February 18, 2012, 09:38:39 PM »

possible workaround:
VMware > Linux > Linux version

BasV · « **Reply #20 on:** February 19, 2012, 02:49:40 AM »

Hi Tekrytor,
I'm pretty confident that the crash problem with floorboard will be fixed.
By the Gumtown, I seem to have less crashes now. Man, if the problem is fixed, i'm so gonna love it, i think it's even better than line6's Gearbox (i use an pod x3 for the bass side of the Chapman stick)

Cheers,
Bas

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

tekrytor · « **Reply #21 on:** February 19, 2012, 11:30:35 AM »

Another brainstorming result...
Does your Apple OS offer something like Windows program mode setting, for example, where you can set it to run a program as on a previous OS version? I do this for several XP only apps running on Vista.

Sorry, I'm more Linux and Windows oriented, but felt compelled to pass along suggestions that helped me when I encountered similar issues on Vista last year, which were resolved after a few months and Floorboard updates. I used the workaround for several months to run the Linux version of the editor - which is very stable With the virtual machine solution, I have Linux ruining in a window under Vista, which can also be done on Macs, just in case. A fix is probably our there though.

If you're not in a hurry though, I would much rather use my precious time to play with my Chapman Stick than with random OSes.

BasV · « **Reply #22 on:** February 20, 2012, 11:55:59 AM »

Suggestions and tips are always welcome :-).i do have a pc with XP on it still standing around, might be good to make it dualboot on Linux :-)
Wow, you play the stick too ?

Cheers,
Bas

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tekrytor · « **Reply #23 on:** February 20, 2012, 02:03:32 PM »

Quote from: Elantric on February 16, 2012, 12:49:20 PM

Totally agree...

Ditto with a twist. The platforms we have traditionally used, the consumer PC market, (all inclusive: Windows, Mac & Linux), has been driven by the need for platforms that were adaptable to the needs of a few billion users worldwide. Users had no choice but to use one of these platforms to get email, web access and office-like apps - the primary use for most PCs. The musician/artist/scientist portion of that market was not so large but benefited from the growing demand forcing hardware prices down.

But now, with iPad and Android meeting most consumer needs in dirt cheap and quite elegant ways, the death of the cheap workstation platforms is highly likely. Most consumers do not need the connectivity or bandwidth that musicians, artists and scientists do and we will likely see our requirements ignored or at lest become more expensive to fulfill.

My advice to other 'tweakers' is to buy or build possibly your last cheap DAW workstation host now or soon, while the price-performance ratio is still affordable and while the hardware is even available. I suspect the consumer PC market will basically be discarded to Linux by iOS/Android though.

That said, there are amazing things coming out of the convergence of these platforms as Apple/MS/Google fight for the title of consumers' choice and as developers find niches for their special interests. I love my Android devices. We will certainly see more specialized audio hardware to support our niche market that takes full advantage of our recent handheld human interfaces (pads & pods, i & a) and pros will continue to buy high end custom solutions to stay on the cutting edge, some of which trickles down to us mortals. The rate of change is what is startling though. What used to take years to get to market now seems to take a few months at most. Most members of this forum would be tweakers by nature, IMO, who are enjoying the ride though. For those purists wanting the old ways, there are always the boutique gear providers, pawn shops, etc. Most musicians probably appreciate a good sound, regardless how it is sourced, and appreciate or have feet in both camps. Either way, it's a great time to be a geek musician.

gumtown · « **Reply #24 on:** February 20, 2012, 02:58:56 PM »

I have identified a few fundimental problems with the midi I/O system in the editor, been working on re-inventing the I/O structure this week. Basically have to design a better process spooler to handle midi tasks from different areas/threads of the editor wanting midi I/O access at the same time.
Most likely due to slight differences in operating systems and platforms, the midi works fine on one platform but crashes on another.
It wasn't much of an issue until I've tried speeding things up, removing many time wasting wait states.
The GR-55 USB midi seems to be able to break past the 32.1 KHz industry standard midi speed limit, but the program still needs compatibility with legacy midi devices too.
I will keep plugging away at this, and hopefully end up with a better more reliable midi I/O system.

Author Topic: GR-55 Floorboard software crashes a lot (Read 2453 times)