Cubase 14 Pro hang on VST3 scan, Windows 11

rickpaul · October 9, 2025, 5:58am

Since moving to a new Windows 11 PC, I’ve had a couple of times where Cubase 14 Pro hung on starting with the “Initializing: Scanning VST3 Plug-ins…” status showing.

When I look at Task Manager, it shows “Checking Licenses”:

I used procdump to capture a DMP file, with the latest instance being on Google Drive at:

(inside a ZIP file to cut down on space).

WinDbg shows the following:


************* Preparing the environment for Debugger Extensions Gallery repositories **************
   ExtensionRepository : Implicit
   UseExperimentalFeatureForNugetShare : true
   AllowNugetExeUpdate : true
   NonInteractiveNuget : true
   AllowNugetMSCredentialProviderInstall : true
   AllowParallelInitializationOfLocalRepositories : true
   EnableRedirectToChakraJsProvider : false

   -- Configuring repositories
      ----> Repository : LocalInstalled, Enabled: true
      ----> Repository : UserExtensions, Enabled: true

>>>>>>>>>>>>> Preparing the environment for Debugger Extensions Gallery repositories completed, duration 0.000 seconds

************* Waiting for Debugger Extensions Gallery to Initialize **************

>>>>>>>>>>>>> Waiting for Debugger Extensions Gallery to Initialize completed, duration 0.234 seconds
   ----> Repository : UserExtensions, Enabled: true, Packages count: 0
   ----> Repository : LocalInstalled, Enabled: true, Packages count: 45

Microsoft (R) Windows Debugger Version 10.0.27920.1001 AMD64
Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.


Loading Dump File [D:\Downloads\Procdump\Cubase14.exe_251008_142213.dmp]
Comment: '
*** procdump64  -e -h -t Cubase14
*** Hung window detected: 60e86'
User Mini Dump File: Only registers, stack and portions of memory are available


************* Path validation summary **************
Response                         Time (ms)     Location
Deferred                                       srv*
Symbol search path is: srv*
Executable search path is: 
Windows 10 Version 26100 MP (24 procs) Free x64
Product: WinNt, suite: SingleUserTS Personal
Edition build lab: 26100.1.amd64fre.ge_release.240331-1435
Debug session time: Wed Oct  8 14:22:13.000 2025 (UTC - 7:00)
System Uptime: 0 days 17:20:06.294
Process Uptime: 0 days 0:23:40.000
................................................................
................................................................
.................
Loading unloaded module list
............

+------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| This target supports Hardware-enforced Stack Protection. A HW based    |
| "Shadow Stack" may be available to assist in debugging and analysis.   |
| See aka.ms/userhsp for more info.                                      |
|                                                                        |
| dps @ssp                                                               |
|                                                                        |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------+

For analysis of this file, run !analyze -v
ntdll!NtWaitForSingleObject+0x14:
00007ffd`177a32b4 c3              ret
0:000> !analyze -v
................................................................
................................................................
.................
Loading unloaded module list
............
*******************************************************************************
*                                                                             *
*                        Exception Analysis                                   *
*                                                                             *
*******************************************************************************


KEY_VALUES_STRING: 1

    Key  : Analysis.CPU.mSec
    Value: 4109

    Key  : Analysis.Elapsed.mSec
    Value: 26789

    Key  : Analysis.IO.Other.Mb
    Value: 0

    Key  : Analysis.IO.Read.Mb
    Value: 1

    Key  : Analysis.IO.Write.Mb
    Value: 0

    Key  : Analysis.Init.CPU.mSec
    Value: 421

    Key  : Analysis.Init.Elapsed.mSec
    Value: 10985

    Key  : Analysis.Memory.CommitPeak.Mb
    Value: 289

    Key  : Analysis.Version.DbgEng
    Value: 10.0.27920.1001

    Key  : Analysis.Version.Description
    Value: 10.2506.23.01 amd64fre

    Key  : Analysis.Version.Ext
    Value: 1.2506.23.1

    Key  : Failure.Bucket
    Value: BREAKPOINT_80000003_Cubase14.exe!Unknown

    Key  : Failure.Exception.Code
    Value: 0x80000003

    Key  : Failure.Hash
    Value: {b18e197d-3e2f-5342-97db-adb1200c297a}

    Key  : Failure.ProblemClass.Primary
    Value: BREAKPOINT

    Key  : Faulting.IP.Type
    Value: Null

    Key  : Timeline.OS.Boot.DeltaSec
    Value: 62406

    Key  : Timeline.Process.Start.DeltaSec
    Value: 1420

    Key  : WER.OS.Branch
    Value: ge_release

    Key  : WER.OS.Version
    Value: 10.0.26100.1

    Key  : WER.Process.Version
    Value: 14.0.32.342


FILE_IN_CAB:  Cubase14.exe_251008_142213.dmp

COMMENT:  
*** procdump64  -e -h -t Cubase14
*** Hung window detected: 60e86

NTGLOBALFLAG:  0

APPLICATION_VERIFIER_FLAGS:  0

EXCEPTION_RECORD:  (.exr -1)
ExceptionAddress: 0000000000000000
   ExceptionCode: 80000003 (Break instruction exception)
  ExceptionFlags: 00000000
NumberParameters: 0

FAULTING_THREAD:  8370

PROCESS_NAME:  Cubase14.exe

ERROR_CODE: (NTSTATUS) 0x80000003 - {EXCEPTION}  Breakpoint  A breakpoint has been reached.

EXCEPTION_CODE_STR:  80000003

STACK_TEXT:  
00000000`0014f818 00007ffd`149d895f     : 00000000`00000000 00000000`005c0000 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 : ntdll!NtWaitForSingleObject+0x14
00000000`0014f820 00000001`445fba38     : 00000000`00000100 00000000`00000052 00000000`00000000 00000000`000013f4 : KERNELBASE!WaitForSingleObjectEx+0xaf
00000000`0014f8c0 00000001`42b8055b     : 00000000`0014f960 00007ffd`00000002 00000000`22fedd60 00000000`00000052 : Cubase14+0x45fba38
00000000`0014f8f0 00000001`428cc349     : 00000000`0014fc08 00000000`00000000 00000000`0014fad8 00000000`00000100 : Cubase14+0x2b8055b
00000000`0014fbc0 00000001`44824e24     : 00000000`00000119 00000001`46642c10 00000000`0014fb28 00000000`00000119 : Cubase14+0x28cc349
00000000`0014fc50 00000001`44821a3e     : 00000000`0069f240 00000000`00000000 00000000`0014fc48 00000000`0014fb98 : Cubase14+0x4824e24
00000000`0014fc90 00000001`438a13d4     : 00000000`0069f240 00000000`0069f240 00000000`0069f488 00000000`0069f4c0 : Cubase14+0x4821a3e
00000000`0014fcc0 00000001`44de86ee     : 00000000`00000000 00000000`0014fce8 00000000`0014fd28 00000000`0014fce8 : Cubase14+0x38a13d4
00000000`0014ff20 00007ffd`1687e8d7     : 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 : Cubase14+0x4de86ee
00000000`0014ff60 00007ffd`17648d9c     : 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 000004f0`fffffb30 000004d0`fffffb30 : kernel32!BaseThreadInitThunk+0x17
00000000`0014ff90 00000000`00000000     : 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 : ntdll!RtlUserThreadStart+0x2c


STACK_COMMAND: ~0s; .ecxr ; kb

SYMBOL_NAME:  Cubase14+45fba38

MODULE_NAME: Cubase14

IMAGE_NAME:  Cubase14.exe

FAILURE_BUCKET_ID:  BREAKPOINT_80000003_Cubase14.exe!Unknown

OS_VERSION:  10.0.26100.1

BUILDLAB_STR:  ge_release

OSPLATFORM_TYPE:  x64

OSNAME:  Windows 10

IMAGE_VERSION:  14.0.32.342

FAILURE_ID_HASH:  {b18e197d-3e2f-5342-97db-adb1200c297a}

Followup:     MachineOwner
---------

Restarting Cubase after one of these hangs (and ending the task) succeeds. The first time it happened was the first time I started Cubase on the new system, but the most recent time was after a number of successful starts, including one earlier in the day when this happened.

I had not been having these hangs with Cubase 14 on my old Windows 10 system.

Reco29 · October 9, 2025, 6:46am

Hi,
I am not sure if this is related to your issue so this is just a FYI.
Yesterday, I had no internet access and the Waves authorization window was covered by the Cubase window. I found no way to access and quit the Waves authentification dialog window which was preventing the VST scan from proceeding without force quitting Cubase first. Windows 11.

Frank_Loizzi · October 9, 2025, 12:56pm

In most of the cases a plugin requires authentification, registering or activation. Sometimes no dialog is shown and Cubase simply waits for the end of user interaction. But it will never happen because you don’t see anything.

rickpaul · October 9, 2025, 3:21pm

While I do have (lots of) Waves plugins, there were no updates yesterday, and they are authorized to my system. Thus, even if my internet was down (which I’m pretty sure it was not, especially for the something like 23 minutes I let this sit (based on the timing shown in the WinDbg analysis – I’d walked way to have a snack break, thinking, that, if there were only some minor blip, it would come up by the time I returned). I also did try looking for the potential of hidden dialog boxes, but I’m curious how you found the one in your case – was it still there after you killed Cubase? (There was nothing on my screen once I did, and Cubase started quickly when trying a second time.)

This was my thought the first time it happened since it was my first Cubase startup on the new system. However, in yesterday’s case, there were no new or updated plugins since the previous Cubase start earlier in the day. (Earlier in the day, I had added two plugins and updated another, all of which use local system iLok software protection. And only one of those was newly activated as I’d already had the other two activations on my system – one just happened to be a plugin I hadn’t yet decided whether to install on the new system. But I started Cubase after those updates to check that the plugins were working, and there was no issue there.)

I’ve also checked my blocklist in Cubase’s VST Plug-in Manager, and there is nothing listed. (This is likely due to weeding out all the dead weight in terms of what I did and did not migrate on the plugin side of things as there were quite a few older entries in my blocklist on the older system.)

The only other thing I can think of is that I do have a UAD Spark subscription (a year’s worth came with a plugin I purchased late last year or early this year), and that uses iLok Cloud, rather than local system activation. So, perhaps if there were some blip in iLok Cloud access, that could be an explanation. However, as I indicated in my original post, I never saw this issue on my older (much slower) system with Cubase 14. Of course, timing of a blip corresponding with timing of starting Cubase would probably be a fairly low probability, so, IF that were the explanation, maybe I just got “lucky” on the new system with two of these in a single week.

FWIW, I had seen some issues with some earlier versions of Cubase on the old system where software authorization popups needed attention. However, I was able to get to those – maybe through Alt-Tab or some such thing – so it was just a matter of slowing things down, rather than permanently freezing the startup. I’m pretty sure, though, that none of those older plugins that had that issue reside on my current system (and I never enabled VST2 on Cubase 14, so those old plugins wouldn’t be scanned anyway). In the new system’s case, I took care to authorize/activate everything in the course of my migration prior to even starting Cubase 14 for the first time. (I also have the new Cakewalk SONAR, so I used that for any that needed to be activated within the plugin itself, as opposed to via iLok or a vendor-specific program a la Waves.)

edkocol · October 13, 2025, 1:04am

I’m having the same issue with Cubase 14.0.32 on Windows 11 Pro.

Dorico 6 Pro 6.1 on the other hand scans all VST3s and opens without fail.

Based on multiple trys the vstscannermaster.log file at:

C:\Users\\AppData\Roaming\Steinberg\Cubase 14_64\Cubase Pro VST3 Cache\vstscannermaster.log

It hangs on a different plugin in the list.

Sometimes after a few hundred sometimes after several hundred plugins.

rickpaul · October 13, 2025, 6:15am

I don’t have Dorico 6, but Dorico 5 didn’t hang on me the one or two times I started it. Then again, Cubase 14 has only hung a minority of the times I’ve started it – 3 times total to date, and I’d guess upwards of 20 starts. Next time it happens, I’ll try to remember to look at the log.

rickpaul · October 30, 2025, 5:29pm

The hang happened again to me today – the 4th time initially. I looked at the log file, and the last entry was a PSP Audioware plugin (MicroWarmer). All the PSP plugins use iLok for authorization.

I also had my 5th hang in this area today, on the start right after killing the first attempt. The log file looked like it had a gap in it after the first start’s part, then seemed to finish through the UAD plugins list.

Here’s the worse thing, though: When I made my third attempt, Cubase did start. It prompted me on which ASIO driver to use (that seemed weird), and I started it. Okay (sort of) so far. But then I loaded a small test project as I wanted to check something out related to another post. Upon doing that, Windows 11 crashed. The Windows system log indicated the computer was “rebooted from a bugcheck” then gave some hex codes.

When I started Cubase after that, it started okay, and I was able to load the project I’d tried to load earlier without any issue. Very weird, though!!!

KT66 · October 30, 2025, 6:15pm

I seem to recall that you just upgraded you machine. Have you run a memory test by any chance? Most of my plugins are Ilok protected and I’m not seeing anything unusual or unexpected on either my Nuendo or Cubase machines (both now at 14.0.40).

rickpaul · October 30, 2025, 7:09pm

There’s another long thread on this VST3 scanning problem, and a number of others are also having this problem (some more frequently than me – until today, I’d only had 3 occurrences the first week of use, and now the 2 today – but perhaps I tried restarting Cubase too soon after killing it or something now that I recognized that, once it hangs, it will hang forever without the kill/restart). There is also some recent update on the cause of it noted in that thread:

Bottom line is that the issue is with newer iLok plugins – i.e. those built with the latest iLok development kit. Thus, if you haven’t updated plugins that use iLok very recently, that could be a reason for not seeing it. Also, since it doesn’t happen every time Cubase starts – only a very small minority of times in my case (5 times in a little over 3 weeks, with plenty of Cubase starts over that period), the odds of seeing it are probably relatively slim to start.

There was another post earlier in the thread where I linked the update that suggested it could also relate to having a very large number of plugins that got authorized very quickly, and I definitely have a pretty large number of those (everything by PSP, among some others).

In terms of my 3 hangs in the first week after installation, everything on my system would have been newly installed, and, thus, if built recently enough by the developers, made with the applicable iLok development kit. I also have installed some additional plugins based on iLok this week that I know are extremely recent. Though those did not hang Cubase when first scanned (and some of the other past hangs also weren’t after installing new plugins), perhaps there is still some activity that happens on this front when there aren’t updates to plugins? (I do know one of the new ones only has an evaluation license, so perhaps that figures into things since the authorization status could change when the evaluation period expires.)

As for the Windows crash, that is the first instability I’ve seen on this system. I’ll definitely have to keep an eye out to see if there is anything further of that sort, and I can run memory tests at some point if/when I get a chance.

manassas77 · October 30, 2025, 7:27pm

Just had the VST Hanging issue after updating the latest round of NI apps (Kontakt and Maschine + expansions). Killing it with Task Manager in Windows then restarting PC and starting over solved it, but the NI involvement suggests that is not an iLok issue? (this on 14.0.32)

rickpaul · October 30, 2025, 7:35pm

Interesting. I also did update to the latest version of Kontakt 8 yesterday and didn’t start Cubase until this morning as I was busy with other things. But perhaps it relates to having to scan something new in general while still being caused by iLok? In particular, when I looked at the VST scanner log, after the first hang, it stopped in the midst of scanning some PSP plugins, which do use iLok for protection.

manassas77 · October 31, 2025, 9:48am

It does seem like something afoot given the iLok apps coming up as a common thread. I still have a lot of iLok plugins so I’ll dig a little further and see if I can help narrow things down.

rickpaul · October 31, 2025, 3:22pm

The main thread on this in the forum is this one:

You might want to follow that one in case of further updates. This is where the specific information I’ve learned on the developments came from (I posted this thread prior to learning that it related to iLok), so it would also be a good place to post any findings you might have as the result of your digging.

Phil_Pendlebury · November 1, 2025, 8:56pm

Here is my latest workaround in case you guys need it, until the relevant developers get it sorted:

Wait for a short while until you are sure that the scanner has hung
Open Task Manager
Quit the VST3 Plug-in Scanner (Not the VST3 Plug-in Scanner Master)

2025-11-02_00-46-42480×310 4.69 KB
This will allow Cubase to start with the plug-in added to the blacklist
Repeat this if there is more than one plug-in causing issues.
The offending plug-in(s) can then be reactivated inside the Plugin Manager

Cheers

rickpaul · November 1, 2025, 9:45pm

I generally find it easier to just kill Cubase itself and restart. That way nothing goes to the blocklist, so there is nothing left to reactivate. And, all except for the one time on Friday (or was it Thursday?), Cubase has started with no problem on the second attempt.

rickpaul · November 10, 2025, 1:15am

I did run a memory test at some point after your post, and it came up clean.

I hadn’t noticed, however, that Windows was producing minidump files on these “bugcheck”/BSOD-like restarts. One of those happened to me again today, this time in the latest Cakewalk SONAR, and this time I noticed there was a DMP file, and I found three of those total since I started using the new system.

The first one was different than the other two, and it may possibly have related to a power outage (or perhaps some other new system thing). However, the one from Cubase 14 and the one from SONAR both occurred in a Motufwa64.sys, which is assumedly a driver for my MOTU 828x audio interface. This makes sense as I think there may have been some switching of sample rates (due to opening projects that were at a different sample rate than the interface was configured for) at the time of both of those – I know it was definitely true today. Not that this has happened every time I switch sample rates. It could be, though, that it might be some coincidence of a VST scan in parallel with switching sample rates as SONAR was still scanning VSTs when I changed sample rates today. (It scans in parallel with giving the user access to the DAW, and it tends to scan a lot longer than Cubase typically does, too, though maybe that is because I don’t use it all that often.)

Anyway, the bottom line is that this “non-blue BSOD equivalent” appears to relate to the MOTU driver, and is not related to the original subject of this thread. It just happened to occur at around the time of some of the hangs I’d had in the one case, but that was almost certainly coincidental.