Cubase8.exe Still Running After Quit, Multiple Times

Cubase
#1

Why does the Cubase8.exe process continue to run in the background even after completely quitting and exiting out of Cubase? (As discovered via Task Manager or similar inspection utility.)

And not just one, but multiple instances of it.

I launched and exited Cubase 3 times in a row and several minutes later sill see the Cubase8.exe process running three times! Each continuing to hog 650mb of ram.

There were no crashes during close. Cubase, by all outward appearances, shut down without error.

This seems like really sloppy coding, at best, unless someone can offer a reasonable explanation.

Could this be related (or even the cause) of the known performance bug when loading the same project twice in a row?

Is there an official recommendation to reboot after each Cubase exit?

#2

Try turning your soundcard off and on again. Sometimes the driver doesn’t release the cubase process…

It happens to me all the time. In case of a crash or a failure to exit the program, turning it off and on again, fixes it all!

#3

Good suggestion, thanks.

#4

Power-cycling my audio interface didn’t work (in this case).

I’m curious to know if anyone is seeing this.

On Windows, if you exit Cubase 8, does anyone still see the Cubase8.exe running in the Task Manager?

Or is it just an issue I’m having.

Again, Cubase closes politely and quickly. No hanging, no crashing. Just that non-visible process that keep running.

#5

Yep, happens here too, no idea what that is about…

#6

same here!

#7

And here…

#8

Thanks, all.

Okay, seems like it should be a confirmed bug. I’ll add to the bug forum.

I may experiment with simply ending the leftover task in Task Manager instead of rebooting to see if works as well at preventing the memory hogging and performance degradations of multiple launches.

#9

No problem here, task is removed 1 second after a quit.

#10

It depends which project i’ve opened.
Several projects, no problem, cubase8.exe is removed after i quit Cubase.

A project which use much more memory (e.g. a lots of VSTis), cubase8.exe process is still there.
Cubase8.exe only remove if i close the process in the task manager.

#11

I don’t see the problem here either. I opened Cubase without opening a project, then closed quickly, and the Cubase8.exe process ended naturally.

For those of you with the problem, does it still happen if you don’t actually open a project?

And as whitealbum experienced, does it happen for larger projects rather than smaller… or with projects that use a lot of memory only?

#12

It is usually a driver that is not released, not only audio driver, but it could be a midi keyboard or controller.

#13

I agree with paekae. Cubase as a host is also waiting for one or more processes. Can be midi or anything that didn’t conclude it’s data to a proper result. It happens sometimes here. I prefer a cold reboot, since multiple live cubase instances give me troubles. Shutting one proces or driver down as being mentioned could indeed solve the problem, but may not be the issue. And with everything saved so why not go for a cup of coffee and a reboot.

kind regards,
R.

#14

Interesting comments, thanks all.

I can confirm that my project is large. I haven’t tested with a small project, but will.

I do have NI controller and Focusrite drivers (latest). As they are both so mainstream and mature, I’d be surprised if they were doing something naughty. Even if they were, I don’t think preventing a DAW from closing its own processes is a foregone conclusion. And even if it is, surely there’s some rubust Kung Fu Cubase could employ. And if there is, you’d think over 20 years of having to deal with all manner of OEM drivers would have hardened Cubase’s defenses in this regard.

Typically, the “can’t release” thing works in reverse; the DAW would keep a driver open, not the other way around.

But the main evidence against the driver theory is that there’s now more than one report of this and we all have different hardware / driver configs. Surely, they’re not all bad, and in the same way.

If the “large project” variable is indeed a factor, then it almost certainly rules out drivers as a cause.

So the workaround is to simply reboot, which I’ve always done anyway. Yup, coffee refills are key. :slight_smile:

However, I suspect this symptom is just the canary in the coal mine. Software that can’t close its own processes is never a good thing.

I have a hunch this issue may be related to the “can’t open project twice in a row,” without performance issues, in the known issues doc. Maybe.

#15

My projects are not large by any means, several VSTis, a couple audio (guitar) tracks, a couple of rough mixdowns audio tracks (usually muted or disabled), four or five VST FX channels, quite a number insert effects, such as Slate VCC and VTM on most tracks plus three or four group tracks.

No external MIDI or controllers. Cubase still hangs in there…

#16

Well, anything Slate, and you are bound to have problems.

#17

I like the Slate products I’m using, 'haven’t had problems with those before :slight_smile:.

#18

I like them too, but have had some bad experiences. At least they now are focusing on bug fixing and updating before moving on to new projects. Try to disable the VCC in the plugin manager, just to prove me wrong :wink:

#19

I recently upgraded to Windows 8.1 after upgrading to Cubase 8.0 and had the issue with hanging on exit regardless of if I had opened a project or not. Killing it would mean it wouldn’t launch again unless I rebooted, frustrated I went back to 7.5 for the past couple of weeks.

Today I installed 8.0.5 and tried again, no luck. By chance via task manager I right clicked on Cubase8.exe and selected Analyze Wait Chain and saw it was waiting on SYNSOPOS.exe. Ending this process seemed to fix things and interestingly I can now load and exit Cubase 8 at will with no hangs. SYNSOPOS.exe starts and stops normally with no issues.

I am using the Dec 11, 2014 build of the elicenser as well 6.8.5.1159

Hope this helps someone else.

#20

I’ve seen this countless times. After the inevitable Cubase crash, cubase is still running and I cannot even end the process in task manager. Resetting my Roland Quad capture and/or my Novation 61 SL will not allow cubase to open correctly either after a crash. There are instances where I can reopen cubase, but I get the audio driver message and can only start it in generic driver mode, and cannot switch it to my ASIO driver once loaded. The only solution is to reboot the computer. I’d rather curse less and create more.

Edit: win7-64; Cubase 7,7.5, and 8. As mentioned Roland quad capture and SL Mk II?