Dorico will not start a second time unless I restart my computer

Dorico5 I’m a returning user of Dorico, not used it for years. I have downloaded the free trial version . I have been experimenting with some imported xml files, however if I close Dorico it will not start up again unless I reboot my PC. Any ideas please?

Andy, it sounds like the problem is that the audio engine isn’t shutting down cleanly when you quit Dorico. Please do Help > Create Diagnostic Report and attach the resulting zip file to a reply here. It may give us a clue.

In the meantime, you can run Task Manager and find the VSTAudioEngine executable and force it to quit before you restart Dorico, rather than restarting your whole computer.

I frequently run into this too, where I have to kill Dorico in the task manager before it will start. However, after reading this post, I didn’t bother saying anything, as I use both a 3rd party internet content filter, and McAfee security software. I just figured one of those is likely to blame, and it’s so easy to kill it that it’s hardly worth my time tracking down the cause of the issue.

A search of the forum brings up numerus threads related to this.

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wish I had a dollar for every time it turned out it was some AV or endpoint security software that was causing weirdness like this.

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Lol, I’d be a very rich man in that case!

Hello Daniel, thanks for your reply. Before I purchased Dorico 5 I downloaded the trial version but did not install all of the options that were available. To be honest I did not know what most of them were for. I was more interested in actually notating music at first. So yes, something is missing. Should I go back and installm all the files available? I have been using noteperformer with Sib. up to now. I have plenty of memory on my PC. Up to now I have not inputted with my midi keyboard or used playback. That will be another learning curve!. Thanks again. Andy

Hi @AFT,
installing all the optional packages is a good idea in any case, but that does have nothing to do with your start-up problem, so please create the diagnostic report as instructed by Daniel earlier.

Hello Daniel
File attached
Thanks
Andy
Dorico Diagnostics.zip (500.2 KB)

Hello Ulf
I’ve done that, when I load Dorico it says Halion not licenced, what should I do? Thanks. Andy

What is the exact message, please? Does it say HALio, HALion Sonic or HALion Sonic SE?

Okay, you have both HALion and HALion Sonic installed.
So please choose from the Dorico menu Edit > Preferences and then on the Play tab set that Dorico shall use the preferred plug-in and that the preferred one is HALion Sonic

Thanks Ulf, that fixed it. Regards, Andy

Oops, no it hasn’t. It says ‘No licence has been found for Halion 7’ ??

Do you actually have a HALion 7 license? Or did you maybe have a trial license which ran out?

Hello Ulf
You will by now now that I know nothing about the inner workings of soft ware.
I don’t have a clue about how they work. Years ago I tried the SE version of Dorico but other things prevented me from using it. I don’t know if I have HALion 7 or even if I need it. If I have it how can I delete it and should I?
Thanks for your patience. Andy

Hi Andy,

there are two ways to find out. First, the Steinberg Activation Manager. This one shall list all the licenses you have, maybe some are inactive, but here is the place where you can also activate licenses.
Second, in the Windows System Settings under the Apps category, look for Installed Apps. In that list watch out for Steinberg HALion 7. If you click on the 3 dots on the right hand side you can uninstall it there.

Whether to uninstall HALion 7, that is your decision, not mine. Personally I would, because why keep software that you never use. But again , don’t blame me if later on you suddenly realize that you want to use it (for whatever reason).

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Hello Ulf, it looks like it installed when I downloaded the trial version. If I don’t install how do I activate it?
Thanks , Andy

May be expired (or deactivated) Andy…

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I’m getting worried now. Trying to get Dorico to play but no sound. I’ve gone into the mixer it is showing Halion and if I click I can also select Noteperfomer. If I stick with Halion it says I have no licence and says go to Dorico activation manager to check what is active. This shows Dorico trial as inactive and Dorico 5 as active and notion else. I downloaded all the other available items this morning, should they show up on the activation list? Thanks

…Thus Andy, you must be sure you don’t use H7, but installed and licensed instruments only. Like for instance HS7… In Preferences Play you should select a valid Plug-in.