Hello, recently I have been having issues with the playback engine in Dorico. Specifically, Dorico 5. Dorico will begin loading, but then a pop-up appears saying, “Dorico cannot connect to the audio engine. The application will now quit.”
I looked at similar posts, but I still cannot find a solution (or I can’t figure it out). I attached the diagnostic zip file; hopefully, it helps. Also I’m on a MacBook Pro.
Dorico Diagnostics.zip (486.6 KB)
Hi @Lindsey_Winston , welcome to the forum.
Thanks for data, there are quite a few crash files of the audio engine included, and looking at them it shows that your installed Groove Agent 5 SE crashes frequently.
Now, I suggest that you do a reinstall of Groove Agent and at the same time do an upgrade to Groove Agent SE 6. I hope that won’t crash any more.
In order to upgrade, launch the Steinberg Download Assistant and go to the Dorico download area, click on Dorico 5 Pro and then on the right hand side you will see the Groove Agent SE 6 package. Depending on how that looks like with you, click either the Install or Install Again button.
After doing that, is Dorico behaving better?
I tried going through the download assistant; the only options I saw were Groove Engine SE 6 - instrument and Groove Engine SE - Content. I also viewed the file where Groove Engine SE 6 seems to be located, and I only found a download file. When I try to install it, it loads and says complete, but I can’t find anything besides the download file. I attached an image of both the files and the download assistant.
Download Assistant:
Files:
Yes, in the Steinberg Download Assistant, click the Install again button for the item Groove Agent SE 6.0.10 - Instrument.
I installed it again, but I’m not having any luck.
Then please post a new diagnostic report.
Thanks
Here is the diagnostic report:
Dorico Diagnostics.zip (631.0 KB)
Thanks, but I don’t have a Mac at my fingertips at the moment. I will come back tomorrow morning again…
No problem, I’m thankful for the help. I look forward to hearing back from you in the morning.
Hi @Lindsey_Winston ,
and here comes the verdict:
The new logs and things show, that you had trouble with GASE (GrooveAgent SE) 5.2.10 as well as with the new GASE 6.0.10. They both crash in the same manner. I’m in contact with the HALion Team now, a little more patience, please.
Thanks
Hello! I just wanted to check in and see if you have heard anything back from HALion?
I just had as chat with one of the enigneers, and he says the crashes in GrooveAgent happen while the audio engine is shutting down, that’s at least what the crash files tell him.
We have now following theory, that you close a project and during closing then the crash happens in the audio engine, but Dorico, not knowing about the crash, just continues working like normal, then you try to load or create a new project, and that’s where Dorico gets stuck, because is tries to communicate to an audio engine that simply does not exist any more and then starts freezing in.
Could you please open the Activity Monitor.app while working with Dorico and then keeping an eye on the VSTAudioEngine background process. Especially take a look before or after loading or changing project.
Thank you very much!
Hello! I took screenshots of what the Activity Monitor showed after I started up Dorico, started a new project, and loaded one of my previous projects. I hope this helps!
Dorico Startup:
Created New Project:
Loaded Privous Project:
Hi Lindsey, could you please do again (and actually no screenshot is necessary) but this time you take a look at the VST Audio Engine after closing a project and immediately before starting up and loading a project (or creating a new one). Are you confused now? Yes, right?
No, no need to worry. Just keep an eye on before loading a new project or creating a new one. If the audio engine is still there it should load normal. If the audio engine is gone, we’ll expect Dorico to freeze in a little later. If you could confirm such like behaviour, that’d be fantastic.
When I load or start a new project, and when I close it, the audio engine remains in the Activity Monitor.
And in the moment when Dorico is freezing in? Is the audio engine then still around? I presume not, right?
Normally, the VST Audio Engine should always be running while Dorico is running. If Dorico is running and the audio engine has quit, then that’s when you get problems.
Right, @benwiggy .
And for me it is also important to know, when is the time that the vstaudioengine process goes away?
I’ve been keeping an eye on the activity monitor as I do different things within Dorico. I haven’t seen the audio engine disappear from the activity monitor. However, sometimes, when I’m attempting to start up Dorico, it will show “Dorico cannot connect to the audio engine. The application will now quit.” It will not open Dorico or the audio engine.
It happens to me sometimes that Dorico hangs up when I have two projects open to copy something . When I look in the Task Manager after closing the program, the audio engine is still in memory, but no project can be loaded anymore, and the hub does not appear either. In this case, it helps to end all Dorico tasks.
