Yesterday I installed Dorico (v6.2.30) on a “second” computer, a Mac M1 Mini running macOS 27.0. (A first installation for this machine Previously I used it only on an office machine.) When I bring up a project and try to play it, it doesn’t play. The |> Play button switches to a rectangular icon. The vertical green line that follows the music while it’s playing appears. But it doesn’t move.
Note that I upgraded to macOS 27.0 on my office machine, too. Dorico runs fine on that.
These machines use NotePerformer 5 for playback. NotePerformer is as far as I know correctly installed on the recalcitrant machine. Perhaps something needs to be enabled that I didn’t know about?
The non-playing machine uses a Scarlett 2i2 audio interface for sound output, which drives both earphones and studio monitor speakers. Everything else on this machine plays sound normally, i.e. if I play YouTube videos or use the machine to drive Apple Logic Pro or Apple Music, or even Zoom.
As I said above, this all works fine on my M4 iMac also running macOS 27.0. That machine uses headphones plugged into the pin jack in the machine for sound or else the iMac’s internal speakers. (I don’t have good speakers for that system. I’m hard of hearing so prefer headphones.)
I did discover Dorico has an Edit / Device Setup pop-up that allows me to determine the output. The right thing is selected.
Anyhow, I’ve concluded it’s not an audio problem on the Mini. Again, the proces is: I press P or click the Play button, and except for changing the player icon from |> to a rectangle, Dorico stares back at me catatonically.
This can happen when another audio routine has grabbed exclusive control of the sound card. See if something else is running that needs/wants audio resources.
I don’t know how to explore what you describe. All I know is that I can play Apple Music, Apple Logic Pro, YouTube videos, use Zoom, and everything else I normally do on that machine. And as I said, the problem doesn’t seem to be one of audio itself. It’s with PLAYING, i.e. when I press the play button it doesn’t go through the motions. It just sits there.
Thanks for that suggestion. I checked that, and it’s correctly set to the Scarlett 2i2.
I didn’t think that would make a difference, but I did check.
As I said, the problem is not a systemic one with finding where audio needs to go. An analogy might be when someone starts a car, shifts from Neutral to Drive, hits the accelerator but the car doesn’t do anything because it’s not in gear. I don’t know enough about cars to know why that would happen, just enough to know that if the transmission isn’t engaged the car isn’t going anywhere. Likewise, the playback engine in Dorico may be in a state where it’s ready to play but there is nothing to receive the signal.
That’s probably a bad comparison that likely someone who knows the software internals better might be able to deny or clarify.
OK, in fact the playback template needed to be set to NotePerformer. But this did not change the behavior. It’s Still not playing.
I’ve got three projects open on the second machine. The first is for solo piano, what I’ve been working on. The second is a piece for flute and chamber orchestra that I finished a couple of months ago. And I started a new project, just a few bars of melody. The behavior is the same on all of them. I press P (for Play), the vertical green progress line appears, the player icon changes, and absolutely nothing happens.
The first to play perfectly well on my other machine. And I just copied the project files over when I installed Dorico on the other machine.
To revise my previous automotive illustration: It’s like you switch from Neutral to Drive and press the pedal and it continues to idle. You don’t hear the engine roar, which would mean the engine is turning over but not connected to the transmission. There’s no sign that anything is happening within the software. It’s not trying to play.
That’s probably still a poor illustration.
Regarding Help → Create Diagnostsics, it gives me 5 matches, none of which seem relevant. I don’t know what it is you are aiming to create or where to go from there.
Duhh. Thanks for the little shove in how to create a diagnostics file. It’s attached.
I didn’t know about that provision. I haven’t even looked at the contents of the zip file myself to see what kind of information is generated. I’m sure it’s a useful feature.
To those who asked: Yes, the system has been rebooted, and yes, all projects that are open have been activated.
It appears that there are no takers on the Dorico Diagnostics file I uploaded. No surprise there because it takes an expert who know what all those files represent to see something wrong.
Here’s where things are at:
I installed Dorico on a second machine after using it on only one for a couple of years. I did this because I’m working on a project where it would be helpful to have a full 88-key keyboard available.
Although the installation seems to have gone fine, playback is completely broken, and I can’t figure out why, nor can anyone else. This makes my second installation effectively useless to me as a work tool.
Yes. Absolutely everything else on this system is normal. I use it to watch YouTube videos, run Apple Logic Pro, and sometimes run Zoom. The only thing that shows any evidence of brokenness at all is pressing Play in Dorico, which runs fine on my other machine, running the same version of Dorico and the sam version of macOS. ALL Dorico projects do not play on the second machine.
Again I remind readers that it’s NOT a sound/audio problem. When I press P or the |> player icon, the icon turns into a rectangle and the green progress bar appears at the start point. But it does not progress. The underlying ENGINE is not turning over. I have no doubt that if it was, it would sound fine.
Hmmm. Grasping at straws….
What happens if you click on a note partway through the score; will it play from there? (I.e. is it only stuck at the beginning?)
I’m also wondering if “looping” is activated but the range to play is not possible (i.e. start &end are the same.)
Have you tried other scores — do any play on this machine?
The diagnostic file — I’m not at all an expert but it looks like you are using NotePerformer. Since this is a new computer (forgive me for asking the obvious), did NotePerformer get installed?
— Jim
Sure. Here are a few measures. Note that the bug is not project-dependent. NOTHING of mine plays. But I’ve attached a fragment so I’ll be able to say I’ve followed that advice.
I have absolutely no idea why, but things suddenly started working on my second machine. Anyone wasting their time trying to help me can STOP.
By way of background: I’m a musician/composer with over 20 years experience as a software engineer, testing and debugging software, most of that for a Fortune 50 company. I know how to track down problems, sorting the details and reporting them fully. I often could trace problems down to a specific subroutine in the OS kernel if I had source code available.
In this case I’m clueless. Everything I did failed for two days. Until it didn’t. The environments on the two machines are close to identical. I’m not going to try to figure out why it suddenly works.
If I have another problem like this later, I’ll be sure to revisit this thread. Thank you to everyone who offered suggestions and provided clues.
Hi. See the follow-up message that I posted, which closes this issue. But to cover loose ends:
Yes, if I tried to start other than at the beginning, the file would not play.
No, looping mode was not on, but it’s a good question because I did have looping on for a while before I copied it to the other system.
The problem I was having was true of any score I opened on the second machine.
The second machine is not a “new” machine. It’s about three years old. I have a network of Macs scattered around the house (four of them active). Last winter I bought an iMac to put in my office, and I moved my Mini which was previously my main machine, to my music studio.
Anyhow, yes, NotePerformer did get installed.
Thanks for your questions. I think that covers it.
Thanks for checking… my own experience in solving problems for others has often been seeing those things that were so obvious but overlooked (is it plugged in? Yes,… but the data cable was not attached!) Early days of Windows “required” rebooting often! I have fallen prey to other, similar things (audio cables not completely plugged in, etc.).
Anyway, I’m glad it is working for you now. I have an M1 Mini that I use regularly as my main machine. It drove me crazy, at first, with trying to get the Audio/MIDI Setup working (and continuing to work) properly. Hopefully that won’t be the case for you!
— Jim
I have an M1 Mini that I use regularly as my main machine. It drove me crazy, at first, with trying to get the Audio/MIDI Setup working (and continuing to work) properly. Hopefully that won’t be the case for you!