SOLVED: Frequent crashes when loading a project (8.0.3, Win)

Cubase
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#1

Hi,

I had to switch back to an older Cubase version (luckily I didn’t uninstall Cubase 6) because Cubase 8 has been very unstable when opening existing projects (previously saved with it). This first occured after I installed Cubase 8.0.30 but even when I downgraded it to the original Cubase 8 the crashes still occured. Here are the symptoms.

  1. I neve know when crashes start happenning. Yesterday I worked the whole days with several projects without experiencing an issue. Today everything crashes (but Cubase 6 still works fine). But the same project may suddenly load succesfully again in Cubase 8 after some work with Cubase 6. I tried both 32 and 64 bit versions.

  2. What’s extra irritating with these crashes is that Cubase process still hangs in Window (I am using Windows 7 64 bit) task bar, and I can’t even kill the process. The only remaining option is to restart the machine. My audio interface is M-Audio ProFire 2626.

  3. Here is the crash log from the Windows event viewer:

Faulting application name: Cubase8.exe, version: 8.0.30.536, time stamp: 0x55e48727
Faulting module name: Cubase8.exe, version: 8.0.30.536, time stamp: 0x55e48727
Exception code: 0xc0000005
Fault offset: 0x00000000013938d3
Faulting process id: 0x13dc
Faulting application start time: 0x01d0edf8fc7bddd4
Faulting application path: C:\Program Files\Steinberg\Cubase 8\Cubase8.exe
Faulting module path: C:\Program Files\Steinberg\Cubase 8\Cubase8.exe
Report Id: 638218fd-59ec-11e5-99b8-00248c56d7f6

Hope this helps to identify the problem.

#2

Just to add some more info: actually 32-bit version seem to work. I had a single crash with it, but lately I could successfully open any project with 32-bit Cubase 8.0.30. It’s 64-bit version that gives me all troubles, and it’s crucial for me because of a 64-bit only plugin.

I also have crash dumps generated by Cubase that I can upload if it can help.

#3

I get the same error, every so often.
Just now right in the middle of a mix.
Sounds stops, then Cubase hangs.
I have to restart.
Wonderful…

#4

I managed to resolve the problem. It was caused by corrupt “Midi devices.bin” file in “Cubase 8_64” folder. All other Cubase versions had correct file so they worked. Deleting the file and importing MIDI device definition resolved the issue, now Cubase 8 64 bit works too.

#5

I also resolved my issue which was caused by one single plugin believe it or not.
UAD Fairchild (Legacy)
When I replaced it with the current model, my issues went away.
This was confirmed by UA.

#6

My issue is not entirely OK. Yesterday Cubase crashed again, but deleting “Midi devices.bin” and importing MIDI device definitions again resolved the issue. At least for yesterday. I suspect I will have to do it often until Steinberg fixes the bug.

#7

Hello,

it is rather strange that that preference file gets corrupt that easily.
Can you send me the crash dumps, please? Does it happen if you use the built-in audio with ASIO4ALL (or the interface with the same generic driver?).

Thank you.

#8

Hello Fabio,

Thank you for the attention. I just submitted another error description where I believe I managed to reproduce the error using simple steps. I copy them here. I can also send you crash dumps if you need them, where should I upload them? I have plenty :slight_smile:

Problem description

I have a couple of external MIDI instruments and an XML file with their sound definitions. I uploaded the definition file so it can downloaded from https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/8734289/MIDI%20Device%20Setup.xml. Every time I open a song that has a MIDI track referencing the external MIDI instrument, Cubase crashes. So I am mostly using Cubase 6 with my arrangement although I’ve found a workaround: first open Cubase 8, then go to MIDI Manager and delete instrument definitions, then import definitions again, then I can load my song and Cubase will not crash.

Steps to reproduce the problem

  1. Open Cubase 8 64 bit on a Windows machine
  2. Go to MIDI Manager and import instrument definitions from the file that can be downloaded from https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/8734289/MIDI%20Device%20Setup.xml. There are two instuments there (JV-1080 and SC-8850/8820), but it’s sufficient to only load JV-1080.
  3. Assign JV-1080 to one of the available MIDI ports.
  4. Create a new song, add a MIDI track and assign track output to the JV-1080 MIDI port.
  5. Save the song.
  6. Exit Cubase.
  7. Open Cubase again and load the song that you just saved.
  8. Cubase crashes.

Hope the description is sufficient to reproduce and fix this error.