There's a Bug in Steinberg's Tech Support

Cubase
,
#1

I almost never post… I’m generally too busy making music to spend a lot of time here… but I am BEYOND PISSED at this point. Cubase Pro 10.0.15 broke my ability to export mixdowns or render when I have Vienna Ensemble Pro connected to Cubase. The problem never happened prior to release 10.0.15.

I contacted Tech support, and the guy tells me to go through the standard troubleshooting list. I spent hours going through it - no avail. I emailed the guy back explaining all of the steps I took and that nothing worked. He then proceeds to email me a list of questions. ALL OF WHICH WERE ANSWERED IN THE EMAIL HE WAS RESPONDING TO!!! Not gonna lie… I was unhappy and let him know it… I wasn’t rude but told him:
a) He didn’t even READ my trouble ticket before he directed me to the “standard troubleshooting checklist”
b) He had no idea whether that would help or not, but wasn’t even interested in paying me the slightest bit of attention until I did it.
c) When I DID do it - to no avail - and replied with a detailed lists of steps I took, HE DIDN’T EVEN READ THAT EMAIL. He asked me questions that wouldn’t have been necessary to ask had he read my email.
d) He asked me to take more generic steps, to which I told him my NEXT step was to uninstall CP10 and go back to CP9.5 to see if the problem was solved (it didn’t matter - the CP 10.0.15 release left a file somewhere on my system that has fouled up even CP9.5)
e) I then provided him the files he requested and POOF! No response. It’s been 3 weeks. I guess he got his little feelings hurt and decided screw me.

It’s Memorial day weekend… and it looks like I will be spending it backing up all my projects, removing everything Cubase from my system, just so that I can re-install Cubase Pro 9.5 to get on with life.

Oh… BTW… I entered ANOTHER trouble ticket to revive the SAME ISSUE, and it’s been days… I have heard nothing. How much friggin money have I spent on Steinberg software? At least a couple of grand. How much do I have to spend to get attention? Apparently more than I have!!!

So clearly, if I’m gonna get any support, it’s gonna have to come from someone knowledgeable on this list. Can anyone tell me if CP10.0.15 put a C++ redistributable file on my system (or something like that) that does not get deleted when I uninstall CP10? I have been in this state since MARCH! It’s KILLING me.

#2

Complaining about Steinberg technical support in what is primarily a user to user forum will not get you very far. It doesn’t sound from your description as if the issue was handled well, but the person you were dealing with might have been able to do no more than file a bug report internally for future attention by the developers.

The first thing to try is to see if the problem has been fixed in 10.0.20; bug reports against an obsolete build are less than useful. It is useful to know that the problem first happened in 10.0.15. You don’t say what happens when you try to mixdown or render - there is no link to a screen capture video (which you could put as an unlisted video on YouTube), a screenshot or an error message that helps forum users understand your problem. Are you on the latest version of Vienna Ensemble Pro?


I would start by testing Vienna Ensemble Pro using another DAW if you can. I don’t use it, but Cakewalk by Bandlab is free if you use Windows (there is no Mac version). It is possible that your upgrade to 10.0.15 was coincidence and that your underlying issue was caused by an operating system update, driver update, even a change in antivirus software if you use it. You don’t even say whether you are on Mac or Windows, let alone which version of the operating system.

#3

You are not helpful at all.
Bad support is bad support.
It seems to be getting worse by the year.

#4

I did attempt to provide some troubleshooting suggestions. I acknowledged that the original poster’s issue did not appear to have been handled well. I don’t know how this counts as “not helpful at all”.

#5

To the OP- if you could separate your customer service complaint from the technical support question it would be useful.

I’ll start from scratch.

The first thing to do is take a breath. Then update to the newest version of Cubase, and do a repair install of VEP, preferably to the latest version. I see that they have released 6.0.17960.

If you consider that the problem you describe is not widely reported, it is likely the issue is local to your setup, and that a solution is likely.

#6

Release 10.0.20 didn’t fix the issue. I know that at least one other user has experienced the same issue.

The problem didn’t exist prior to the release of 10.0.15… for any version of cubase going back to Cubase Pro 7 which is where I jumped back on after a long absence. After trying 10.0.20, I uninstalled CP10 altogether… the problem remained even though I was running CP9.5. Same version of VEP - VEP6. I upgraded to VEP7 - didn’t do anything.

I asked Steinberg a simple question. “Did the installation of 10.0.15 place a file such as a C++ redistributable onto my system that the uninstall does not remove?” Crickets. It’s an easy question to answer… and if the answer is yes, then tell me the file name and where it got put. CP9.5 worked GREAT until I installed 10.0.15.

#7

I don’t know why you would think that’s an easy question to answer, it’s not. The list of every file installed is beyond the scope of a tech support person, and also would be different depending on the OS platform, info you have not supplied.

If you just want to vent, please feel free. If you want to troubleshoot, give the info needed.

#8

You still haven’t even said if you are on Mac or Windows, also what happens when your issue arrives.

On Windows, the only way to know with any real certainty what Cubase installed on your system would be to look at any logs Windows Installer created the first time you installed Cubase 10.0.15. If a log was created, it may well have been created in a temporary folder and has been deleted or overwritten by now. It is also possible that updates to runtimes came along as part of a Windows Update.

I don’t have a copy of the Cubase 10.0.15 installer, but I did an administrative install of the Cubase 10.0.20 MSI to see what it contains. It turns out that the MSI contains only the Cubase program and a Rewire DLL, not an installer for Microsoft Visual C++ runtime or any similar shared component.


Trying to turn back time is not normally a sustainable option - if upgrading a shared or operating system component causes a problem, chances are that something will reapply that update in the future.


If you want help solving your problem, please start giving some details. This is the only way that others can identify whether they have the same problem or offer useful suggestions. If you just want to rant, go ahead to the extent of what the moderators will allow - but you will likely be talking to yourself. I understand that you are angry that something has destroyed your productivity also that you feel you got brushed off by tech support but, as a former software engineer, I am well aware that it can often be impossible to help users who cannot get through their anger and start answering questions.

#9

Yeah, this was mostly a rant… but I was holding out hope that someone might have insight as to what might cause this type of problem. I mean, when the install of a release is uninstalled, and still causes the previous revision to fail… how many things could cause THAT?

I run Windows 8.1.

By the way… my attempt to revive this ticket has not been acknowledged, it’s been almost 2 weeks, bringing the grand total to almost 6 weeks dealing with incompetent tech support and outright being ignored.

I agree that knowing the files that got installed is beyond a tech support technician, but I also assume that these guys can elevate issues / ask questions of developers through some kind of line of communication. I know what I have to do in lieu of support from Steinberg. It’s just that THAT will take days of time. As hard as it is to swallow, I may just have to go with another DAW. After 4 years, it hurts but dang. This has gone beyond my pain threshold.

Thanks for taking a look at what files get installed. I appreciate the effort / info!