UserPreferences.xml suddenly growing problematically

[Nico5]

Using Cubase 14.0.20 on Win10 22H2

(EDIT: added a few details):

Over the last few days the UserPreferences.xml file has grown from 254KB to almost 160MB. This has two very noticable symptoms.

1. Increasingly long times to

• start Cubase
• quit Cubase (however that’s less obvious, because the Cubase UI disappears already while Cubase is still working in the background (the task manager can reveal that)

2. Increasingly long times in the Preferences dialog to

• load an existing Preference setting
• save a Preferences setting

The related Preference settings XML file grows similarly large in the subfolder \Presets\Configurations\

When the files grows sufficiently large the wait times can be several minutes.

The files grow somewhat exponentially - so at first the problem isn’t even noticeable - and then it quickly becomes intolerable.

It seems to be related to editing and/or saving the Preferences, but I haven’t been able to nail down the exact conditions when this starts to happen.

The problematic section is in both files starts with:

         <int name="NumberOfTransformers" value="4"/>
         <int name="Active@" value="0"/>
         <int name="Selected@" value="1"/>
         <bin name="LogPreset@">

After the tag with the name “LogPreset@” the binary data has grown to a very large (presumably binary) blob.

And the files containing my named saved presets in the subfolder \Presets\Configurations\ grew in the same way.

I’m ok to restore my Cubase environment to something usable - but apparently this kind of problem has been documented to appear also in older versions of Cubase and Nuendo:

Cubase UserPreferences.xml file is huge, contianing binary log data

Hi, Recently I noticed that Cubase became very slow when loading: at “Initializing: Global Settings” step. Closing Cubase is slow. Loading Preferences presets list is also slow (Cubase is freezing for ~10 seconds). After investigating, I noticed that UserPreferences.xml size is ~90MB, which seems to be root cause of this. Most of the file size is occupied by “LogPreset@” and “LogPresetA” bin enties which are serialized into this XML file, even though the name suggests that it probably just …

UserPreferences.xml file is very large

Hi everyone, I’m having trouble starting up Nuendo 11 (MacPro running Catalina). It takes minutes to start up, and it seems it related to loading the ‘Global Settings’. I noticed that my UserPreferences.xml file is very large (around 300MB). When I trash that file starting up is fast again. But when I load my stored Preference Preset, it is back to slow again. Anyone with the same issue?

I’m not necessarily expecting any answers or fixes, but want to document that the issue remains.

[Martin.Jirsak]

Hi @Nico5 ,

Great investigation, thank you!

Would you mind to share your UserPreferences.xml file, please?

[Nico5]

@Martin.Jirsak

Would you mind to share your UserPreferences.xml file, please?

I sent the files to you via PM.

[estevancarlos]

Ah. Just started using v14 and I noticed this intense wait time.

[Nico5]

So you also have an overly large UserPreferences.xml file?

If yes, do you know how to fix it? I think I’ve been able to fix it on my system, so I could document in more detail what I did, if needed.

[estevancarlos]

Just verified. My file is 101MB. I have not fixed it but I opened up older versions of the software, v13 and v12. I noticed that they seemed to load my brand new preferences settings, that I had created in v14. It has me thinking: is this issue related to the fact there are multiple installations?

[estevancarlos]

I wonder if this relates to a problem I have with saving settings consistently in the preferences. I keep saving meter colors and it keeps returning to the default values.

Currently

• it takes me 1 to 2 mins to load the presets from the dropdown
• it takes me 1 to 2 mins to select a preset and have it activated
• then 1 to 2 mins to save any changes.

Everything is frozen during this.

One more thing: It now takes much longer to also load v12 and v 13

[Nico5]

@estevancarlos

Everything is frozen during this.

yes - according to my testing, that’s the same problem.

Are you comfortable with a programming text editor like VS Code?

[estevancarlos]

Yes. I write code.

[Nico5]

Excellent, then just to confirm: maybe have a look in UserPreferences.xml, if your issue is in the same place as on my system:

In the XML file search for: NumberOfTransformers
3 lines below that starts a tag <bin name="LogPreset@"> followed by many, many lines of hex data. Might be a million lines or more.

If that’s the case for you , then it would definitely seem to be the same problem as I’ve described.

[estevancarlos]

Confirmed. It goes from line 3186 to line 1501119.

[Nico5]

yep - sure seems to be the same issue !

For fun, navigate to the subfolder with the saved Preference settings files. It’s \Presets\Configurations\

You should find your named Preference presets plus the Cubase default one’s.

Your latest one should be a similarly huge file and the problematic section looks exactly the same (use the same search).

[estevancarlos]

Do you have any previous versions installed? Are you able to open those applications or do they load much more slowly as well?

[Nico5]

They load slowly, only if those files are also large.

The thing is: The problem becomes exponentially worse every time one saves a new Preference preset, so one isn’t even aware of it being a problem while the Preset files are small.

This problem has existed in many prior versions of Cubase and Nuendo. In my original post, I linked to a thread that seemed to describe exactly the same thing.

So the theory that it’s a new problem is actually a red herring.

You (and I) just didn’t notice because in prior versions that excessive blob was still tiny. And since we inherited (copied) the Preferences from prior Cubase versions upon upgrading, the problem kept getting worse. And it’s only at a certain size that users start noticing. And then it’s from one day to another, because of the exponential growth.

I could recognize the pattern because I save my preference settings as version increments.

[estevancarlos]

Oh damn. I spend a lot of time with the preferences often in order to get color schemes the way I need them.

So from what you’re suggesting, only certain types of users may notice this immediately and then other users may notice this after some months. This is frustrating. I do wonder if Steinberg considers this a big enough fire to put out. As it stands now, I can barely load the application.

[Nico5]

@estevancarlos

I spend a lot of time with the preferences

I go in fits and spurts.

@estevancarlos

only certain types of users may notice this immediately and then other users may notice this after some months.

Exactly!

@estevancarlos

This is frustrating. I do wonder if Steinberg considers this a big enough fire to put it.

Earlier in this thread, Martin asked for my UserPreferences file, so I sent it to him in an XML. I assume sincerely hope that implies that he’s taking it seriously - and therefore Steinberg is, too?

@estevancarlos

As it stands now, I can barely load the application.

Exactly - same for me - but I think I was able to get myself to a usable state again.

[estevancarlos]

I uninstalled, and reinstalled v13. I’m getting normal performance now.

[Nico5]

I keep using 14.0.20 – now back to very fast performance, because I was able to fix the offending files.

[Googly_Smythe]

I’m sure I’m missing something here. But here goes…
Since the UserPreferences.xml is just a plain text file, can you not just edit it?
I notice that following the “naughty” bit, there are several lines that just repeat (pasted from NotePad):

            <int name="NumberOfTransformers" value="4"/>
            <int name="Active@" value="0"/>
            <int name="Selected@" value="1"/>
            <bin name="LogPreset@">
					0040000000000000000000000A0000000100000000000A000000010000000000
					00000000010000000000000000000000001100000000000000000000
            </bin>
            <int name="ActiveA" value="0"/>
            <int name="SelectedA" value="0"/>
            <bin name="LogPresetA">
					0040000000000000000000000A0000000100000000000A000000010000000000
					00000000010000000000000000000000001100000000000000000000
            </bin>
            <int name="ActiveB" value="0"/>
            <int name="SelectedB" value="0"/>
            <bin name="LogPresetB">
					0040000000000000000000000A0000000100000000000A000000010000000000
					00000000010000000000000000000000001100000000000000000000
            </bin>
            <int name="ActiveC" value="0"/>
            <int name="SelectedC" value="0"/>
            <bin name="LogPresetC">
					0040000000000000000000000A0000000100000000000A000000010000000000
					00000000010000000000000000000000001100000000000000000000
            </bin>

Can you not just replace the offending blob with the text from the next “Active” section, since the numbers are all the same (on my system, at least)? After backing it up, of course.

---

My file is 258,048 bytes, 252 KB.

[Nico5]

@Googly_Smythe

Since the UserPreferences.xml is just a plain text file, can you not just edit it?

Yes, that’s one way that worked for me - but other mileages may differ - depending what data is in that section?

And I’ve also edited my latest preference preset file in the subfolder

\Presets\Configurations\

to remove the identical section.

---

Another approach I’ve tried:

While Cubase is closed, simply move the UserPreferences.xml file out of its folder (for later deletion), and then start Cubase with a normal project I’m working with and then opening one of my older, smaller preset files in the Preferences dialog - and then immediately quit Cubase (without saving). That seemed to make Cubase create a new UserPreferences.xml without that big blob.

---

The following is my experience so far, but I can not be 100% certain that my observation is correct for all scenarios:

In my testing, it seems, that the blob grows when I

1. load one of my saved Preference files in the Preferences dialog
2. and then do a Save to create (or replace) a Preference file
   in the same Cubase session.

If I do only one or the other (open or save Preference settings) in the same Cubase session, it seems the blob doesn’t grow.

But again: While I’ve done some testing, I can not promise that my tests were rigorous enough. I’ve also not been able to create the growing blob scenario with an empty Project created with Cubase in full safe mode.

Since I have no idea what that particular blob is for or how it is accessed by code, I’ve given up on further testing for now.

p.s. I would be interesting if someone bumps into this thread and can repeat what I’ve described on their system.