VSTAudioEngine fails to close

Dorico
1

With Dorico 6.2 and Windows 11, I’ve recently been having an issue where the VST Audio Engine doesn’t close after I quit the program. I have to manually end the process in Task Manager. When I restart Dorico, the MIDI input device either doesn’t appear or, if it does, it doesn’t respond.

What I’ve already tried:
Reinstalling Dorico 6.2
Reinstalling Noteperformer 5
Changing the audio device from FlexASIO to the Steinberg built-in ASIO driver
Importing user settings from my laptop

After booting Windows, everything works as expected, including the MIDI input device.

Dorico Diagnostics.zip (3.2 MB)

2

Thanks for the data, @Juerg_Loeffler .
There are plenty of freeze dump files of the audio engine contained. The call stack shows a pattern that I’ve seen before in the last days. The audio engine is deadlocking while dealing with MIDI ports.Because of the deadlock the process can not shutdown, because the command does not get through. Consequently you need to kill the audio engine, otherwise Dorico won’t start up any more.
Are there maybe updated drivers for your KeyRig device?

3

Thanks, @Ulf, for looking into the data. The M-Audio KeyRig 49 is a USB midi device, which shouldn’t need a driver. I just tried plugging it into my laptop and the device is recognized by Windows and Dorico and works perfectly, even after closing and reopening Dorico. I installed Dorico 6.1.10 in the meantime, but the issue remains.

4

But without the KeyRig connected Dorico works normally, right?

5

I had another customer with the same pattern in the dump files, but a different MIDI input device. He had to reboot the machine and reconnect MIDI device and then Dorico was running fine again.
I know, it’s not a satisfying answer or explanation, but at this moment in time I have nothing better to offer.

6

Yes, as far as I can tell, without the KeyRig connectet Dorico closes and restarts normally.

7

I’ve tried that several times already, but unfortunately it didn’t work here. It looks like I have buy a new midi input device.

8

But buying a new MIDI keyboard can’t be the solution.
Have you tried plugging it into a different USB-port?

9

Yes, I also tried other ports. To tell you the truth: I just ordered a M-Audio Keystation 49 MK3. My KeyRig 49 is a good 20 years old, has worked flawlessly all this time, and now deserves to be retired. It’s not a huge investment—it costs around 80 euros. Thank you very much for your help. It looks like the issue is solved.

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10

Okay, cool, but get back if you have also trouble with the new device.

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11

The new MIDI keyboard arrived today and everything is working fine again. The only difference is that the new keyboard has to be turned on before opening Dorico in order for it to be recognized. With the old one (when it was still working), it was also possible to turn on the keyboard after Dorico was already running. It’s strange that the old keyboard works perfectly with the laptop. But not every mystery in the world needs to be solved. For now, I’m just happy that I can enter notes on my work computer again. Thanks for your quick and valuable help!

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