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New 3.0.4 Crashes a Lot...

Posted: Wed Jan 08, 2014 5:31 pm
by Walter Sommerfeld
Greetings in this new Year!

Sorry 4 the now upcoming crying...

I wanted 2 make some modifications to mwvdlee's Skratz project and upload it as a christmas gift - well shit happens :cry:
before i even try 2 upload my messy schematic here a little desciption:
(if u don't know that project search 4 it in the SM Forum - its worth it)
I like it a lot and if u look a little closer inside it u see that mwvdlee put a lot of effort into that thing!
So my effort was to implement these features: ( btw. many of them already on his todo list)

1. Open nearly every lossy or lossless Audio file format (even CDA - this one works already)
b) read all tags too
2. automatically download missing Cover => works nearly perfect now
3. let it look and behave like a 'real' turntable (nearly done)
4. Automute => O.K.
5. auto rewind => =O.K.
ASO...

But part 1 isn't that easy like i thought...
mwvdlee already tried it right with 'Atomic Writes' means:
write it in a .tmp file then move it to the right destination for further use
I dunno if the TThreads are the crashers or my added ruby file and string handling modules...

Even if i only loaded a WAV after conversion and only have DS out active (not playing anything and CPU use shows 1%)
when i switch to another simple schematic even w/o external or ruby etc. it crashes immediately... :-(

So after all that babbling: Do u guys also have much more crashes in the newest version?
Please report...

Cheers,
Walter

Re: New 3.0.4 Crashes a Lot...

Posted: Wed Jan 08, 2014 6:42 pm
by stw
I have the same feelings.
Though i can't give a 100% proof for it yet. What i think one reliable reason for crashing is a huge memory use.
I discovered this when tracking my prob described in the "Memory allocation" thread.
What does the Task Manager say about your RAM when these problems occur?

Re: New 3.0.4 Crashes a Lot...

Posted: Wed Jan 08, 2014 7:16 pm
by RJHollins
I've noticed a lot more crashes closing down a schematic recently. These schematics are mainly those I've 'collected' for study from the forum.

The crashing ones seem to usually have audio in/out [not sure if ASIO or DS specific] ... but when they crash, it takes FS down.

I'll watch to look for a pattern.

Re: New 3.0.4 Crashes a Lot...

Posted: Wed Jan 08, 2014 11:21 pm
by Nubeat7
you are right walter, fs crashes often when more schematics are opened, same here..

Re: New 3.0.4 Crashes a Lot...

Posted: Wed Jan 08, 2014 11:46 pm
by tester
I did not worked with audio for a while (dealing with other FS projects right now), and... I can't confirm the crashing issue. So maybe it is related to audio. But I remember at the SM age - there were some issues related to audio, and only if it was "on" during switching schematics (doing multiple on/off also wasn't the best idea). But this happened only within SM (exported apps worked well), so maybe here it is a similar case.

Another thing I remember (both, SM and FS) - during "connecting" to stream various external things (like wavetable switching in oscillators) - I had to make trigger based on/off for audio, so that the whole streamy section was off during reloading some stuff. Otherwise - it always crashed my apps. I would try to add such a on/off bridge, to check if this helps. Better to have a predictable glitch than dead app. :-)

In SM (as far I remember it was fixed in FS) there was also some bug related to "sample rate" primitive. I would check if adding fixed samplerate would change anything, and if so - then I would rewire things, to separate SR prim triggering from rest of the stuff.

Re: New 3.0.4 Crashes a Lot...

Posted: Thu Jan 09, 2014 11:12 am
by jjs
i hope they do not follow Microsoft. Good windows Bad windows Good windows Bad windows...etcetera

Re: New 3.0.4 Crashes a Lot...

Posted: Thu Jan 09, 2014 2:09 pm
by tester
...good programmer, bad programmer, good programmer, bad programmer, etcetera... :mrgreen:

Make a documentation of your crashes, and send it to devs. It is difficult to say on what your crashes depend, but there are many variables to follow. Plus - find out what sort of routines to follow, to experience less crashes.

Re: New 3.0.4 Crashes a Lot...

Posted: Thu Jan 09, 2014 8:38 pm
by trogluddite
If you're emailing the dev's, don't forget to check the 'Application Data' folder for Flowstone first - you will often find there ERRORLOG.TXT and CRASH.DMP files containing diagnostic data that is very helpful to the programmers.

Re: New 3.0.4 Crashes a Lot...

Posted: Fri Jan 10, 2014 1:54 pm
by Walter Sommerfeld
Thanks 4 your efforts guys...!

well it's not a
..good programmer, bad programmer (@tester - i hear ya)
or
Memory problem
question here is more is it a:
TThread , Shell exec and Ruby (exception?) prob...

I blame myself that i didn't send the:
ERRORLOG.TXT and CRASH.DMP files containing diagnostic data that is very helpful to the programmers.
these days... well Luddite - i will correct this now.

Tried 2 figure it out or better narrow it down by myself 1st...
...end of crying
Have a nice day!

Re: New 3.0.4 Crashes a Lot...

Posted: Fri Jan 10, 2014 2:21 pm
by trogluddite
Walter Sommerfeld wrote:Tried 2 figure it out or better narrow it down by myself 1st..

Nothing wrong with that - every developer will prefer "It breaks when I do X after Y, only if using component Z, on Tuesdays and Fridays" than "Your program broken, fix it". ;)