Cubase LE 4 - crashes when trying to edit audio files

[j.albert]

Cubase LE 4 - crashes when trying to edit audio files

Hello all -

This will be a fairly long posting, just a warning!

My platform:
iMac 24" Core 2 Duo
OS 10.4.10
Cubase LE 4.0.3

I'm using the new Cubase LE 4 in conjunction with a Presonus Firebox, but the problem I've having doesn't seem pertinent to my hardware.

I've encountered a repeatable error when trying to edit (i.e. to use the features of the "Audio/Process" menu, such as "Gain" and "Normalize") on previously-recorded audio files. These files were recorded with Cubase LE 4 and are stored in their respective Cubase project folders.

If I select either a portion of a clip (using the "select" tool) or the entire clip, and then attempt to modify it (such as with either "normalize" or "gain", either produces the same results), Cubase will begin to process the file and then crash with the following error message:

------
EXC_BAD_ACESS (0x0001)
KERN_PROTECTION_FAILURE (0x0002) at
0x00000000

Thread 0 Crashed:
0 start + 342126
1 start + 1879077
2 start + 1879913
3 start + 1701033
4 start + 117230
5 start + 5675938
6 start + 6047255
7 start + 9656593
8 start + 4023204
9 start + 9663542
------

This is repeatable and the resulting error is ALWAYS the same. This leads me to believe that either _some_ setting I'm using is wrong, but if that's not the case, there is a bug somewhere in Cubase's writing and saving of the _original_ audio file that is running up against the Mac OS when it tries to create an edit of the original audio clip.

Here are some additional details I discovered:
1. As an example, I'm trying to edit a track that contains a single audio file named "02_01.aif" (this is the default name assigned to the file by Cubase when it was created).
2. I select that clip and choose "Normalize" from the "Audio" menu, which brings up the normalize dialog.
3. I select 89% for a value (doesn't matter what is chosen), and click "Process"
4. Cubase begins to process the file, and creates a file named "02_2.aif" in the "Edits" folder.
5. Cubase crashes with the above crash dialog.

I can "fix" the recorded audio so that Cubase won't crash when I try to edit it, but the fix is tedious and time consuming. Here is how it is fixed:
- Open the "Audio" folder in the project folder
- Select the audio file that corresponds to the track I'm trying to edit
- Drag it out onto the Mac desktop, creating a copy of the original on the desktop.
- In Cubase I then delete the original clip from the track
- Now, drag the re-copied audio file over the track in Cubase and "drop it back where the original was"
- Cubase will bring up the Import Options dialog, in which I check "copy file to working directory".
- Cubase imports the duplicate audio file, giving it a slightly modified name in the "Audio" folder.
- I then delete the original audio file from the "Audio" folder, leaving only the "dupe".
- Now Cubase can perform edits on that clip without crashing.

Nothing outwardly apparent was changed from the original to the duplicate, other than the name as it was re-dragged into the "Audio Files" folder.

I'm thinking that something NOT apparent about the file has been changed by creating a copy on the desktop, and that change then makes the file compatible with the Mac OS and/or filing system. Also, that the problem with the original file is not with the audio data itself, but something else about the way the file was written to disk that is causing a crash when I attempt to edit.

Has anyone else experience anything similar while trying to edit previously-recorded audio with Cubase LE 4?

Thanks,
- John

[Ben Mullens]

That is very strange behavior from Cubase.

I haven't seen or experienced that issue with Cubase 4 LE.

Does it happen with all Sample Rates and different bit depths?

Are you using it directly in Mac OSX or in BootCamp with Windows perhaps?

I'll do some tests here to see if I can replicate it on a similar machine.

I saw your topic here as well:
http://www.cubase.net/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?t=84509

I was hoping someone from Steinberg would have responded, but that's wishful thinking ;)

Keep bugging them on Cubase.net....one of the gurus on there will hopefully chime in.

[j.albert]

Ben Mullens wrote:
<< Does it happen with all Sample Rates and different bit depths?
Are you using it directly in Mac OSX or in BootCamp with Windows perhaps?
I'll do some tests here to see if I can replicate it on a similar machine. >>

I believe the same problem happens with either 24 or 16 bit depths.
I don't use Windows or Boot Camp, just the Mac OS.

To replicate, try this:
1. Create a new project
2. Record some audio into it
3. Try to edit the just-recorded audio (i.e., "normalize", "gain", etc.)

On my iMac Core 2 Duo (10.4.10), I will get the crash just after Cubase creates the edited file in the "edits" folder for the project.

Before I moved up to LE 4 (4.0.3), I had been using Cubase 1.1.10 with no problems, running under Rosetta translation (since the old Cubase wasn't "universal binary" so the Intel Mac could run it "natively"). It ran without major problems, although now and then you could feel it slowing a bit under Rosetta (for example, when scrolling through a project).

I've already tried removing the prefs file from my home folder (crashes exactly as before), and a re-install of the application from the master CD (crashes just as before, same crash report).

If you get Cubase 4 LE up and running on a Core 2 Duo Intel Mac, and can edit the audio withOUT problems, I would be interested in some of the prefs settings, device settings, etc., that you're using. Perhaps there is a parameter I have set (or not set) that is aggravating things at my end.

Just wondering, does Steinberg furnish you any updates for LE 4 as they are released? What is the most current version?

Thanks,
- John

[j.albert]

I'd like to add more info to this thread.

Apple posted the 10.4.11 update online. I updated and Cubase continues to crash, same as before.

I don't believe this problem is related in any way to either Presonus hardware or software. I have an Intel iMac, so I can disconnect the Firebox, leave "Firebox Control" and "Firebox Mixer" apps closed, and record from the iMac internal mic. Upon attempting to edit the audio files, I get the same error message.

I've tried re-installing Cubase 4 LE from scratch, doesn't help.

- John

[samuel1]

When you say scratch, do you mean the original disc? Maybe that is corrupt - odd problem you've got yourself there. Good luck!

[j.albert]

Thought it might be worth mentioning, that over at the Steinberg.net forums, there is someone experiencing "audio processing crashes" similar to the ones I've been getting.

That thread can be viewed here:
http://forum.cubase.net/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?t=85177

- John

[matt m]

That would be me. I have the same error message....code numbers the same. repeatable, every time. normalize... crash, fade out crash.

again...not related to hardware. did another test like john did disconnected from firestudio project.

here is my computer info

Hardware Overview:

Model Name: MacBook
Model Identifier: MacBook2,1
Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo
Processor Speed: 2.16 GHz
Number Of Processors: 1
Total Number Of Cores: 2
L2 Cache (per processor): 4 MB
Memory: 2 GB
Bus Speed: 667 MHz
Boot ROM Version: MB21.00A5.B07
SMC Version: 1.17f0
Serial Number: **************
Sudden Motion Sensor:
State: Enabled

[Ben Mullens]

We've got Steinberg looking into it.

I'll have more info when they get back to me.

Thanks.

[matt m]

Thanks Ben. looking forward to that....seeing as editing is a huge part of all this. other than that i am really enjoying the cubase platform. I have the fire controller figured out, but am still experiencing some of the same garbled audio that another user had posted about. This is fixed, oddly enough by pulling the firewire out of the back and replugging it..... that seems kinda odd doesn't it ? please keep me posted. the audio quality is great! but everything else needs to work too. thanks so much.

[epitomesounds]

I am recording audio through a firestudio project, using cubase le4. I have a mac mini, and every time I try to process audio, fade, normalize, phase reverse, etc., it crashes cubase. The error code I am given states: An exception occurred in the module Cubase LE4. This seems to be a problem with cubase, not mac nor presonus. Does anyone have any suggestions.

[matt m]

hi epitome. still waiting to hear back from ben concerning a driver update. i am still having the same crash-ola that you are. i have been on the steinberg site and they have not yet responded or put up new drivers. achtung baby!

let me know if you hear anything

matt

[j.albert]

epitomesounds wrote:
<< I have a mac mini, and every time I try to process audio, fade, normalize, phase reverse, etc., it crashes cubase. The error code I am given states: An exception occurred in the module Cubase LE4. This seems to be a problem with cubase, not mac nor presonus. Does anyone have any suggestions >>

I was wondering if you would print out my earlier posting above with the error codes, and then deliberately attempt to crash Cubase again while processing some audio, and see if the error codes _you_ get are similar or the same as what I posted in the first message of this thread.

------------------------

There _is_ a workaround that I use to "convert" the "bad" audio files into good ones - that is, files that you can manipulate and process normally.

Here is what I do:

For example's sake, let's say that I have begun a new project, and recorded an audio clip called "Audio_1". This file now is in the Cubase project folder in the "Audio" folder.

If I try to process this audio by using "normalize", "gain", "fade" - i.e., any operation that will result in a new audio file being created in the "Edits" folder - Cubase will process (or at least begin to process) the file, and then crash with the error report contained in the first post of this thread.

WORKAROUND: I open the "Audio" folder in the Finder, then drag the "Audio_1" file onto the desktop, creating a new file. I then rename the file slightly, say, to "Audio_1m" (could be ANY name you wish, I only rename to easily distinguish the "Finder-copied" file from the original created by Cubase "thru the OS".

Next, I delete the original "Audio_1" file in the Audio folder.

I also delete the visual representation of the file in Cubase's project window (resulting in an empty audio track).

I then go to the Finder and drag the "Audio_1m" file _into_ the project window and "drop it" where the original audio clip was. The "Audio_1" file now is re-created in the "Audio" folder.

It may be necessary to "reposition" the location of the file in the window to re-align it "to the beat".

It is the same audio clip that was previously deleted, but it now can be edited without problems.

I have done this procedure several times now. Without doing it, the original files will crash when you attempt to edit them. Once I "re-copy" them, the files are fine.

---------------------------------

I'm not a programmer but sense that there is some kind of file-level conflict occurring between Cubase LE 4 and the Mac OS. In my "workaround" above, the audio data of the file remains the same. HOWEVER, SOMEthing pertinent to the file has been changed by simply copying it from the Cubase project folder to the Finder - which "converts it" from a "bad" file into a "good" (i.e., editable) one.

To put it another way, when you are recording in Cubase, Cubase interacts with the Mac OS to create a new "file container" into which the recorded audio is passed. But something about the "container" itself is flawed, and creating problems when you later attempt to manipulate the file through processing.

I'm wondering if it has to do with permissions, but the files created by Cubase in the "Audio" folder seem to have their permissions correctly set. I will guess that the problem is resulting from something ELSE that isn't quite right with the file.

Ben Mullens, are you still watching this thread? I recall that you said the Macs you had still had OS 10.4.9 on them, and that you weren't having the problem. Have you since tried Cubase LE 4.0.3 on any Macs with either 10.4.10 or 10.4.11?

My iMac came with 10.4.10 pre-installed so I can't "downgrade" to 10.4.9 to see if the problem would go away.

Could Apple have modified _some aspect_ of the OS from 10.4.9 to 10.4.10 that is now causing Cubase to crash?

We've gone from one (me), to two, to three people reporting similar errors. I'm certain there are more "out there".

- John

[matt m]

hi john...see we are all still having the same cubase problem. i have most of the FSP issues resolved presently [and i say that with my fingers crossed] with the exception of the CUBASE audio process editor.

ONE NOTE OF INTEREST. I was able to normalize a Mixed down track that was saved on the project screen. however, when i tried to normalize an individual track.....kentucky fried...another visit from "the kernel" ..sorry about the lame humor...it keeps me from destroying things !

have we heard anything from Duetchland yet....????

[LCStudios]

hey all i'm using windows and if i go to edit it crashes so its not only in mac's

[matt m]

Hi LC Steinberg has a fix coming in a couple of days. log into the steinberg forum and find the Cubase AI LE 4 section. There is a lot of great info there, i learned a lot. How are things in Scranton ?

[bradicalhiphopfenatical]

Im having the same problem, cubase crashes when I try to process audio running-
Cubase 4.0.3
Firestudio Project
Mac OS X 10.4.11
2 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo Mac book
also generally I have to restart my computer with the firestudio on and connected for it to sync with cubase.
has anyone been able to draw a conclusion yet????

[j.albert]

RE:
<< Im having the same problem, cubase crashes when I try to process audio >>

Check the Steinberg forum for a link to Cubase LE 4.1.2, which fixes the problems:
http://forum.cubase.net/phpbb2/viewforum.php?f=24&sid=2412225bc9a34245001b4e0bb6b7ab98

- John