Help! Major exception errors!

NukleoN wrote on 4/7/2003, 4:37 AM
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Hello,

I am getting TONS of exception errors on my current project..I cannot work more than about 5 minutes without a Vegas crash lately. This seemed to get work as the project got bigger. Here's what the crash message looks like (in part)

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Sonic Foundry Vegas 4.0
Version 4.0 (Build 115)
Exception 0xC0000024 (Unknown Type) IP:0x77F9E4B4
In Module 'ntdll.dll' at Address 0x77F50000 + 0x4E4B4
Thread: Audio5Reader ID=0xE3C Stack=0x2ACF000-0x2AD0000
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Computer: Dual Pentium III with 1.5 Gig of RAM running WINXP Pro Service Pack 1.
Video: NVIDIA GeForce 4 4600ti
Audio: M-Audio Delta 1010 with ASIO. (Unfortunately, Vegas thinks I have an AUDIOSPORT USB and it's asking me to power it up, but I don't have USB audio at all). When I look in preferences under AUDIO DEVICE, it sees the correct driver and I can playback audio.

These crashes don't occur on my girlfriend's machine, which is a new Dell Dimension, 2.4 Ghz P4, 256 MB RAM running WinXP Home.

I tried removing the fourth ram stick, but I still get crashes. I also tried disabling Anti-Virus and any other non-essential apps.

Any ideas? I love this software, but I really hate the crashes, and I don't want to have to switch to Premiere 6.5.

Thanks,

Dan

Comments

Elizabeth Lowrey wrote on 4/7/2003, 5:46 PM
activated as well. I'm not sure I can really help you with your problem except to offer additional info for someone who might be able to help us both.

First of all, I'm brand new to Vegas, having just come from Premiere 6.01/Canopus Storm combo, so I'm hardly a Vegas expert at this point. But in preparation for using Vegas and its multichannel audio support, I had a nagging hum due to bad capacitors in my 1010 rackmount box repaired under warranty by M-Audio, had the whole system (card, cables, rackmount converters, etc.) checked out. When I got it back, I tested everything out extensively under Cubase VST 32 using the very latest NON-BETA ASIO drivers posted on the M-Audio website, and everything was perfect. These drivers, I think, are dated mid 2002. Function with traditional drivers in other apps (e.g., windows sound playback, CD playback) was also fine.

Then I went about trying to get things set up under Vegas 4. I have three options that show up under "audio device type": "Microsoft Sound Mapper", "Windows Classic Wave Driver", and "M Audio Delta ASIO". Because I also have cheap C-media onboard sound available for testing, I noticed that choosing "Microsoft Sound Mapper" apparently just uses for Vegas whatever audio devices you have selected for sound playback in the "Audio" tab of the system "Sounds and Multimedia" control panel and all other options in the Vegas audio device tab are greyed out. Whether I choose C-media in control panel or one of the Delta 1010 pairs, that is what Vegas uses with the "sound mapper" option, no doubt using non-ASIO drivers. Things playback properly with this option. Simple enough.

If I choose "Windwos Classic Wave Driver", I now have active options for front/rear/LFE channels, etc., corresponding to the C-media and all Delta 1010 pairs on my system. And these options all work properly. Because I found this the only way to use Delta 1010 pairs without sync or instability problems, it is the setup I've chosen to keep (for now, anyway).

Choosing "M Audio ASIO" also gives me all the correct and available options in the channels selection boxes, but the audio playback from the timeline, as judged from video clips that have associated audio, is horribly out of sync. The audio feels at least a second or more AHEAD of the video. I mean I know ASIO means low latency, but this is like PRE latency in relation to the video.:-) Ironically, playing around with the latency settings in the Delta 1010 control panel didn't seem to help.

What's more, once I've selected ASIO in Vegas, I can't go back and select "windows classic save driver" or "microsoft sound mapper" (with appropriate Delta selections in the system sounds & multimedia control panel) to make the Delta outputs playback in sync in Vegas again without rebooting the computer. It's like the ASIO drivers STICK in Vegas once chosen and can't be reversed without a reboot.

On the other hand, even if I've chosen ASIO in Vegas and then closed the program out WITHOUT rebooting, other programs go on properly using the Delta, or not, depending upon the hardware options I activate in control panel or within those programs. All other programs seem to go on utilizing the Delta normally. So this sticking ASIO driver thing seems to be an issue with Vegas only.

In addition to the bad sync with ASIO, Vegas has seemed to become unstable with those drivers selected. Even doing just very light duty editing/testing with clips in the timeline (which is all I've done so far in Vegas anyway), I got at least 3 program crashes after activating ASIO without rebooting and clearing the drivers.

Can anyone at SoFo shed light on these issues? I mean I'm essentially content to use the Windows Classic Wave Driver option since I can use my Delta 1010 converters without problems that way. But I'm just curious as to why the supposed superior ASIO driver is causing such poor sync and instability and apparently only in Vegas and not other high-level apps.

And BTW, Dan, I recommend you update your Delta 1010 drivers to the latest non beta if you haven't already done so (driver version 5.10.0.27 dated 4/11/02). The latest beta driver on the M-Audio website was VERY flaky and uncooperative for me, not just under Vegas but throughout my system. So beware if you elect to try the beta on your system instead. Then experiment with your settings under Vegas>Options>Preferences>Audio Device Tab to at least see if you can get stability in Vegas using "Windos Classic Wave Driver" and selecting the desired Delta 1010 pairs in the other boxes. I haven't noticed any instability or other problems with this method. You just won't be using the ostensibly more desireable ASIO drivers.

Elizabeth Lowrey
Amore Productions
NukleoN wrote on 4/8/2003, 4:45 AM
Hello Elizabeth,

Thanks for your knowledgable post. ;) In fact I am using the very latest non-beta drivers, exactly the driver revision you mentioned. As for the bad eproms in the Delta 1010 resulting in a hum, I had the same problem and also got it fixed under warranty from M-Audio. I have to say, M-Audio was great about admitting to and fixing this problem.

As to my exception error problem, I *think* I have fixed it. At one point I had installed a different sound card (M-Audio Audiosport USB). After I deleted the drivers from my system, I thought all was well but apparently there was a registry key pointing to the old Audiosport USB which Vegas saw every time I started it. This got me thinking there was some kind of audio driver problem, so I did a 'regedit' and deleted the whole AudioSport key from my registry. After that, I didn't get any exception errors for my whole session.

Right now, I am using the Delta 1010 ASIO driver in Vegas and all seems to be well. Also, I removed my Sound Blaster Live, just in case Vegas doesn't like it (and I no longer use it anyway).

In the course of fixing this problem, I also removed the RAM from the 4th mobo slot, but that didn't change anything (or stop the crashes). Removing the registry's reference to the old driver seemed to do it, but I'll need more heavy duty testing to be convinced, though I am pretty certain the problem is solved since I was getting exception errors during every session, without, erhm, exception.

Good luck to you...let me know if you want me to help you test anything since we have the same audio card.

Dan

http://www.NukleoN.com
NukleoN wrote on 4/8/2003, 4:56 AM
Elizabeth...since you're having sync problems, might this be due to a lack of RAM or perhaps a slow processor? What are your machine specs, including RAM, OS, processor, etc.? I have 1.6GB of RAM and a dual PIII 1Ghz machine...not the fastest around, though I am sure the extra ram helps with previews. Also, is your project file on the same drive as your OS? I've heard it's better to have your project files either on a dedicated drive or a drive other than the boot drive. Just throwing out ideas...

Dan

Elizabeth Lowrey wrote on 4/8/2003, 2:58 PM
Dan,

Glad you got everything working.:-)

While my machine is hardly state of the art (see below), I don't think that's the problem, especially when the task is playing back a single, unaltered DV file from the timeline. I'm not experiencing the kinds of clicks, pops, momentary grey screens, pixel blocks, or dropped frames when using ASIO that suggests low resources. Further, I've employed task manager while running the timeline and processor useage has never climbed above 15% when I've noticed the out of sync audio.

And instability, not just bad sync, are an issue with ASIO invoked. Again, everything is hunky dory using Windows Classic Wave Drivers. My processor is challenged, for sure, when effects or transitions occur, but I'm still getting ample preview and no crashes.

There is either some setting to adjust sync that I've not found or there is something about ASIO on my particular system configuration that Vegas REALLY doesn't like. Am hoping the gurus here can make sense of it.

I may end up creating a new, original post out of this since I was going to do that anyway when I spotted your post and decided to reply instead. But so far, no one else (and no one from SoFo) has stopped by.:-(

Thanks for your suggestions, Dan, and good luck:-)

Elizabeth Lowrey
Amore Productions

Asus A7M266, Athlon "C" 1333 MHz, 512 MB PC 2100 SSDRAM, Adaptec/Seagate Cheetah SCSI disk subsystem, Windows 2000 SP 3
NukleoN wrote on 4/12/2003, 7:45 AM
Hello Elizabeth,

>>Glad you got everything working.:-)<<

Well I've had to completely retract my short-lived joy. I managed not to fix a thing, and Vegas is crashing more than ever (every few minutes). It's highly annoying. Not sure what to do from here, I've tried disabling hardware acceleration on my video card (no change), updating to the very latest NVIDIA driver (no change) and all my other drivers are up to date. I'm out of ideas..it's either switch to Adobe Premiere 6.5, test Vegas on other Win XP machines or possibly, build a new system and hope everything works on that. I'm wondering if Vegas secretly despises dual-processor machines..some software writers don't take this into account when testing their software.

As for your issues..let me see if I can offer some ideas..

>While my machine is hardly state of the art (see below), I don't think that's the problem, especially when the task is playing back a single, unaltered DV file from the timeline. <

No your machine should be fine..especially with the 10,000 RPM Cheetah drive and WIn2K which some people believe that Vegas prefers over WinXP.

>I'm not experiencing the kinds of clicks, pops, momentary grey screens, pixel blocks, or dropped frames when using ASIO that suggests low resources.<

Yep, that'd be something to listen for in any audio program.

>Further, I've employed task manager while running the timeline and processor useage has never climbed above 15% when I've noticed the out of sync audio. <

That seems to support the idea that your processor is up to snuff.

>And instability, not just bad sync, are an issue with ASIO invoked.<

Wow...I wonder if we're experiencing the same thing here? Vegas 4.0 for me is wildly unstable...laughably so. In fact, I need not be doing anything and Vegas will find a way to crash. It's baffling. I am also using ASIO. Have you tried editing with all audio disabled to see how long you can work? I should try that. ;)

> Again, everything is hunky dory using Windows Classic Wave Drivers. My processor is challenged, for sure, when effects or transitions occur, but I'm still getting ample preview and no crashes.<

Interesting....perhaps there is an ASIO issue since I'm having all kinds of crashes as well. I bet most of the people here don't use ASIO since they're probably using standard, consumer level audio cards such as the SB Live series, Audigy, onboard sound or something else. Plus, we both have the Delta 1010...I am starting to see a trend here.

>There is either some setting to adjust sync that I've not found or there is something about ASIO on my particular system configuration that Vegas REALLY doesn't like. Am hoping the gurus here can make sense of it.<

I think you're on to something! My Vegas, and ONLY Vegas, is wildly unstable with ASIO enabled for my Delta 1010. My other programs which use ASIO, such as SONAR 2, work great, and believe me I put that program through a workout! VEGAS is the culprit here I suspect...wait a second...my girlfriend's machine (a new Dell Dimension 2.4 Ghz) has an M-Audio Audiophile 2496 with ASIO that I installed for Reason 2 and Sonar. I had ASIO enabled on her XP Home machine and I don't think I got one crash, though the VEG file was smaller then. Unfortunately, she is 360 miles away so I can't test it just yet...maybe there's an issue specifically with the Delta 1010 driver and Vegas.

>I may end up creating a new, original post out of this since I was going to do that anyway when I spotted your post and decided to reply instead. But so far, no one else (and no one from SoFo) has stopped by.:-(<

I really wish SoFo would jump in on this!

Good luck Elizabeth...hope we solve our problem. I believe our problems are somewhat related.

I have a Dual PIII 1 Gigahertz PC, WinXP Pro SP-1, M-Audio Delta 1010 sound card with latest driver 2.27, NVIDIA GeForce 4 4600ti (latest driver), 3 hard drives, all 7200 RPM.

Please let me know if you gain any insight...I was completely wrong about my so-called fix, Vegas is still crashing like crazy.

NukleoN
www.NukleoN.com
NukleoN wrote on 4/14/2003, 2:15 AM
Alrighty,

After seeing Elizabeth's post about ASIO instability and stability with the Windows Classic Driver, I thought I'd give it a shot.

Vegas and ASIO definitely don't like each other. Switching to the Windows Classic Driver fixed the excetion error problem.

I don't know if this is a Vegas or Steinberg problem, but I am surprised nobody from Sonic Foundry knew about this problem or bothered to address these posts. Hmm.

The good thing is, the Windows Classic Driver still uses my Delta 1010's WDM driver, so the performance is still decent. I really hope ASIO works with VEGAS at some point, but until it's fixed I'm not going to touch it....far too unstable.

NukleoN
www.NukleoN.com
hugoharris wrote on 4/24/2003, 2:25 AM
I can confirm this as reproducible in my system as well (thanks for the help EClaire and NukleoN!). I have a Delta Audiophile 2496 sound card that works flawlessly with Cubase SX using ASIO (up to date drivers installed). However, in Vegas 4.0b I would get the exact exception error NukleoN describes very frequently, sometimes every 2-3 minutes, and the program would shut down. Switching to the Windows Classic Driver fixed the problem, and luckily I don't depend on Vegas for audio intensive editing (I use Cubase for that). Can someone from SoFo acknowledge this bug and sort the issue out with M-Audio?

Kevin.