VMS 9.0b Staggered Initialization

Dave22 wrote on 1/28/2009, 6:42 PM
Okay - here's a weird one. I bought and installed a box version of VMS 9 Platinum around mid-Dec 2008, and the DVD Arch Studio 4.5 that came with it, upgraded to 9.0b and 4.5d respectively. I'm pretty sure this oddity started when I later installed Cinescore 1.0 around mid-Jan 2009, which came with VMS 9 Platinum. Around the same day, I recall using my "www.bellsouth.net" page, which switches to "my.att.net", and through a series of clicks I accidently got a Yahoo toolbar to install in my Firefox 3 browser. I removed the toolbar.

Anyway, I realized/remembered the Cinescore program was included, and I was ready to use it. This problem does NOT occur with DVD Arch S. All the programs work fine. It's only the Opening/Initializing of VMS 9 that's strange.

I usually start VMS 9.0b (build 92) by double-clicking on a shortcut icon on the desktop. It used to show, extremely quickly, the progress of the items being initialized. Now, when the gray title window rectangle appears, the initialization progress bar just does nothing. When I move the mouse pointer over the gray window, the items that are supposed to initialize now appear, but one or a few in sequence. If I just barely move the pointer the first time I get:

Creating file I/O manager...

And it freezes.

If I move it ever so slightly, this appears in place of the previous message:

Creating video plug-in factory...

Again, move so slightly, one at a time, the rest appear, one at a time:

Creating audio engine...
Initializing video services...
Initializing video cache manager...

...etc, until all processes are complete, and the program opens successfully.

If I wiggle the pointer back and forth over the gray title window, they all load quickly as long I'm moving the pointer.

I found an alternate way to get everything loaded quicker... once the gray window appears, just clicking the windows START button causes all to load, just like the program used to do.

Or, if I switch to another window, that makes all the processes run.

It's like there's an IRQ conflict (Interrupt Request), as far as I understand what an interrupt is. VMS is waiting for something to happen (a mouse movement), or another totally different process to kick off, before everything eventually loads.

My system specs: Vista Home Premium SP1, Gateway M-1625 laptop, AMD Turion 64 X2, 2GHz CPU, 2GB mem.

Dave H.

Comments

Action wrote on 1/28/2009, 8:59 PM
Try reinstalling 9b. Cheers.
Ivan Lietaert wrote on 1/28/2009, 9:05 PM
Or: hold SHIFT+CTRL while starting VMS 9, this will reset to factory settings.

btw, VMS9Plat doesn't come with Cinescore 1, instead it comes with a 'cinescore plugin', which is not the same. Could that be causing problems? I mean, Cinescore 1 Trial Period may have ended.
Dave22 wrote on 1/29/2009, 6:25 PM
I'll try the SHIFT+CTRL first, although I don't think I've strayed much yet from the default settings...unless the CScore plug-in chg'd something.

I may reinstall 9.0b after I'm done with my current creation.

I do not have the trial version of the stand-alone.
It is actually called "Cinescore Studio Plug-in 1.0", and I have updated it to version 1.0a. I knew I wasn't making up the "1.0". Also, it comes with theme 1.0. But yes, it is the plug-in. You know, the 1.0 gets lost easily, because Sony doesn't include many of the version numbers in a lot of their text and other documents/web pages. E.G., the Quick Start Manual for VMS and VMS Platinum doesn't seem to mention ver 9 anywhere...likewise, the Quick Start Manual for DVD Arch Studio doesn't have 4.5 anywhere either. Therefore, it's easy to think the plug-in has no ver #.

Thanks Action and Ivan123 - I'll let you know how it goes. Tonight my wife has the laptop for preparing for tomorrow's college classes (she gets more time on it than I do). I 'm about ready to install it on another PC that also has plenty of horsepower, just so I can use it more. It has no DVD burner, otherwise it'd be on it already. I would have thought this symptom would have appeared in these forums by now. SURELY I'm not the only person who's had this problem -- or am I ?

BTW, speaking of installing, Sony says as long as you're only "using" any of their software on one PC at a time, that's okay. That's in the EULA that we all know and love. What's NOT in there, is that you can only INSTALL it 5 different times. The Sony Registration lady told me that last week (mid-Jan 09). After that, it becomes temporarily uninstallable, and you have to contact Sony to authorize more installations - which could happen if you're having trouble with the software and have to keep re-installing it, or less likely, you have it on 5 machines that you're only using "one-at-a-time", one PC quits and you need to install on a new PC.

Thought I'd pass that bit of hidden/buried/invisible info along.


Dave H
Ivan Lietaert wrote on 1/29/2009, 9:21 PM
VMS automatically opens the project you were last working on. If this got corrupted, you may get a crash. So holding CTRL+Shift while starting makes sense as this last project will not be loaded.
Dave22 wrote on 1/30/2009, 10:10 PM
CTRL+Shift made no difference. I uninstalled Cinescore St 1.0a, reinstalled C St 1.0, then 1.0a, and no difference. Of course, to re-install VMS 9.0a, I have to uninstall it. Not ready for that yet. This is probably my last post on this for a few weeks while I work on my current project, a multi-family get-together on a farm and other places - kids sure are good material - many thanks for the assist - Dave H.