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Pulsar crashes just about every time I try to save a project - which is making it a little difficult to work

It sometimes crashed on exit in version 3.0, but the problem has got a lot worse with 3.01 - and changed to a crash on exit and a program save crash.

Norton Crashguard says that: "Creamware Pulsar attempted to save cset.ini. SafeOriginal detected an attempt to write to 'cset.ini' and will save a copy of it without the most recent changes."

Any ideas why this might be happening? Should it be saving to cset.ini ? Any ideas on what I can do ?

I love this system but lately the problem rate is really begining to climb

cheers,
Spirit

Did you make your cset.ini write only?

Nope, just ticked as archive.

But in poking around the version 3.0 notes of "Features not documented in the manual" there are the following rather surprising (to me) bits of info:

<i>- In earlier versions of Pulsar, presets were often saved as part of the device. If you wish to continue using presets from earlier versions, you must first load the old versions of the devices which contain these presets under the old software and export the presets as preset-list files (more info about how to do this can be found in the User's Manual from the earlier software version). These preset-list files can then be imported and converted by the corresponding new device versions under Pulsar 3.0. Make sure to do this for all of the devices for which you previously created presets before you delete these devices - otherwise your existing presets will be lost!</i>

Export presets for all devices ? Huh ? I never did that. Did anyone else or am I misreading this ?

And how about this:
<i>- With each software update some of the modules, especially driver modules (Sequencer source/dest, ASIO source/dest, Wave source/dest etc.) are also updated. Since modules are saved as part of your projects, you should replace them to ensure the best performance. Do this for each module by deleting the old one and replacing it with the module of the same name from the updated installation. Then reconnect it as before. Unfortunately, for now this must be done manually for reasons due to the current Pulsar/SCOPE implementation. </i>

Maybe that's part of the answer: I'll try it and see....

*** about the presets:

Previously (up to 2.04) you could save presets 2 ways:
-save preset list manually (from 3.x, the OS will ask you to save presets before quitting/saving)
-save the device. this could also include the midi control a petty that's gone in 3...

*** about the modules:

Each update, stuff is updated, especially the drivers. Soft'n'hardware I/O's need to be updated with the new files. Synths will might work, mixers will need updating (delete them and load the newer version).

Pulsar OS3 installs most non-updated 2.04 devices in a folder, DevicesPulsar2.04. You can still use those.
Pulsar OS doesn't reload those automatically, you should do it manually. Snapshots might come in handy to save stuff to restore your settings. You can paste 'print-screened' data to save as jpg-backup.


If you have OS3, everytime you close a project or the OS, Pulsar will warn you and let you save changed preset lists.

I don't think this might cause such errors.

Hmmm. Interesting. I've done a poke around and find that I've had 63 Pulsar crashes all 32-bit crashes originating from base.dll and msvcrt.dll.

Yes, significant says me, rubbing chin thoughtfully.... the hunt continues.

Hmm, doesn't seem right! I definitely do not get such crashes, perhaps check this link:

<a href=http://support.microsoft.com/default.as ... 190536>FIX: Invalid Page Fault in Msvcrt.dll</a>

Could be caused by something else overwriting msvcrt.dll with a different version that Pulsar expects. Also sounds like your Norton Crashgaurd (you have this running on an audio workstation???) might actually be causing this, Pulsar definitely writes to cset.ini - keep a backup of this file once you have a working and replace it only when Pulsar stops working manually. Disable Norton crashjunk and all the other background running Norton, at least while you work on audio.

Thanks Subhuman, I'll do as you suggest and report the (good) news.

I deleted a couple of flakey programs, cleaned out the registry, optimised the drive, set a static swap file, turned off Crashguard, replaced all the project modules, and like magic my little Pulsar has regained its health. It sits up, wags its tail and begs me to play.

nice

yes,norton products(especialy crash guard) are a definite no-no for an audio work station.

I see Norton getting slagged on all the time, when in fact, I think a few of the tools are totally life savers for a professional DAW. <i>The most important thing about Norton is to not let it install ANY background tasks/services</i>.

A few examples: Norton Ghost is excellent for creating drive images, so you can quickly return to a working state (like an image supplied by your computer's supplier, for example ). Norton SpeedDisk is also excellent, it allows you to optimize the <i>location</i> of your swapfile, putting it near the area of the drive that spins faster for better performance. Finally, if used wisely (ie: NOT running in the background), Norton AntiVirus does a decent job of checking your system for viruses.

All programs that try to add themselves over-and-over to your startup are a big NO NO for realtime audio. But if used wisely and carefully Norton gives a pro-daw some nice tools (including a special undelete heh).

Yep, Norton's been extremely useful to me many times and although I know some people hate it I never had any problems.... And unlike some people (usually in the CW forum), Pulsar has always been very kind to me and I've found it incredibly robust. For six months I had it running smoothly on a PC with games, explorer, graphics programs, Office etc etc.

So when I moved Pulsar to an (almost) dedicated audio PC I was a bit puzzled at the crashes.

But all I had to do was a little simple tweaking

Love this card !