SCS consistently freezes (solved)

dlh · Post by **dlh** » Fri Jan 18, 2008 7:39 pm

I'm in an extreme time crunch to fix this problem: SCS freezes at exactly the same point in the same file in the same cue every time it is run.

The sound file plays fine elsewhere, so I think my cue file is corrupted. Is there anyway to "clean" the cue file? Extract & rebuild? Something simpler than manually replicating the entire show?

Running version 9.4.4 on Windows 2k if relevant.

kharney · Post by **kharney** » Sat Jan 19, 2008 1:50 am

I had a fellow designer that was using Mac sound files on a PC and was having the same problem. Once the files were changed the problem went away. Hopefully it is that simple for you.

jmgordon · Post by **jmgordon** » Sat Jan 19, 2008 5:12 am

How big is the sound file? Is it a WAV or MP3 or some other format? What is the sample rate? Is it the same as the other sound files in your cue file? Will it play in the Editor or does SCS freeze here as well?

Is there anything unusual in the waveform at the freeze point if you look at it in Audacity, say?

Is another audio file playing at the same time when the freeze happens?

What happens if you move the position of the cue to the end of the cue file?

What are your settings for Number of Audio Files to Pre-open, Pre-Buffer Length and Playback Buffer Length?

Is your sound card driver up-to-date?

I don't necessarily have the answer, but this information may help Mike when he comes online.

Malcolm

dlh · Post by **dlh** » Sat Jan 19, 2008 6:15 am

The WAV sound file, which I created on this same computer, is almost certainly not the problem. It plays fine in any other environment, including the Editor.

Nothing else is playing at the freeze point.

When the freeze happens, the currently playing file continues to play, but all countdowns & fades stop. And the interface is completely disabled. The only thing to do is kill the program.

At Mike's advice, I've tried reducing the number of pre-opened files. No change. The buffers are both default-sized.

I'll update the Firewire 410 drivers, but I did that only a few months ago so it's probably not the cause.

dlh · Post by **dlh** » Sat Jan 19, 2008 6:54 am

Problem solved.

I had two level change events later in that cue which somehow had lost information about to which sound file they applied. The freeze was happening when it reached the first of them. I reentered the data; now it works.