SOUND FORGE Pro 12 startup deadlock on loading 3rd party VST3 plugins

Ethereal wrote on 1/15/2019, 7:40 AM

Hi, trying to setup SF12 as clean installation and encounter a problem with initial scan not able to load two 3rd party plugins

RX 7 Connect.vst3
RX 7 Monitor.vst3

If I move the plugins to different location, then SF already continues initializing.

Weird because other audio production programs don't have problem with these plugins and finish loading using them.

Can I get a workaround how to prevent SF to scan these two plugins on start, so that I don't have to move them to different location each time I want to launch SF. Concluding from the plugins version info they belong to iZotope RX 7 suite.

Comments

ShawnMH wrote on 1/15/2019, 2:48 PM

Send any VST plugins that are halting the scan to the recycle bin. Do this for as many times as you have to redo the scan. Once the scan completes its cycle, take a screenshot of the plugins and recycle bin, (for later reference), and then reinstate them to their original folders.

After any new plug-ins are installed, this may happen again, just refer to your screenshot for the offending plugins and repeat the cycle.

I have many other VST hosts that don't have any problem, but Vegas and sound Forge Pro I seem to always do the same things while scanning VSTs.

ShawnMH wrote on 1/31/2019, 1:47 AM

Just wanted to check back in and say, Sound Forge Pro 12's VST scanner sucks in a big way - it is a major pita!!

I have spent way more time trying to fix this program because of the plug-in scanner, then ever being able to use it for anything productive.

I cannot believe that Sound Forge Audio Studio 12.6, the cut-down version of Sound Forge, can scan all of my plugins in one pass. No problems at all. Yet, the Pro version keeps throwing up all of these problems. And doesn't have enough spaces for folder selections to scan and load from.

Is there even a blacklist? Is there any way to clear and reset the folder to start over from scratch?

Any Magix tech guys reading this forum? It sure would be a lot quicker AND much less of a hassle to get some insight or direction as to how to alleviate this situation - here in a forum.

emmrecs wrote on 1/31/2019, 4:04 AM

@ShawnMH

Any Magix tech guys reading this forum

As a general rule, no. This is a user-to-user forum. If you need to raise a support ticket there is a Contact link at the foot of every forum page.

Jeff
Forum Moderator

rraud wrote on 1/31/2019, 11:18 AM

Is there even a blacklist? Is there any way to clear and reset the folder to start over from scratch?

No blacklist that I know of. Even some of my VST-2 files have caused SF the hang on start-up. When that happened, I moved all the VSTs to a non-VST folder and pasted them in a few at a time, to ID the specific offender <.dll> file. That said, I have not had any problems with VST-3 than VSTs in general.

You can delete the file paths in the Options> Preferences> VST and select 'Refresh' to completely clear them and add one folder at a time to help find where an offender lives, then narrow it down by adding a few at a time, as I stated above. Most VST <.dll> files can be moved around without issue, but they will not be available unless the folder is in the 'Default' and 'Alternate' VST folders.

Having more 'Alternate' VST folder options would be nice for sure.

ShawnMH wrote on 1/31/2019, 9:38 PM

I spent close to 8 hours today - just to get Sound Forge Pro 12 (and Vegas Pro 16) in order, under control, and be able to scan & use at least 1 version of every plugin I own. Both programs have very similar setups for VST management.

I ended up uninstalling, then reinstalling SF Pro 12. Learned about the grovel file locations, in case I have to nuke them and start over.

Here is the Windows 10 location I had: C:\Users\Shawn MH\AppData\Local\MAGIX\SOUND FORGE Pro\12.1

and for Vegas: C:\Users\Shawn MH\AppData\Local\VEGAS Pro\16.0

It was a real pain to use just the one alternate file location slot, - sometimes things would disappear that were already scanned in (all Eventide, S-Gear, all Soundtoys, Waves, etc).

A few things relied on order of adding the folders, and other fixes were to copy some (Eventide, S-Gear) to the folder that was making them disappear from the plugin manager. SF Pro 12 is still kicking up an "invalid argument" error for all Eventide plugins by the way...

Everything is now stable, opening/closing and running smooth for now. I am very much dreading the next time there's another plugin update or I add anything new. It should not be this hard, nobody should have to spend as much time to get it (plugin scanner/manager) working right. And today wasn't nearly all of the hours I have into doing that either.

My advice is: use the top 2 designated slots as given, any other folder paths can be switched out as you are adding them - IN THE ALTERNATE SLOT. After adding the folder (it scans/loads) hit "OK" when it is done each time you do (I never touched "Apply" once). Do NOT hit "Refresh", as this will start the scan from TOP to BOTTOM!!!! Then open the plugin manager (under "View" tab) to keep track of your progress (or steps backward...).

I have also found, if it hangs while scanning from insde the program, you can use Task Manager to just stop (end task) the "VST server" part under the Sound Forge Pro header (under running "Processes" in Task Manager). In many cases, this will skip past the plugins that freeze it, and continue scanning onward.

Eric-McCann wrote on 4/10/2020, 2:00 AM

it would be nice if you could (for instance) hold the shift key when booting SF to stop it loading plugins. Then you could at least get into the program

Amos-Kuhry88 wrote on 2/8/2023, 6:25 PM

Whoa. Apparently Magix support doesn't exist?

I just got Sound Forge 16 after using SF for years and years. It locks up on Start. I discovered that by hitting ctrl/alt/del (Windows) it starts as soon as task manager starts. Not ideal. What's the bug?

emmrecs wrote on 2/9/2023, 3:35 AM

@Amos-Kuhry88

Welcome to the Magix user to user forums, so not a contact for any Magix staff but yes, there is a very active Support Department, it is just not accessed via these forums!

However, your post really has nothing to do with the OP's question, which was about SF Pro 12 and you have SF Pro 16. Therefore, please start a new thread with your question, giving as much detail as possible about your computer and the specific problems you experience.

This thread will be closed.

Jeff
Forum Moderator