XTC Error Solved!!!

Discuss Scope XTC mode.

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AudioDan
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Post by AudioDan »

Hi Everyone,

A couple of weeks ago I posted the topic
"XTC or SFP for VST on DSP". Besides some general banter, I detailed a problem I was having with XTC. I had contacted Creamware and eventually they very kindly got back to me with as much help as they could give me. They even sent me a PDF guide of setting up your PC to work best with your Creamware cards. (Yay Creamware!)

The disapointing thing was that the person replying told me he had never come across the error message I was getting:

"ScopeDriverIoctl (1908888) returned error code -99"

I've been changing my configuration ever since to see if I could crack the problem.
I somehow got all three of my Creamware cards - 2 x LunaII and a 14 DSP booster - operating on their own IRQ's. No interferance from things like USB or FireWire. The problem continued however.
A day or so I developed a hunch that perhaps the problem may have been caused by registraion and ownership of various elements of my system. The card in that system that is fully registered for SFP4 and all the plugins that I use is one of my LunaII's.
When I checked in 'cset.ini' I found that the host card in XTC had been set by default to "Scoperev=128". I changed the line to "Lunarev=130". This was just a guess mind you. I'm not good with code of any description. I checked the revision number of my board and made up what I thought might work.
Since then I've run two tests on a session that was giving me the error almost as soon as it loaded or as soon as I added another Vinco to it. Twice now I've been less then gentle with the adding of XTC plugins and switching of outputs in VST Connections, both of which were causing the error message previously. In both tests I've managed to max out the DSP and bring it back again and have not had the error message!!!! :smile:
Cross fringers I've solved the mystery problem.

Happy Scoping everyone.

Cheers,

AudioDan

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<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: AudioDan on 2005-06-20 20:55 ]</font>
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next to nothing
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Post by next to nothing »

out of couriosity, does the cset.ini file still say "Lunarev=130" or has it changed i to something else?
AudioDan
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Post by AudioDan »

To be honest I hadn't even thought to look. Just at work now, so I can't check, but I'll let you know....
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erminardi
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Post by erminardi »

Why not share creamware's PDF guide?
Could be interesting... :smile:

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: erminardi on 2005-06-21 01:34 ]</font>
AudioDan
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Post by AudioDan »

Hi Guys,
False Alarm!!! I came home tonight and tried the session again and got the same error message.
'piddi' I checked the cset.ini and it had somehow changed. The original "Scoperev=128" line had been re-entered above my new line. I assume that you've experienced this before.
Despite the dissappointment I think I may have cracked what the problem is.....I just don't know how to fix it.

I believe my first assumption was correct. The issue is of ownership of plugins. I tried changing that configuration of XTC host, the number and what order they were in and still got the error message. Licenced to my Luna II is the plugin Transient designer. It was the only plugin in the session that wasn't licenced to both cards. I tried re-saving the session missing that plugin, rebooting the computer and loading up the session again, and had no troubles with it.
That is until I got the DSP's up near full capacity. For some reason they wouldn't actually get all the way to full before I got the "DSP Capacity Reached" message. At the time, in cset.ini I had only the 14 DSP booster and my main Luna II set as hosts. After realeasing some DSP and then adding an Optimaster (which my second Luna II is not licenced to use) I got a real creamware error message (as opposed to the windows-styled error message) saying,
"Copy Protection Violation. Don't mess around with the Copy Protection" :sad:
A little insulted (I've never tried to mess with Creamware protection and I've bought a lot of gear from them) but a little wiser, I added the second Luna II to the cset.ini file as host number 3. This card has almost no plugins licenced to it (as I got it before SFP started coming standard with all Creamware cards, and had already paid for SFP for the other Luna II).
I did another test in Nuendo making sure that I added only large plugins that were not licenced to the third Luna II. Sure enough, as I suspected, when the DSP usage rose to a level where the plugins would have to be allocated to Luna #2, I got the error message.
My guess is that XTC doesn't like spanning plugins across cards when both cards are not licenced to use the plugin.
Perhaps also, when the system is under a lot of load, (this is just a guess at what's going on mind you) if the unlicended card was to send a licence request across the 'Async" data lines to the licenced card, that card might return an error code.

I'm still not sure how the people at Creamware don't know what their own error codes are....oh well, guess you can't vouch for everybody's setup.
I let you know if I find anything else out.

'erminardi', I'm not sure exactly how to share the PDF, but if you let me know, I'd be glad to pass it on. It does have some farely important things in it that some of us might not take for granted.

Anyway....cheers,

AudioDan

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: AudioDan on 2005-06-21 05:18 ]</font>

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: AudioDan on 2005-06-21 05:23 ]</font>
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next to nothing
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Post by next to nothing »

you might want to try to exit scope, make a copy of your cset.ini file and save it somewhere else. then delete the original cset and restart scope. a new cset.ini will appear, try using this one.

oh, and the copy protection error is its own chapter, ive had it on a number of occations earlier, but it seems to appear randomly so i wouldnt take it so seriously :smile:

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: piddi on 2005-06-21 05:31 ]</font>
AudioDan
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Post by AudioDan »

Yeah....I'm not too worried. I was having a bit of a joke. What I am worried about is the fact that about AU$6000 of Creamware gear, doesn't work the way it should.

Anyway, I tried deleting 'cset.ini' and sure enough a new one went in after rebooting the computer. It does roll back SFP4 to some kind of default mode though. Doesn't know where its plugins and tools etc. are. That's fine, I can fix that, but XTC doesn't really work at all. 'cset.ini' missing most of the entries that configure XTC, so I get some farely predictable failure messages as Nuendo boots up.

I might keep working on the host configuration 'cause it seems to make a major difference to how XTC does or does not operate. I'm also starting to noitce a pattern in the error code address numbers, depending on what host configuration I have set, and what plugin I'm adding. Thanks ('piddi') for your suggestions though.

Incidently, another thing I realised is that XTC is currently only equipped to deal with 14 DSP booster up to rev1.28. Mine is rev1.30 and when I type "Scoperev=130" into cset.ini I get a message when Nuendo boots, saying something along the lines of 'hardware revision too high, you need to update your software'. When I remove the host completely from cset.ini, any track in Nuendo with an XTC plugin inserted, has no audio output, and when I close the session I get a "Communication Error" message. When I add my line "Lunarev=130" or rather "140" as I later discovered, XTC insterts work and no error message, so I assume the entry is correct but the setting doesn't work on a general basis for setup that I've gt and the plugins I'm running.

Anyway, thanks again for your help. Any other suggestions are welcome.

Cheers,

AudioDan

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<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: AudioDan on 2005-06-21 17:30 ]</font>
LHong
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Post by LHong »

1> Does XTC work fine without the Nuendo sound-card in the PC (no error messages found)?
2> The latencies setting for both cards (Luna and Nuendo) are same in mili seconds or buffer values?
3> If (2) is yes, how can you tell latency's setting on the Creamware card, by cset.ini or XTC Controller-panel? Are they matched?


<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: LHong on 2005-08-03 12:34 ]</font>
AudioDan
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Post by AudioDan »

Hi,

OK, I have since REALLY REALLY solved the problem....or at least confirmed what it is.

Creamware themselves do not recommend any dual processor PC with their products. XTC mode is especially sensitive to this problem. My PC is of course a dual Xeon. I've tested my three cards in a system that is neither a dual processor system, nor has Hyperthreading and they work perfectly. I hence restricted access of Nuendo to only one CPU on my own computer and XTC also worked perfectly. I tried to crash it, doing terrible things to the session that would have been sure to crash it previously but it was completely stable.
Problem is I want to use both my processors...maybe I'm greedy.....
Thanks for your response, but I think the next move (which I'm not ever expecting to happen) will have to made by Creamware. Add dual CPU support to XTC. Not likely considering that Creamware believes that "XTC is a dead concept".
I'm saving as we speak to shift the execution of that dead concept over to UAD-1. My $7000 of Creamware cards are now just expensive ins and outs.

Cheers,

AudioDan

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: AudioDan on 2005-08-03 17:40 ]</font>
hubird

Post by hubird »

On 2005-08-03 17:39, AudioDan wrote:
OK, I have since REALLY REALLY solved the problem
Card working
My $7000 of Creamware cards are now just expensive ins and outs.
Card dead
AudioDan
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Location: Australia

Post by AudioDan »

Care to elaborate?
LHong
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Post by LHong »

I have Dual P4-3.0Ghz-CPU + 2GB Memory and ASUS P4C800-ED/i875P-ChipSet, about more than a year with Sonar, Cubase SX, Ntrack-Studio and GigaStudio. It works fine on Scope board(s). May be I do not mainly use a lot in XTC.
Which Mobo do you have BTW?

Good luck,
LongStudio
hubird

Post by hubird »

Audiodan, sorry, I meant now that you got the card working (good job), you define them as just in/out plugs by yourself...
Anyway, I hope you get it sorted out all the way :smile:
AudioDan
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Post by AudioDan »

Hi LHorn + hubird,

LHorn, I'm using an ASUS PC-DL (Dual XEON) but I was trying to use XTC. It worked fine with smaller sessions, but anything major would crash because of the Dual CPU issue. SFP mode works fine.

hubird, unfortunately the cards really aren't working the way I need. Having to disable the computer to a quater of its capacity every time I want to use Nuendo....not cool. Hence, running in SFP mode as they are from now on, they are just expensive I/O. Nothing a MOTU or an RME or even an M-Audio couldn't do....just a whole heap more elaborate and expensive.
Ahhh well. That'll teach me for not doing my homework. No real grudges against Creamware....just still hopeful they'll do something about it.

Thanks to both of you.

Cheers,

AudioDan
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garyb
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Post by garyb »

On 2005-08-04 07:24, AudioDan wrote:
Hence, running in SFP mode as they are from now on, they are just expensive I/O. Nothing a MOTU or an RME or even an M-Audio couldn't do....just a whole heap more elaborate and expensive.
AudioDan
well, you can take that attitude if you want, or you can embrace you THOUSANDS of dollars of new external hardware that are virtually in your computer and put them to use. you will have better than ever tools to enjoy in return. also, that newly available scope mixer sounds WAY better than your nuendo mixer ever could, so you could use that for you mixdowns as well. you just gained a REAL studio where you once just had a computer.

oh well...
LHong
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Post by LHong »

You simply do not need Nuendo (mixing) within the SFP mode!

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: LHong on 2005-08-05 14:22 ]</font>
hubird

Post by hubird »

On 2005-08-04 07:24, AudioDan wrote:
Having to disable the computer to a quater of its capacity every time I want to use Nuendo....not cool.
sure, that's bitter :sad:
I still (have to) work in Cubase v.5, because of Creamwares lack of OSX support.
Now that I'm looking for a Dual processor mac OS9 Boot, I will also not be pleased with that fact of Cubase, but I wouldn't degrade my Pulsars by naming them just I/O cards for that reason :smile:
But I understand your point :smile:
Cheers mate :smile:
AudioDan
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Post by AudioDan »

OK LHorn,
I've been waiting for someone to tell this to me so I can ask them. When working in SFP how does one:

* Quickly and easily edit audio in a session with more than 30 audio tracks?

* Record/Playback MIDI tracks without another piece of hardware attached?

* Automate a mix in a session with more than 30 audio tracks?

I'm open to suggestion. I'm not totally fixed on any one platform so if you can tell me these three things I'll certainly consider your methods as an option.

Cheers,

AudioDan
LHong
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Post by LHong »

You meant the mixdown for 30+ audio track?
Like this MP3 song had about more than 34 tracks.

http://www.planetz.com/forums/viewtopic ... 7&forum=17
AudioDan
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Post by AudioDan »

But You haven't answered my question.

Again:

"When working in SFP how does one:

* Quickly and easily edit audio....

* Record/Playback MIDI tracks without another piece of hardware attached?

* Automate a mix...."

These were the key points regardless of the number of tracks.

AudioDan
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