Hello Pete,
There are no known bugs in the current version (v4.2.1) of Hauptwerk that can cause real-time crashes, but any of the following could crash Hauptwerk:
- (The most likely cause: ) an audio or MIDI driver (that Hauptwerk's using) crashing or unexpectedly disconnecting (e.g. due to a USB port/device getting put to sleep).
- An erratic RAM board corruption (e.g. due to cosmic rays, which will occasionally corrupt non-ECC RAM), or a RAM board fault. ECC (error-checking and correcting) RAM is designed to minimise such events and would be recommended for critical installations (but it's more expensive, and requires Xeon-based workstation/server systems).
- A crash in any other driver that Hauptwerk's using indirectly (e.g. a graphics card driver), or in any other hardware or Windows component.
- Some corruption on your hard-drive/SSD.
Very occasional crashes should be expected with consumer PC hardware. [Workstation/server-grade hardware (and fully professional audio/MIDI interfaces, such as those from RME) are specifically designed to be as crash-resistant as possible, and to withstand 24/7 use, and so are best for critical installations, but are considerably more expensive than consumer/semi-professional hardware.]
My general suggestions would be:
- Make sure you're using Hauptwerk v4.2.1, not an older version!
- Make sure that you have the latest version of your PC motherboard's BIOS installed, checking on the manufacturers' website.
- Make sure that you have all current Windows updates installed. (Use Windows Update to check for updates, apply all available, reboot, then keep repeating until there are no more. Note that you might need to click the 'check for updates' button *twice* before Windows actually performs the check.)
- Make sure that you have the latest versions of the firmware for your audio and MIDI interfaces, if applicable, checking on the manufacturers' websites.
- Make sure that you have the latest versions of the drivers for all of your hardware, and especially your audio and MIDI interfaces and graphics card, checking on the manufacturers' websites.
- Make sure you have the latest version of the driver for the Hauptwerk USB key installed, which is always available on our main downloads page here:
http://www.downloadhauptwerk.com/ . (It doesn't hurt to re-install it if unsure which version you have installed.)
- If your audio/MIDI interfaces have dedicated power supplies then make sure they're attached and working properly (since insufficient power can cause loss of connections).
- Also make sure that all of your cables and connections are good, both inside and outside of the PC.
- Test the PC's RAM for errors:
https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff700221.aspx- Scan the PC's drive/SSD for errors:
https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/kb/2641432- Make sure you have all power-saving functions in the BIOS disabled. For example, perhaps there's an option for it to put FireWire and/or USB ports to sleep when it thinks they're idle.
- Disable all Windows power-saving functions, including the options for putting USB ports/devices to sleep.
- Reboot if you updated anything.
Hope something there helps.
pedro wrote:I have the CC cleaner installed on it and i run that once in a while.
I don't have any experience with the freeware CCleaner PC/registry cleaner software, but my general advice would be to exercise caution with such products, since they can just as easily cause stability issues (e.g. by over-zealous deletion of registry entries without full knowledge of what they do, or what might rely on them) as solve them.
Best regards, Martin.
Hauptwerk software designer/developer, Milan Digital Audio.