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Install Hauptwerk on Windows server

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mumblecake

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Install Hauptwerk on Windows server

PostSun Aug 16, 2015 4:36 pm

Hi,

I'm having a slight problem with installing Hauptwerk on my Windows server 2012 R2.

First a few words why I'm trying to do something as "kinky" as this. A decently specced computer is financially unfortunately out of my reach. You can however get older rack server very cheap with a lot of RAM and many decently paced cores. In this case we are talking about a HP DL580 G2 with 4 * 6-core processors and 128GB RAM for under £400. Non-server Windows makes use of a maximum of 2 sockets which means I need the server edition.

When I first tested this set up last year everything worked and installed fine (Hauptwerk 4.1). Now however when I launch the installer for HW 4.2.1 it runs through the unpacking initialisation, it goes through the initialisation of the auto installer and just before the installation dialogues are supposed to appear I get an error message:
Code: Select all
Installer UI Mode Error
Installer User Interface Mode Not supported
The installer cannot run in this UImode. To specify the interface mode, use the -i command-line option, followed by the UI identifier. The valid UI modes identifiers are GUI, Console, and Silent.

I have tried ... command -line options don't work and I think that the part of the installer which throws the error is launched from the main installer process which means I probably can't influence what command line options that module is getting.

I know that windows server is not a supported platform and that chances that you have a remedy in place are slim. I did however wanted to check if there are any hidden command line parameters for the installer which could help to successfully install Hauptwerk.

I would settle for HW 4.1 ... that was however the final version which contained the licensing for the free edition. Now that the licensing has been removed from the latest HW edition, so has the option to renew the license.

In the long term the plan is obviously to upgrade to the advanced edition (otherwise such a beast of a server would be a complete waste) which means that the licensing issue becomes a non-issue as this is replaced by a dongle ... in the short term this is however little comfort ... it is also frustrating to think that I would be stuck on 4.1

As I said: any bread crumbs leading in the right direction would be hugely appreciated.

Best Regards
Mathis
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B. Milan

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Re: Install Hauptwerk on Windows server

PostSun Aug 16, 2015 8:10 pm

Hello Mathis,

I know that windows server is not a supported platform and that chances that you have a remedy in place are slim. I did however wanted to check if there are any hidden command line parameters for the installer which could help to successfully install Hauptwerk.


No, there are not any that we are aware of or that we support, the only way to install Hauptwerk is by using the included installer's GUI on a supported operating system. You would need to run Hauptwerk on one of the supported platforms as per the requirements page at http://www.hauptwerk.com/requirements. Windows Server is not among those supported platforms I'm afraid.

I would settle for HW 4.1 ... that was however the final version which contained the licensing for the free edition. Now that the licensing has been removed from the latest HW edition, so has the option to renew the license.


You are mistaken, we never removed the Free Edition. Hauptwerk 4.1 had a limited timed version for the Free Edition, however that time limit was removed for 4.1.2 and ever since and in the current version of 4.2.1 the Free Edition is fully in tact and never expires. Please also review the Hauptwerk releases notice which covers all changes between versions.
Brett Milan
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MILAN DIGITAL AUDIO
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mdyde

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Re: Install Hauptwerk on Windows server

PostMon Aug 17, 2015 3:48 am

Hello Mathis,

To add to Brett's reply, I believe that the installer software we use (InstallAnywhere) can give that message incorrectly on unsupported platforms. Searching the Internet for "Installer User Interface Mode Not supported" finds some possible work-arounds, including this:

http://www.maplesoft.com/support/faqs/detail.aspx?sid=139020

(I think I recall that it can also occur if your Windows username, and/or the path to the Windows temporary files folder, has non-standard characters in it, but I might be wrong about that one.)

However, I'd strongly recommend instead installing a supported version of Windows on the computer, e.g. Windows 8.1 or 10, even if it means using only two of your four 6-core CPUs. Even 12 CPU cores isn't bad!
Best regards, Martin.
Hauptwerk software designer/developer, Milan Digital Audio.
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mumblecake

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Re: Install Hauptwerk on Windows server

PostMon Aug 17, 2015 7:13 am

Hi both of you,

thank you for your replies. I will try the work arounds.

to Brett: I'm sorry I didn't make myself very clear. What I meant with the licensing was that you had to renew the license for the free edition on pre 4.2. Now that the licensing is unlimited the option to renew the license for pre 4.2 HW seems to have disappeared from the website.

I will update on my progress.

Thank you very much again

Best regards

Mathis

edit: compatibility mode! Why didn't I think of trying that myself ... doh! Thank you, Martin!
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mumblecake

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Re: Install Hauptwerk on Windows server

PostTue Aug 18, 2015 3:48 am

Hi again,

compatibility mode did the trick! Installed without flaw and runs without flaw ... as you would kind of expect with 24 x 2.6GHz cores and 128GB RAM :wink:

Now I just need to build a noise insulating cabinet which allows good airflow to block out the jet engine like roar of the server :)

Thank you very much again.

Best Regards

Mathis
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mdyde

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Re: Install Hauptwerk on Windows server

PostTue Aug 18, 2015 4:13 am

Thanks, Mathis.

Excellent. That really is a lot of processing power!
Best regards, Martin.
Hauptwerk software designer/developer, Milan Digital Audio.
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Organorak

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Re: Install Hauptwerk on Windows server

PostTue Aug 25, 2015 3:31 pm

I don't suppose you're one of the beta testers for the forthcoming Wanamaker sample set by any chance?

(Only kidding, I'm not aware anyone is planning to record it yet. Besides, 128GB RAM probably wouldn't be enough for 29,000 pipes.)

Interesting question though; before I bought my HW PC I did spot second hand servers with way higher specs than what I could buy for a PC. Is it the case that you can't install Win7/8/10 on such a machine, and does that mean you can't run HW on a Windows server, assuming you wanted to buy one because of the extra RAM and power it offered?
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mdyde

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Re: Install Hauptwerk on Windows server

PostWed Aug 26, 2015 3:26 am

Organorak wrote:Interesting question though; before I bought my HW PC I did spot second hand servers with way higher specs than what I could buy for a PC. Is it the case that you can't install Win7/8/10 on such a machine, and does that mean you can't run HW on a Windows server, assuming you wanted to buy one because of the extra RAM and power it offered?


Hello Organorak,

My understanding is that Windows 10 or 8.1 would work fully on a server machine, but with the following potential limitations:

- They will only utilise a maximum of two separate physical processors. Hence any additional physical CPUs in the server machine wouldn't hurt, but wouldn't be utilised. (However, any number of cores within two physical CPUs can be utilised.)

- Windows 10/8.1 'Pro'/'Enterprise' editions will utilise a maximum of 512 GB, while the 'Home' editions will utilise a maximum of 128 GB. (Probably enough anyway, even for most servers.)
Best regards, Martin.
Hauptwerk software designer/developer, Milan Digital Audio.
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mumblecake

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Re: Install Hauptwerk on Windows server

PostWed Aug 26, 2015 3:43 am

Hi,

there are some pros and cons. For the normal user the pros will NOT outweigh the cons and you should go for a conventional computer. I'm however a physicist, programmer, technology geek and tinkerer ... so I'm not immediately put off when things go wrong.

Pros:
  • high computing power
  • high amount of RAM
  • low cost

Cons:
  • needs windows server edition (not a problem if you or your other half are employed at university: Microsoft DreamSpark) (will run home user windows only at reduced performance ... only two physical CPUs are supported which in my case would have meant that I could only utilize 12 cores)
  • high electricity cost (peak power 1.3kW, idle power ~400-500W)
  • heat: the electrical energy is kindly converted into heat energy. If it's a small room it's going to get very warm
  • RAM somewhat slow (667MHz ... it's DDR2) though don't know yet if that's going to impede on performance in HW
  • big and heavy (45kG ... compared to 3-5 kG of a normal computer ... don't injure yourself when lifting it. Mine came on a pallette!)
  • this one is the biggest: NOISE!

It is literally roaring like a jet engine (some of the 10 fans in the server run up to 8800rpm!!). Everyone I told about it and who got it demonstrated was still staggered at the noise level despite my narrative. What ever noise level you are imagining right now: multiply it by 10.

When you look on the internet about silencing a server the reply will be: simply don't be in the same room ...

Building an enclosure is difficult. You have to make sure that the airflow is not affected too much ... servers are all about airflow. My plan is to build an MDF enclosure and clad it on the inside with this:

EQ Acoustics Tiles (the performance of this stuff is insane if it really is a NRC of 0.85 as they promise)

The box will be on anti-vibration feet. The server will be on it's side in the box and will be vibration decoupled from the box by ant-vibration-studs. From the front and the rear of the server I will build an air guide which goes to the top and then around a corner towards each other. This will be an additional sound baffle which I hope will be sufficient. I have identified locations in the enclosure where I can mount additional fans if necessary if the server is not happy and overheats.

It's a lot of thought and engineering going just into the enclosure. Not something the average "consumer" would want to do.

There are also loads of quirks with the server that you wouldn't normally have with a PC (start up time is very long ... it's usually not a problem as the server should run 24/7 in a datacenter, doesn't get past the power-on-self-test (POST) with certain usb devices plugged in, ...).

It's more a project of demonstrating that it can be done rather than a viable solution.

Best regards

Mathis

edit: at first I had windows 7 pro installed on the server which ran fine but as expected only half of the cores showed up. The server edition runs HW happily, only the installation caused issues which are resolved by setting the installer to win7 compatibility mode. There might be other quirks, i.e. thread priorities (I could imagine that the server edition will prioritise networking over audio). I expect that I would have to live with any of them and will be happy to report back when I have everything set up and running.

It will be some time though until I can fully utilise this system. I started building my console last July which was finished end of February (nothing special: some Pictures). I started to take lessons beginning of May (took a while to find an organ teacher). Without any kind of previous piano experience it will be a while until I can play pieces in 3/4 parts and fully utilise the polyphony of large sample sets.

edit 2: forgot about this caveat: the graphics card that you put in has to be self powered as there are no power supply connections as you would get in a conventional home computer. I'm using a Radeon HD 6450 which is working without bigger issues (don't deactivate the onboard graphics card in the bios though ... that is causing issues).

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