Hello Frans,
Welcome to the forum, and sorry to hear you've been having problems with getting it all to work reliably on your PC.
Hauptwerk queries audio and MIDI devices when it launches. It doesn't support 'hot-plugging' devices'. If a device (e.g. a USB device) is disconnected, or gets put to sleep by the hardware/OS, or another device is connected, whilst Hauptwerk is actually running then Windows may change its logical devices around, potentially causing any devices that Hauptwerk might be using to stop working until Hauptwerk is restarted. Hence it's important that you don't plug in, or unplug, any devices whilst Hauptwerk is actually running -- you need to exit Hauptwerk before doing any of those things. Likewise it's important that Windows, and the BIOS, don't try to put any devices to sleep whilst Hauptwerk is running them, and that device connections don't get dropped for other reasons (e.g. insufficient/erratic power supply).
If you aren't physically plugging in or unplugging any devices yourself when the problems occur, and given that your MIDI and audio devices are stopping working, and that restarting Hauptwerk solves it, almost certainly the problem will be that device connections are getting dropped, either due to being put to sleep, or due to some other hardware problem (e.g. insufficient/erratic USB power).
- Make sure you don't plug in, or unplug, any devices whilst Hauptwerk is running.
- Make sure that all available Windows updates are applied, and that the latest versions of the drivers and firmware are installed for all of your devices, and especially so for any audio, MIDI, or USB devices, and for the motherboard's drivers. Check on their respective manufacturers' websites for the latest versions. Driver/firmware updates sometimes fix problems with device connections being dropped.
- In the BIOS, make sure that any options for putting hardware to sleep (which may include general power-saving options) are disabled.
- Make sure that Windows is set to use the "High performance" power plan, and the option to put USB devices to sleep is disabled for it, as covered in bullet point 7 in the "
Performance tuning | Other operating system and computer optimizations and diagnostics" section in the main Hauptwerk user guide (page 308 in the current v7.0 version).
- If those things don't fix it, and if possible, try connecting USB devices directly to the PC's built-in USB ports (rather than via a hub). If that isn't possible then make sure that any USB hubs being used are good quality (reputable brand) models with their own dedicated mains power supplies, and that they can supply more than sufficient power for the devices connected to them.
If those things still don't solve it, you could try sending a diagnostic file to Francois via a support ticket (
https://www.hauptwerk.com/submit-ticket/ ). I think you need to be logged into your account on the Hauptwerk on-line shop to be able to do that. Francois will then be able to see what audio and MIDI devices you're using, for example. He's an expert in getting PC/Windows to work reliably.
Best regards, Martin.
Hauptwerk software designer/developer, Milan Digital Audio.