Arturia V Collection causes my PC to either freeze or crash

[mathirio]

Hi

I have been in touch with Arturia about this but the support has been minimal. I have posted elsewhere about this issue but so far I have not found a solution.

I'm hoping to find others with a similar problem. I will walk you through what happened.......

I have recently bought a brand new PC with all the power needed. I also bought the Motu M4 + the Arturia Keylab MKii 61.

I have previously been running the Arturia V Collection on two other PCs with a lot less power yet without any problems.

I am pretty sure that I have used Synthi V in a session on this new PC/Motu M4 without a problem.

The day I receive my Keylab there is also a V Collection update. After updating I also make some power management changes in Windows. The changes you see suggested everywhere.

I load the Piano V in Ableton and after about 30 seconds my PC crashes. I load Synthi V and my computer crashes. CS-80 and SEM V both work. I haven't tested all the synths since I don't like to see my PC crash again and again but I have loaded both Piano V and Synthi V mulitple times in both Ableton and Reaper.

I test my other synths and effect from Plugin Alliance, Slate etc without a single problem and as soon as Piano V enters the sessions is all crashes.

I roll back my changes. Uninstall my Keylab and disable my Motu to make sure these are not causing the crash. The problem stays.

All Arturia synths work flawlessly as standalone so the problem only occurs when running them in Ableton and Reaper.

After almost three weeks Arturia suggests that the problem has to do with my graphics card. I have still not been in touch with a developer from Arturia who was supposed to look at this. Arturia only suggested this after I asked if this could be a GPU related issue. I read that FabFilter plugins would trigger the same crash but they worked with Nvidia to get a fix issued.

I get in touch with Nvidia who are very helpful. They say that it might in fact be a GPU related issue and that I should try to re-seat my graphics card (remove it from its slot and insert in into another slot). I am about to do this but I am very much doubting that this will work since I do not have a single problem with this card except for the Arturia problem.

Can someone explain to me what would cause Arturia synths to trigger my GPU in a way that causes my PC to crash when none other plugin does that?
Why are these synths working as standalone without triggering the problem?

It's driving me crazy. V Collection is so important to me. I am unable to finish any music since all my projects are using Arturia synths. I finally got the Keylab looking forward to the integration with Analog Lab but I'm still here getting nowhere.

Any advice will be highly appreciated.

[billybuck]

Do you have a DAW that allows you load VST’s in GUI-less mode? I believe Reaper does this, and it’s a free demo. When you load a VST in this mode you just see generic Reaper sliders and buttons instead of the VST’s graphics. I’m not suggesting this as a solution, just a method of testing that would definitively confirm whether the graphics are the source of your crashes. If you can successfully run Arturia plugins in this mode, you know instantly where your problem lies.

[GuitarPlayerinNYC]

I don't know Ableton, but saw this on their website:
Supported Plug-in formats
VST2 - 64 & 32-bit
VST3 - 64-bit (Live 10.1 and later only)
Audio Unit 2 (AU) - 64 & 32-bit

So, if you're using Live 10, are you using VST3? If you're not using Live 10, are you using VST2? If you installed the AU, maybe try that?

I use Tracktion's Waveform, which can handle both VST2 & VST3, some, better than others. When I figure out the troublesome VST for the same plugin, I remove it.

I discovered that graphics can screw up plugins (but not with Arturia stuff). It was a month of hell, and I don't have a definitive solution, but I'd suggest checking for new drivers (or rolling it back to an older version), and deleting Windows updates from the temp folder (you'll have to google where it is).

To the best of my knowledge, it's not the plugin "triggering" the GPU per se. With high resolution video, this can cause a crash because plugin UI's weren't designed to be rendered at like, 4k. Hey, if you have a high res card, maybe try lowering the resolution?

As to why it works in standalone, and not in your DAW, my best guess is that it's running through it's own sound engine. When it goes through your DAW, it's going through the sound DAW's sound engine, has to render the UI, and there's the possibility of VST simply not getting along with your DAW. That's my guess, anyway.

I'd remove every vestige of Collection, including the VSTs, and redownload the installer file. Reinstall without the update, pick the proper VST format, and try again. If that doesn't work, apply the update. You could simply have a corrupted file.

Arturia was really quick when I needed help from them, but this was pre-covid. I think they're located in Belgium.

[mathirio]

Do you have a DAW that allows you load VST’s in GUI-less mode? I believe Reaper does this, and it’s a free demo. When you load a VST in this mode you just see generic Reaper sliders and buttons instead of the VST’s graphics. I’m not suggesting this as a solution, just a method of testing that would definitively confirm whether the graphics are the source of your crashes. If you can successfully run Arturia plugins in this mode, you know instantly where your problem lies.

I do have Reaper but I can't figure out how to use it in GUI-less mode. Googling it did not help.

[mathirio]

Arturia was really quick when I needed help from them, but this was pre-covid. I think they're located in Belgium.

I feel bad now. I'm in Denmark and although we're affected by Covid we just haven't been hit that hard compared to a country like Belgium. I'm gonna remind myself that there are bigger issues than my problems with V Collection.

That being said......I am following your instructions and will see where they take me.

[xbow]

I do have Reaper but I can't figure out how to use it in GUI-less mode. Googling it did not help.

In the plug in window, upper right, there is a tiny button that says "UI". When you click it, the graphical UI should disappear and be replaced by standard sliders.

This has helped me in the past with GUIs that cause performance problems.

[mathirio]

I do have Reaper but I can't figure out how to use it in GUI-less mode. Googling it did not help.

In the plug in window, upper right, there is a tiny button that says "UI". When you click it, the graphical UI should disappear and be replaced by standard sliders.

This has helped me in the past with GUIs that cause performance problems.

Thank you so much! I'll try that now. Currently doing all kinds of cleaning and uninstalling + reinstalling everything Arturia.

[mathirio]

I have tried everything now and the problem still exists. I turned off GUI and the Piano made Reaper/My PC freeze.

[dune_rave]

maybe you can try one more daw: FLStudio,
to see if that's only an ableton, reaper problem....

[xbow]

I have tried everything now and the problem still exists. I turned off GUI and the Piano made Reaper/My PC freeze.

Sorry to hear that. What is your graphics card and driver version?

Just a stab in the dark, but I've had problems with games crashing that were solved by going back to an earlier graphics card driver version. Or if your drivers are quite old, it might help updating them. If it actually is a graphics related problem.

[mathirio]

I have tried everything now and the problem still exists. I turned off GUI and the Piano made Reaper/My PC freeze.

Sorry to hear that. What is your graphics card and driver version?

Just a stab in the dark, but I've had problems with games crashing that were solved by going back to an earlier graphics card driver version. Or if your drivers are quite old, it might help updating them. If it actually is a graphics related problem.

I have downloaded an older Nvidia driver but Windows won't let me choose an older driver. My PC is brand new so I have no rollback option. I am searching for a way to manually install older driver.

[mathirio]

I have tried everything now and the problem still exists. I turned off GUI and the Piano made Reaper/My PC freeze.

Sorry to hear that. What is your graphics card and driver version?

Sorry. My card is Nvidia GeForce GT1030 (driver version: 452.06)

[xbow]

I have downloaded an older Nvidia driver but Windows won't let me choose an older driver. My PC is brand new so I have no rollback option. I am searching for a way to manually install older driver.

Have you downloaded an .exe file? You should be able to execute this, chose "custom" under installation options, and "perform a clean install". I would also deselect Nvidia experience, unless you are using that, and HD Audio, unless you are outputting audio through your graphics card.

EDIT: You can also look under Window's "Add or remove programs" if there are drivers you can uninstall first.

FWIW, I have a different Nvidia card and the 436.02 drivers and there seem to be no issues with Piano V or Synthi V under Reaper (but I haven't been using them extensively).

[mathirio]

I can choose custom installation but I can't choose the older driver. It will only let me install the latest. It's installing what they call a Game Ready driver. They also have an option called SD drivers but there are no drivers for me there.

[xbow]

Hmm, not sure I understand exactly what's going wrong. So here are the steps that I think should work:

Go to this download page and look up your card: https://www.nvidia.com/Download/Find.aspx

The oldest version that I can download for GT 1030 is 436.02. Which is the same driver I am using (Game Ready too).

After downloading, if I execute this file, after "System check", I pick "NVIDIA Graphics Driver".

On the next screen, "Custom (Advanced)".

On the next screen, I deselect everything except "Graphics Driver" and "Physx", and tick "Perform a clean installation".

It should then install the version that you have downloaded.

Is this what you did? Are your drivers still the newest version? Then maybe you have to get rid of the installed drivers before you install the downloaded ones. I was able to do this in Windows' "Add or remove programs".