Startup problems after installing BMD desktop video10.3.7

[adamt]

I have been having problems starting Smoke since installing the BMD Desktop Video 10.3.7.

Basically, since the upgrade i could not start Smoke without it crashing at the same point everytime (AUDIO:Initialising Device).

Tried everything to resolve it, but eventually found Smoke started fine if my Ultrastudio 4k was switched off, so i decided to try revert to earlier version of the driver. Now im back on BMD DV10.3.5 Smoke seems to be starting up correctly.

worth being aware of....

[yann.laforest]

Hi Adam,

10.1 is the BMD certified driver version for Smoke.

More recent driver versions may exhibit issues with the application (as you reported).

We are currently planning to certify the latest BMD driver available but there is no ETA about when it will be done at this point.

Please let me know if you have any questions,

Regards,

Yann

[adamt]

and therein lies the problem...

I have downloaded the BMD Desktop Video 10.1.1 installer but it refuses to install on Yosemite!

Any suggestions which BMD driver will work?

regards

Adam

[LouisMartin]

HI ,

You can use the BMD driver 10.1.4.

It will install on yosemite and since its fromt he same 10.0 skew , you can expect it to behave well in our products.

Unfortunatly its not 100% certified at this point.

Thanks

Louis

[adamt]

no good, im afraid!

I installed 10.1.4 yesterday after being told by the reseller that it was ADs suggestion.

I have had numerous crashes since - far more than i have had using later versions of the BMD drivers.

Because i dont have time to waste troubleshooting problems, i have decided to continue running with 10.3.5 as this has been the most stable version i have found so far.

regards

Adam

[LouisMartin]

maybe it specific to your ultrastudio 4k with driver 10.4.1.

I gave 10.4.1 a try with my ultrastudio 3D without crasing.

Can you give me more info on when you crashed ?  playing back on the timeline ? swithing preview timings ?

Did you send CER (crash) reports for these crashes ?

Thanks

Louis

[adamt]

Hi Louis,

it crashed inside CFX when changing the bit rate of a colour frame.

It crashed multiple times trying to export a sequence (editorial publish) as AAF for Pro Tools with AV DNxHD 39 1080p.

I dont remember if the CER was sent for every crash...i have sent that many over the last few days I should be getting paid!

regards

Adam

[LouisMartin]

Hi Adam,

Can you tell me what email adress you used to send the crash reports, i will have a look at them ? you can send it by private message if you dont want for everyone to see ! 🙂

It might not have anthing to do with the BMD hardware , the crashes you describe do not seem to exerce any Broadcast related stuff.

Thanks

Louis

[adamt]

thanks Louis - just sent the private message

adam

[LouisMartin]

Hi Adam ,

Got a couple of your reports.

The connecting gmask crash is a legitimate crash not related to the BMD hardware or its driver AFAIK.

The other crashes at launch dont report much in the crash log i get. And i can see you are the only user reporting this crash in our database.

Since your gmask crash hapened today , i suspect you managed to start the applcation 🙂 did you create a new project or managed or did it start launching after a reboot ?

Let me know

Louis

[adamt]

Hi Louis,

never heard a crash called "legitimate" before!

I was working in existing projects today.

Those crashes at start up were whilst i was running 10.3.7 - i had mistakenly installed it and realised only after those crashes started.

Thats when i was told to go back to 10.10.1 - which is not compatible with Yosemite....then i was told to try 10.10.4  - which caused a lot more crashes today, as mentioned in the earlier posting.

It sounds like the CERs did not get to you!

Since then, i have gone back to using 10.3.5 and its working pretty solidly.  The only time i ever seem to have any issues with this version is during Quit.

It usually freezes just before the quit process completes and requires me to use the service Monitor to shut it completely.  This also never generates a CER !  Be interesting to see if this happens again when i finish in 15mins!

regards

Adam

[adamt]

well whaddaya know!!  it just Quit properly !!

[adamt]

in the interests of keeping this topic updated, I have just heard back fromthe support engineers at Blackmagic who say that although they do not have a copy of Smoke to test, the earliest version of the Blackmagic drive that has any support for Yosemite is 10.2.3.

So those who suggested i install 10.1.4 simply because they managed to, are wrong!

And Smoke is no better at Quitting after all this mucking around. Its still hanging almost at the end of the Quit cycle, more times than not.

[yann.laforest]

Hi Adam,

You wrote:

So those who suggested i install 10.1.4 simply because they managed to, are wrong!

This is slightly unaccurate.

The 10.1 driver was released before than Yosemite and that is the reason why it does not show as Yosemite compliant on the Blackmagic side.

Blackmagic maybe never officially certified 10.1 on Yosemite but it does not mean that this driver does not work on that particular OS.

Our certification confirmed that Smoke is acting as expected with 10.1 on Yosemite and several customers are using that configuration with no issue at the moment.

That being said, there might be issues inherent to your systems that we will have to be narrowed down.

Are you entitled to Technical Support assistance?

If so, I suggest you to open a case for this so one of our support engineer can have a look and see what is going on with your workstation.

Please let us know,

Regards,

Yann

[adamt]

Oh Yann, you have just opened up the can of worms again!!

"Are you entitled to Technical Support assistance?"

you'd think so, having only bought the software 6 months ago, but despite that, and despite repeated attempts by myself and my reseller to purchase the advanced support (which Autodesk Support actually say i should have) they refuse to sell me support! Just tell me some crazy nonsense about doing so being against the rules!  What rules? The only people preventing this is Autodesk themselves. And no-one seems able to actually show me the relevant "rules"..I am just expected to believe you.

Yet Autodesk still have documentation online that specifically say i can purchase support at any time - again i get told, thats out of date, but no one can provide up to date info.

from Autodesks own FAQs...(i have underlined the bits which say i am entitled!)

2. Buying Autodesk Support

2.1 Is Autodesk Advanced Support available for all Autodesk products?

Yes, it is available for all Autodesk products for which Subscription is offered. 

2.2 Is Autodesk Advanced Support available to all customers?

Autodesk Advanced Support is designed for, and available to, small and medium-sized companies on Autodesk Subscription.

2.3 Can an Autodesk Subscription customer upgrade their support (for example, from Basic to Advanced) before the end of the Subscription period?
Yes. Subscription customers can upgrade their support at any time.

you can download these FAQs yourself from the link - 

http://www.autodesk.com/support-offerings/advanced

You might guess from this that i am a little annoyed!

Wrong, i am absolutely livid that i spent a large amount of money to buy into this product and am being constantly hampered by Autodesk who seem determined to prevent a new user/customer (me) from  getting the help and support that is so desperately needed for such a complex and lets be honest, idiosyncratic application.

I would love to let AD Support actually try get my system working correctly - I have been asking since last September. Its Autodesk themselves who are throwing up un-necessary obstacles. Its not as if i am asking for a freebie - i am happy to purchase Support

So please tell me - how can i purchase the support i am entitled to?   Hard as it may be to believe, I want to give you more money!!!!

[lexluth0r]

ouch !

[adamt]

Ouch indeed!