Startup Scan Freezes

C.Zealous

So all of a sudden my Maschine's startup scan is freezing. I can't get in without "force skipping" the plugins that the scan gets stuck on. I was in contact with tech. support but it never went further than emails back and forth and the issue still hasn't been resolved...

I've done nothing different to my PC or plugins or their locations (nor do I want to).

Everything's up to date and even my FL Studio's scan completes without issues or freezing...

Any ideas or suggestions would be appreciated and I can share more details if wanted.

Thanks!

Uwe303

Hello,

you could make a folder, where you put the plugins in, temporarily, then copy them back in chunks and open maschine - and so on. But first start with an empty vst2 64 bit folder.

C.Zealous

I hope I'm not getting ahead of things but I think this may be more complicated than that...

This has never happened before so any and all plugins that the scan freezes on are all plugins that it's previously been able to scan before in the past so that's very odd...

I've noticed that the scan CONSISTENTLY will FIRST get stuck on a plugin I have called Autoformer, so I moved it out into a temporary folder. Then the scan got stuck on another plugin and another and another and so on and so on... I didn't like the fact that I had a handful of random plugins that I know nothing's wrong with and that Maschine has never had a problem with before so I moved all my plugins back and when I force skipped my way into Maschine, I went to try and test these so called problematic plugins and to my surprise, EVERY SINGLE ONE of my plugins were there and they ALL seemed to work and function just fine...!

...So how does one explain that??

As it is right now, I still have to force skip my way into Maschine and but again, my all my plugins seem to be present and functioning but still my question is; Why is my scan freezing???

Because it definitely is frustrating and disappointing that I'm forced to manipulate my software when I didn't have to do so before.....

Jeremy_NI

From what I gather from your tickets in our system, one of our agents did a remote session with you and was not able to fix the issue, he mentioned some permission issues and a damaged system, that's why we suggested a clean WIndows reinstall. I understand it might sound like a lot but it could save you headaches (present & future).

C.Zealous

That was actually for a previous ticket. Maschine's startup scan was freezing on Syntronik 2 (IK Multimedia) and I did receive remote assistance but if I'm not mistaken, the agent actually verbally stated that he wasn't as familiar with Windows as with Mac...

He could not determine/resolve the issue during the session but afterwards, I discovered that I so foolishly did not completely download and install Syntronik 2 in full and that in fact was the issue. After downloading/installing it in full, the issue was resolved. I can share our correspondence with you if you like.

Since then though, I did take the time to research the agent's suspicion...

I checked my laptop, a Family member's laptop and a "factory made, store bought" desktop PC and they all had the same exact permissions as my PC...

I assumed that since I completely downloaded Syntronik 2 and the scan was back working properly and since other Windows PC/laptops have the same OS/permission settings as my PC, I assumed that maybe because the agent wasn't very familiar with Windows, his suspicion was incorrect...

The current issue I'm having now is not the same...

The assistance I received were a series of emails, in the end; suggesting a Windows reinstall and I believe it's based on the notes from that previous issue....

I know Mac seems to be the more common, popular and familiar choice but if there's anyone available who's fluently familiar with Windows, that would be very helpful.

I've done nothing new to my PC. I've never had this problem with Maschine before. And once inside Maschine, all my plugins are there and seem to work. And my FL Studio does not have this problem yet runs a very, very sensitive and extensive, thorough scan just like Maschine....

And I absolutely LOVE Native Instruments and Maschine! I'm still using and more than satisfied with my Maschine Studio! This freezing scan thing is so disappointing!

For the sake of "trying everything", my concern about reinstalling Windows is things/settings being different and/or me having to go back and set things back the way they were; such as my power settings and things like that. Put simply; My PC is set up just the way I need it and I wish not to have to worry about things being different.....

Again, because it's not my intentions to be difficult; I'm just finding it hard to understand the issue is something incorrect on my end, based on the evidence. I just believe if an agent who knows their way around Windows can contribute, it may make a difference

Jeremy_NI

@C.Zealous Thanks for your detailed explanation. Both of the agents you had to deal with are pretty versed in Windows. I'll ask them to have another look into your issue. Maybe something was overlooked. Given the number of requests at the moment, it might take a little time for them to get to it. We kindly ask for a little more patience.

Uwe303

You maybe can avoid a reinstall by creating a new user and use this account.

C.Zealous

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/45478#Comment_45478

So the agents are actually familiar with Windows... My mistake.

However other than that, everything I've described is accurate.

And again, probably the oddest thing of this all is that all of my plugins are present and even functioning properly as well, so....

Anyway, thanks for taking the time to review this issue and I really appreciate the support and look forward to hearing back. I understand this season of delays so I'll check back after the holidays.

Thanks again and have a Merry Christmas!

C.Zealous

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/45652#Comment_45652

...A new Windows user account?

That was already attempted by the agent when he was trying to troubleshoot the Syntronik 2 conundrum.

Uwe303

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/45657#Comment_45657

ahh ok then you´ve already done it, it sometimes can help with permission issues but sometimes not.

C.Zealous

Yeah, the agent was explaining something like that when he attempted....

I wonder if a new user account would remedy the issue this time but why all of a sudden would I have to create a new user account just to use a program I've always been able to use without issue? And again, it's hard to believe that my PC/OS was incorrectly built or corrupt or damaged or has been compromised in some kind of way... I don't use my PC for nothing but strictly music production and recording.

It was professionally built early '21 at a Micro Center and all the parts are authentic, brand new and compatible... I've been with Native Instruments, using Maschine since early 2017. The PC I upgraded to that I'm using today has the same exact permissions/settings or whatever as the PC I was using then.

The agent stated; "Controlled Folder Access couldn't be accessed and the whole C:\Users was read-only and couldn't be changed, possibly the whole C: disk was read-only"....

But it seems pretty consistent that all Windows PCs are set that way and I was brand new to IK Multimedia and had not properly/fully installed Syntronik 2 so that solved it, I never changed anything with my PC.

And is there a reason why FL can complete a scan of the very same things that Maschine is scanning?? Or is that like apples and oranges?

And why after all this fuss are all my plugins there in Maschine anyway and seem to be working just fine too?!

Yeah, it's a heck of a silver lining but still...What's going on here man?

Uwe303

I can only tell from my experience, that windows can screw up permissions, we had a case where we had to rebuild them for many folders and files manually on a server. And we also never found out why it happened and it worked from then on, in my experience it happens more often the longer a windows system runs from update from 7 to 10 to 11 for example on home computers, without a fresh install and if you install/uninstall a lot of programs, but that a guess based on a few occasions. And we had also here in the forum cases where this has helped. Normally a fresh install is much faster and should be fine for many years now with windows 11. But in your case i don't know, if the agend said it's a r/w permission thing i would trust him. But i can't tell what's happened on your system i just could guess.

C.Zealous

Wow...

I purchased the Windows 10 OS installed on my PC when it was built and then I did update to the 11 when it was provided in Windows Updates of the Settings...

But all of this within a year though, y'know... Would my PC really get all weird all within a year? That soon??

Are you familiar with the Controlled Folder Access and the C:\Users being read-only??

I'm 100% confident that if you check a PC that's in it's "default state", it'll show read-only as well...

Do you know if that's something that's incorrect for Maschine or something?

If I do go ahead and reinstall Windows, I'll definitely have to go again and set it's power settings and such the way I had them, right? What about things that I've saved, apps I've downloaded; I'll lose those, right? And the reinstall won't be the 11 I have now but the 10 I started with, correct? And what if after this reinstall and/or the Controlled Folder Access and the C:\Users being read-only thing is set as it's expected; Will I have to worry about FL now rejecting the recent changes to my PC??

...This all sucks!

Uwe303

It was just a guess from my side, and if i now think about it, and i now look into my windows settings for the protected folders, i think it's not a rights issue. You can set programs that will not be blocked and all my native stuff is listed there. Normally you get a popup the first time a program tries to access those protected folders and you then can allow it. Maybe you've missed that. You can go to the blocking list under ransomware protection and go through all entries and allow all native stuff. I guess it's there.

Uwe303

All my native stuff is listed there here you just see an example. If you open windows settings type in the search bar "ransomware" - then you open ransomware protection, then you see the blocking list or you go to allow app through protected folders (or something like that my windows is in german). But i would say check the block list first and allow all native stuff.

Uwe303

If you then find native stuff, allow it.