Hi, it’s been a while since I’ve used Ardour, I just upgraded from 7 to 8 and everything was working fine. Today, after some time, I wanted to work on some projects again and the software would not start. I uninstalled the version I had (one of the first of the 8) and reinstalled the 8.10.0 x64 version but the problem remained, when I click on the icon the cursor turns into a wheel for a few seconds but then nothing, no error, nothing at all, I tried running it as administrator but it still won’t start, I don’t know where/what to look at… any advice?
Windows version: 24H2 build SO 26100.2605
EDIT: run from cmd prompt console
C:\Program Files\Ardour8>ARDOUR_DATA_PATH not set in environment
Ardour8.10.0 (built using 8.10 and GCC version 10-posix 20210110)
Crash Log: C:\Users\Thesee\AppData\Local\Ardour8\CrashLog\Ardour-8.10.0-crash-1735236167.txt
Ardour: [INFO]: MMCSS Initialized
Ardour: [INFO]: Your system is configured to limit Ardour to 2048 open files
ARDOUR_CONFIG_PATH not set in environment
Ardour: [INFO]: Loading system configuration file C:\Program Files\Ardour8\share\ardour8\system_config
Ardour: [INFO]: CPU vendor: AuthenticAMD
Ardour: [INFO]: AVX capable processor
Ardour: [INFO]: AVX with FMA capable processor
Ardour: [INFO]: CPU brand: AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5750G with Radeon Graphics
Ardour: [INFO]: Using AVX and FMA optimized routines
Ardour: [INFO]: Set Clip Library directory to 'C:\Users\Thesee\AppData\Local\Clip Library'
Ardour: [INFO]: Loading plugin meta data file C:\Program Files\Ardour8\share\ardour8\plugin_metadata\plugin_tags
Ardour: [INFO]: add_lrdf_data 'C:\Users\Thesee\AppData\Local\Ardour8\rdf;C:\Program Files\Ardour8\share\ardour8\rdf'
Ardour: [INFO]: Loading 461 MIDI patches from C:\Program Files\Ardour8\share\ardour8\patchfiles
Ardour: [INFO]: Loading default ui configuration file C:\Program Files\Ardour8\share\ardour8\default_ui_config
Ardour: [INFO]: Loading color file C:\Program Files\Ardour8\share\ardour8\themes\dark-ardour.colors
Ardour: [INFO]: Loading ui configuration file C:\Program Files\Ardour8\share\ardour8\clearlooks.rc
Ardour: [INFO]: Loading bindings from C:\Program Files\Ardour8\share\ardour8\ardour.keys
Loading ui configuration file C:\Program Files\Ardour8\share\ardour8\clearlooks.rc
Cannot connect to named pipe after wait = \\.\pipe\server_jack_default_0 err = 2
Cannot connect to server request channel
jack server is not running or cannot be started
JackShmReadWritePtr::~JackShmReadWritePtr - Init not done for -1, skipping unlock
JackShmReadWritePtr::~JackShmReadWritePtr - Init not done for -1, skipping unlock
The crash log does not exists, and as far i know i never used Jack on windows to work with Ardour… am I wrong?
OK, Just uninstalled Jack Audio (I don’t remember why I installed it…), however the log is the same except the part referring to audio jack (last row is Loading ui configuration file) and Ardour does not start
I can run Ardour 8.10 x64 on the same windows 11 version and build. I know for sure that Ardour at the start scans for ASIO drivers and possible Hz/samples combinations. Do you have other DAWs like Cubase or FL Studio installed? Are there any changes with the audio interface since Ardour was working for you?
Hi, thanks for the reply, I have no other DAW but (I don’t know if this can be a clue) I have MusiScore, Audacity and some guitar effects (such as Guitar Rig and BIAS FX), no problem to start them and hear sound.
I have a Focusrite Scarlett Solo and have never changed this audio interface. I’m completely lost…
Before I upgraded, I had the first version of release 8 installed and the behaviour was the same: it would not start. Then I upgraded to the latest version and nothing changed. I have no idea what is broken on my system, no errors… all other music applications work, I installed Cubase Elements 14 to test and it works.
OK, found something on Windows Event Viewer:
It’s in Italian language but is readable:
Nome applicazione con errore: Ardour.exe, versione: 0.0.0.0, timestamp: 0x671072e9
Nome modulo non valido: ntdll.dll, versione: 10.0.26100.2454, timestamp: 0x7cb6b6a8
Codice eccezione: 0xc0000005
Offset errore: 0x0000000000015b4b
Id di processo in errore: 0x33B0
Ora di avvio dell'applicazione in errore: 0x1DB5ACC5810DCFD
Percorso dell'applicazione in errore: C:\Program Files\Ardour8\bin\Ardour.exe
Percorso del modulo in errore: C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\ntdll.dll
Bucket errato 1346469217534925959, tipo 4
Nome evento: APPCRASH
Risposta: Non disponibile
ID CAB: 0
Firma problema:
P1: Ardour.exe
P2: 0.0.0.0
P3: 671072e9
P4: ntdll.dll
P5: 10.0.26100.2454
P6: 7cb6b6a8
P7: c0000005
P8: 0000000000015b4b
P9:
P10:
A dll error suggests that something is corrupted on your system. There may be a simpler solution, but re-installing Windows should correct it. The link below shows how to do it through Windows Update, which preserves all your apps, settings, and data. A friend of mine got malware on his laptop a couple weeks ago. He followed these instructions, and everything worked fine afterwards. It eliminated the malware. I’m not saying your issue is due to malware, but all the system files will be freshly installed. No backup was needed beforehand, everything was there afterwards. It runs in the background and requires a restart only, like any other major update.
Before doing too much more, take a look at this item at StackOverflow where a programmer had a similar issue and it turned out to be his own code trying to write to some unallocated memory (look at answer #8 about half way down the page, where he gives an example…)
char * str;
strcpy(str, "Hello");
Before messing around with ntdll.dll (and especially if Ardour ver7 was previously working) I’d be inclined to uninstall ver8 and re-install ver7 temporarily, to check if it still works (and if it doesn’t, it might well be an issue with one of your plugins).
ok guys thank you all for your support, I installed ardour 7 same problem, so i’m going to fix windows installation, sound strange, because i never installed strange things, i hope it works, i’ll update the thread.
Meanwhile… I wish you a magical New Year
windows reinstall done, problem not solved… i’m not going to install a fresh copy of windows because is the unique music software that does not work, so i think i can solve in some manner… any advice to make ardour start in “safe mode”?
anyway the problem is that I don’t see even a pixel of the interface, it dies much earlier, so early that I doubt it’s some plugin
I don’t know, I’m not a developer, but a step forward thanks to your advice, disabling all audio interface ardour start… but… I need at least my focusrite scarlett device.
I have AMD high definition audio, Realtek audio (mainboard) and Focusrite USB audio.
Disabling all of them Ardour start, enabling one of these interfaces does not start Ardour.
Actually, I believe that that is a central library to the OS. Most Windows these days are based off the NT core stack IIRC and that comes in form that. So yes I suspect Ardour uses it along with just about every piece of software on Windows.
Seablade
EDIT: Could always be wrong though, as I am not as deep into Windows as I used to be, though for some reason I am still responsible for supporting it in my day job
Thesee - do you have an ASIO driver installed? Maybe for your Focusrite Scarlett? I’ve just been running my own build of Ardour and the first thing it does (after all those INFO: statements) is to locate clearlooks.rc, which looks like it worked okay for you. And it then seems to do a lot of stuff with my ASIO driver (which doesn’t always print anything out). So my guess would be that your ASIO driver is failing somehow.
Try uninstalling your Focus drivers / ASIO drivers temporarily and see if that allows Ardour to start.
According to the Wiki explanation of ntdll that implements the Windows native API, which Win32 applications cannot call directly.
As John E suggested this problem seems unlikely to be possible to cause directly from a Win32 application, so a driver problem seems more likely.
ooooh Yesss, uninstalled asio 4all (and i dont need it…) and problem fixed!
wow, sometimes the most banal things are the last ones you put into action!
Thank you all!
@x42 - I guess it’s possible this problem might be unique to @Thesee but it did get me wondering… might there be an issue within Ardour if someone has multiple ASIO drivers installed?
