Windows: Freeze/Crash when using dropdown menus in sandboxed Arturia VST2 plugins

Help, Support & Bugs
1

Problem: Stability issues with Arturia VST2 plugins and their dropdown lists:

  • Windows 11 Pro 64bit
  • Renoise 3.4.3 beta (Built: Jul 29 2023) & Renoise 3.4.2
  • Preferences/Plug/Misc: Run all plugins in sandboxes (separate process) enabled
  • It doesn’t matter if the window is docked or not in the Plugin tab of Renoise.
  • VST2 Arturia Piano V v3.2.0.3420 (x64) & other similar Arturia plugins (as Augmented STRINGS…).

What happens

Plugins like Arturia VST2 don’t work correctly when using their dropdown lists creating instability in Renoise 3.4.3 beta. Renoise may stop responding and disappear without trace (without leaving any bug report).

How to test?

  1. Load the plugin.
  2. Open any dropdown list from the plugin with the mouse, by single clicking.
  3. Move the mouse outside of the dropdown list area.
  4. Click on the Renoise window. This operation causes some strange delay, the mouse pointer icon is “thinking” and Renoise can even disappear, being dangerous to use this type of Arturia plugins in this case.

I think this problem is common with all Arturia plugins similar to Piano V v3. This problem does not happen if “Run all plugins in sandboxes” is disabled.

I think this problem also doesn’t happen if you use VST3 Arturia Plugins. This problem does not happen with other VST2 plugins from other companies either. Seems like a specific issue in Arturia VST2 and drop down lists and Renoise window foregrounding.

It’s all the same with Renoise 3.4.2, so it’s not a new problem.

My final deduction

There is some problem between the foreground switching of the dropdowns and the main window of Renoise, with VST2 plugins with “Run all plugins in sandboxes” enabled. Using plugin dropdowns is not stable. It would be appropriate to check if this problem does not appear in VST3.

2

Thanks for the detailed report. It’s too late for this bugfix release, also because there’s a workaround (using the VST3 plugins or no sandboxing), but I’ll have a look at it to see if we can get around it somehow…

3

Thanks Eduard for taking a look at this!

Since it’s related, did you already find a way to somehow load the presets of VST3 plugins like Renoise does with VST2 plugins and that is also available from the API?

With VST3 the Show Plugin Program Chooser option was lost, it doesn’t work. It’s a shame. With this option to switch programs directly, it would not be necessary to use the dropdown lists of the VST3 plugins and we could even change programs from the MIDI input through Lua tools.

It seems that we are doomed to use VST3 plugins more and more, so this feature will disappear if it is not brought back somehow.

1 Like
4

Most plug-ins no longer publish their presets to the host, especially in newer VST3 plug-ins, but rely on their internal preset selectors only. There’s nothing we can do here except to ask plugin developers to publish their presets to the host.