Pentagon 1 crashing cakewalk

[Alex Mc Donnell]

Hi all, I need this synth for my song but it's crashing Cakewalk every time I start up, even when I start as admin. The error is crash code: c0000005

[User 905133]

That's an oldie!!! Have you searched the forum for "Pentagon?" I can't imagine the issue hasn't been brought up before.

https://discuss.cakewalk.com/index.php?/search/&q=Pentagon&quick=1

 

Edited May 29, 2022 by User 905133
to add a link to the forum's search results for Pentagon

[abacab]

4 hours ago, Alex Mc Donnell said:

The error is crash code: c0000005

c0000005 is an access violation.

• An Access Violation is a type of Exception caused when an application Reads, Writes or Executes an invalid Memory Address.
• The Exception Code is 0xC0000005

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/shows/inside/c0000005

Probably best to find a newer synth for the intended use...

TL/DR:

That is a code bug... that synth is no longer supported, so hope for a fix is non-existent...

Edited May 30, 2022 by abacab

[Byron Dickens]

4 hours ago, Alex Mc Donnell said:

Hi all, I need this synth for my song but it's crashing Cakewalk every time I start up, even when I start as admin. The error is crash code: c0000005

Abandonware. Move on.

[Lord Tim]

I've had pretty good luck with Pentagon myself, despite its age, but there's a lot of other great free modern synths that can take its place, like SURGE. 

EDIT: If you still want to open your project without it crashing, you'll need to remove Pentagon when it opens up in Safe Mode. Hold down shift when you open up the project and say NO to loading Pentagon. That'll let you get in there and swap it out for something else.

Edited May 30, 2022 by Lord Tim

[abacab]

 

[bitflipper]

14 hours ago, abacab said:

That is a code bug... that synth is no longer supported, so hope for a fix is non-existent...

I don't think we can say for sure that the access violation is being raised by Pentagon. Could as easily be bitbridge or an effect. Unfortunately, I no longer have a copy of it here so can't test it for you. However, as old as Pentagon is you aren't the only one in the world using it, and are one of thousands who have used it over the years.

Alex, try opening the project in safe mode (hold the SHIFT key down while the project loads) and when prompted whether to load Pentagon, answer "No". If the project then opens OK, try re-inserting the instrument. There's a decent chance that'll resolve the problem. If it doesn't, then congratulations!  You've found a true unicorn: a new bug in a very old product. 

(You could also determine whether it's Pentagon raising the error by looking at the crash dump. Here's a very old thread where I posted the tldr; version of how to use Windbg to view crash dumps. )

Worst-case scenario is that Pentagon no longer works in Cakewalk. Unlikely, but not impossible. In that case, we can suggest plenty of comparable free or cheap synths to replace it with.

[abacab]

15 minutes ago, bitflipper said:

Worst-case scenario is that Pentagon no longer works in Cakewalk. Unlikely, but not impossible. In that case, we can suggest plenty of comparable free or cheap synths to replace it with.

I just loaded Pentagon in Cakewalk for the first time in a very long time. Good news is that it did not crash Cakewalk when I saved it in a new project, and then reopened it.

But the bad news is that I remembered why I had stopped using Pentagon, even though it can make some great analog sounds....

The optional "Simulator" section is used by some presets, and that can cause the Cakewalk audio engine to freeze/lock up. Some sort of audio feedback loop? I remember scook discussing this a long time ago.  At one point I considered going through all presets and saving them all with "Simulator" switched to "off". But there are like 6 banks of 128 presets each to sift through!!!

[abacab]

This is a very nice virtual analog synth with some of that juicy fatness. On sale $29 right now!

https://www.waves.com/plugins/element#image

Edited May 30, 2022 by abacab