Sonar Won't Open [SOLVED]

[ZincT]

I initially thought it was the VC++ Redist issue mentioned in another thread but I have removed and re-installed all of these libraries.
Sonar DID open once after I had removed all VC++ Redists and Re-installed them (via Sonar installation) and rebooted, but will not run again.

I'm not running ASIO4All or similar and I have also removed the Steinberg Generic ASIO drivers which seem to keep getting installed.  

In more detail, here's what happens after a reboot...

• When I run Sonar, I see the startup/loading window
• Next I momentarily see the Sonar UI flash up which then disappears, leaving the "continue evaluation" window displayed
• I wait 15 seconds and then click "continue evaluation" which then exits and leaves nothing running

This happens only after a reboot. Once I have run this and got the results shown in the video, if I run Sonar again I get absolutely nothing - it doesn't try to open or display anything.

Here's a video of trying to run Sonar after a reboot...

 

My system is running Windows 10 (latest), MSI Tomahawk B550 motherboard, Ryzen 7 5800x CPU, 32Gb Ram, Asus RTX 5060, All SSD drives, IK Multimedia AXE I/O.

The RTX 5060 was a recent addition and I have the latest drivers installed. 

Note: I have an Ultrawide display (3440 x 1440) and Windows is set to this resolution. So to record a video for this purpose I use OBS set to record a standard 1080p window top left of my screen which is where most of the information gets displayed anyway. That way anyone with a 1080p display can see the video easily.

[Noel Borthwick]

That is quite weird, the reason for no app windows is likely why it crashes.
When it pops the membership screen can youn check in task manager if Sonar is running still?
Also please try unplugging your audio interface and retry.
When it's in that state before clicking continue can you capture a dump file and PM it to me? Hopefully it can show why the app window isnt running. 
If you need help on how to capture a dump see this post.

 

[ZincT]

@Noel Borthwick 

Thanks, I have PM'd you a mini dump file. 

[ZincT]

Also, when I try unplugging my audio interface I get this popup...

[ZincT]

If anyone else is running Bitdefender and having this issue with Sonar, it might be due to Bitdefender false flagging Sonar.

I did the following which solved it:

• I went to the "Protection" tab on the main UI and selected "Advanced Threat Defence" - "Open" then "Settings".
• I then selected "Manage Exceptions"  and "Add and Exception". Then I pointed it to Sonar.exe in Program Files. 

After doing this the UI no longer closes!

Then again on my old PC, which is also running Windows 10 and Bitdefender, Sonar worked without having to do this so it might only be in certain circumstances that Sonar gets false flagged by Bitdefender.

Anyway, many thanks to @Noel Borthwick for looking into this problem. It was greatly appreciated 👍

 

[Noel Borthwick]

This is a textbook example of an environmental problem that manifests as a problem/bug in Sonar. 
In this case the AV program is actively trying to do something to terminate the app, resulting in this mysterious issue.

I strongly recommend not using AV programs on systems with a DAW because they can wreck havoc on stability by delaying load times of the DAW as well as plugins or even cause random crashes. The only thing I use is the Windows built in virus protection. Personally, I've not had any issues with it.