Polac Asio issue: "Asio initialization failed"

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Buzztard
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Polac Asio issue: "Asio initialization failed"

Post by Buzztard »

Greetings to the Buzzards of the world! I used to use Buzz back in the day, it was the first music software I came to learn and I’m keen to resurrect it. I have a question I was hoping I might get some help with.

I want to be able to sync buzz with other external hardware via MIDI, using Buzz as the master. Meaning that when I hit play/stop in Buzz, the external hardware also starts and stops. But when I try to connect Buzz to the 'Polac Asio' driver (in the preferences), a box pops up saying: “Asio initialization failed”.

I have:
Asio4all installed on my computer (about a year ago)
Windows 7, 64 bit
I have a fresh copy of Buzz 32 bit, build 1503
I have downloaded the extra machines collection
And I have followed these instructions to try and get the Polac stuff working:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AW0PayGBGVs

Any help would be appreciated. But please be aware that my knowledge of computers and programming is minimal, so if any instructions would need to be kinda basic!

I am really keen to get Buzz back on line and experiment with it again, along with some of my other contraptions.

Peace!
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UNZ
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Re: Polac Asio issue: "Asio initialization failed"

Post by UNZ »

i assume you have the latest version from from http://www.xlutop.com/buzz/

did you click "config" after that error popup comes up?
you should still get into the polac config dialog, tell us what you see there (is the asio driver list populated etc?)
Buzztard
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Re: Polac Asio issue: "Asio initialization failed"

Post by Buzztard »

UNZ wrote:i assume you have the latest version from from http://www.xlutop.com/buzz/

did you click "config" after that error popup comes up?
you should still get into the polac config dialog, tell us what you see there (is the asio driver list populated etc?)
Hi UNZ, thanks for the response.
Yes, I have the latest version from that site.
And when I click 'config' after the error pops up, there is no response.

Cheers!
Buzztard
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Another thing I am wondering

Post by Buzztard »

Do I even need "Polac Asio" to send Midi messages out of Buzz and to external hardware?

Or might there be some other way?

If Polac Asio is a 'soundcard' then I don't think I would need that in order to send midi messages, I would just need that to send audio from my laptop to an audio interface?
polac
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Re: Another thing I am wondering

Post by polac »

Buzztard wrote:Do I even need "Polac Asio" to send Midi messages out of Buzz and to external hardware?

Or might there be some other way?

If Polac Asio is a 'soundcard' then I don't think I would need that in order to send midi messages, I would just need that to send audio from my laptop to an audio interface?
If you want to output midi via polac vst you need polac asio or one of the other polac drivers. The midi output is synced to the audio output and all midi events get timestamped to prevent midi jittering.
Last edited by polac on Sun Jul 03, 2016 11:24 am, edited 1 time in total.
polac
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Re: Polac Asio issue: "Asio initialization failed"

Post by polac »

Buzztard wrote:Greetings to the Buzzards of the world! I used to use Buzz back in the day, it was the first music software I came to learn and I’m keen to resurrect it. I have a question I was hoping I might get some help with.

I want to be able to sync buzz with other external hardware via MIDI, using Buzz as the master. Meaning that when I hit play/stop in Buzz, the external hardware also starts and stops. But when I try to connect Buzz to the 'Polac Asio' driver (in the preferences), a box pops up saying: “Asio initialization failed”.

I have:
Asio4all installed on my computer (about a year ago)
Windows 7, 64 bit
I have a fresh copy of Buzz 32 bit, build 1503
I have downloaded the extra machines collection
And I have followed these instructions to try and get the Polac stuff working:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AW0PayGBGVs

Any help would be appreciated. But please be aware that my knowledge of computers and programming is minimal, so if any instructions would need to be kinda basic!

I am really keen to get Buzz back on line and experiment with it again, along with some of my other contraptions.

Peace!
It's odd that it does not work with asio4all, it's working here without a problem. Some things you could try out:

- disable the midi output "microsoft gw wavetable synth" in the buzz preferences
- remove the registry key HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Jeskola\Buzz\Polac ASIO\DriverName via regedit.exe
Buzztard
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Polac! The man himself!

Post by Buzztard »

polac wrote: It's odd that it does not work with asio4all, it's working here without a problem. Some things you could try out:

- disable the midi output "microsoft gw wavetable synth" in the buzz preferences
- remove the registry key HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Jeskola\Buzz\Polac ASIO\DriverName via regedit.exe
First of all, thank you for your inventions, for the time you must have put in to all of this, and for taking the time to respond on here! It is much appreciated.

Ok so the midi output for microsoft gw wavetable synth was already deselected (there is no tick in the box in the preferences/midi output page).

Re: the second suggestion - I tried deleting that registry key the other weekend, but no luck. I tried it again just now, but it is still coming up with the same error.

The reason I am reasonable confident that asio4all is on my computer and working is that I can see it in my Program Files / 86 folder, and when I use another music making program (Ableton) it shows the following options:

Driver Type: ASIO, MME/DirectX, No Audio
Audio Device: No Device, ASIO Client, ASIO4ALL V2, JackRouter

In ableton I use ASIO4ALL V2, and have not had any problems with it

Thank you!
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szaszhareen
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Re: Polac Asio issue: "Asio initialization failed"

Post by szaszhareen »

could you open preferences, select polac asio for your waveout driver, hit config, and take a screenshot? then post it here? it should look something like this:

Image

But i think under device, you should select your audio/midi interface instead of asio4all, if you want to use it to send midi to other gear.

if you still get "asio initialization failed", you can try to isolate the problem by:

uninstalling buzz and deleting C:\program files (x86)\jeskola\buzz if it's still there
go into the registry and delete HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Jeskola if it's still there
uninstall asio4all
unplug your audio/midi interface
reboot
reinstall 32 bit buzz with the latest installer
reinstall the polac loaders and drivers, making sure everything goes into the right folders (i think this is probably where things went wrong for you to begin with)
plug in your audio/midi interface
start buzz
preferences>waveout>polac asio>config>select your audio/midi interface in the "Device" drop down
hit OK and see if you still get the error
hopefully that works.
if not you can now reinstall asio4all v2 with the latest version and try again.

i think this is probably where things went wrong for you to begin with
it can be tricky to unzip the polac loaders and drivers into the right directories, even with Magmavander's detailed video. I've been using buzz for years and have screwed it up a few times. XD

also, did wdm drivers work for you as mentioned in the other thread?
Buzztard
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Re: Polac Asio issue: "Asio initialization failed"

Post by Buzztard »

szaszhareen wrote:could you open preferences, select polac asio for your waveout driver, hit config, and take a screenshot? then post it here? it should look something like this:
When I hit config is when the error pops up, so I never get to see the settings like in your picture. (The audio driver options I described in my previous response were what I could see in the preferences when I was using Ableton Live (another audio software program).)
szaszhareen wrote: if you still get "asio initialization failed", you can try to isolate the problem by:

uninstalling buzz and deleting C:\program files (x86)\jeskola\buzz if it's still there
go into the registry and delete HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Jeskola if it's still there
uninstall asio4all
unplug your audio/midi interface
reboot
reinstall 32 bit buzz with the latest installer
reinstall the polac loaders and drivers, making sure everything goes into the right folders (i think this is probably where things went wrong for you to begin with)
plug in your audio/midi interface
start buzz
preferences>waveout>polac asio>config>select your audio/midi interface in the "Device" drop down
hit OK and see if you still get the error
hopefully that works.
if not you can now reinstall asio4all v2 with the latest version and try again.
i think this is probably where things went wrong for you to begin with
it can be tricky to unzip the polac loaders and drivers into the right directories, even with Magmavander's detailed video. I've been using buzz for years and have screwed it up a few times. XD

also, did wdm drivers work for you as mentioned in the other thread?
I have uninstalled and reinstalled Buzz about 10 times in the last week, but haven't deleted it from the registry as you suggest. And each time I've deleted it I've recopied the polac stuff following magmavander's video... I've done it so much I am very quick at it now!!

I have not tried uninstalling/reinstalling Asio4all V2.

So I will try the method you suggest above, of uninstalling everything thoroughly then reinstalling.

Any other tips are greatly appreciated!

Peace
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UNZ
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Re: Polac Asio issue: "Asio initialization failed"

Post by UNZ »

Buzztard wrote: So I will try the method you suggest above, of uninstalling everything thoroughly then reinstalling.
Any other tips are greatly appreciated!
forget the uninstall / reinstall nonsense, it won't have any effect on the registry iirc.
just do the registry thing, its the only thing that will potentially solve this.
as described by polac:
- remove the registry key HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Jeskola\Buzz\Polac ASIO\DriverName via regedit.exe

or just remove the whole jeskola\buzz entry, it will get recreated on startup anyway (all settings reverted to default).

once in buzz again do the following:
select driver: polac asio
hit APPLY (not config), or OK and even restart buzz again
now hit CONFIG

btw, what is so difficult about extracting a zip file into the root directory of buzz that this would require a video tutorial, i just dont get it..
The folder structure in the zip is exactly how it should end up in your buzz root directory, no fiddling neccessary.
The video makes this needlessly complicated by doing each folder individually. Just drag it all into the buzz root and done.

make sure you run both buzz 32bit version and polac vst 32bit (x86) version.
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AndersBrontosaurus
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Re: Polac Asio issue: "Asio initialization failed"

Post by AndersBrontosaurus »

Have you by any chance used different soundcards or drivers?

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=2152
synthphase
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Re: Polac Asio issue: "Asio initialization failed"

Post by synthphase »

I ran into this problem the other night. Don't know what the driver is looking for but I have two soundcards and was unable to hook up the old one which is usually the fix if deleting the key doesn't work. Even searched my registry for the offending soundcard and deleted all entries.

Simply copy the correct driver name from "description" key of the driver in the ASIO branch in your registry:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\software\asio

In your case it would probably say HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\software\asio\ASIO4ALL

Copy out the text from the description value (in case it has a weird name and you don't feel like typing).

Paste the txt into the DriverName key of HKCU\software\Jeskola\buzz\Polac ASIO

Fixed it for me anyway
Buzztard
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Re: Polac Asio issue: "Asio initialization failed"

Post by Buzztard »

UNZ wrote: btw, what is so difficult about extracting a zip file into the root directory of buzz that this would require a video tutorial, i just dont get it..
The folder structure in the zip is exactly how it should end up in your buzz root directory, no fiddling neccessary.
The video makes this needlessly complicated by doing each folder individually. Just drag it all into the buzz root and done.

make sure you run both buzz 32bit version and polac vst 32bit (x86) version.
Cheers for your advice UNZ! I did try deleting the thing polac recommended to delete, but that didn't solve it. As for what is so difficult about extracting a zip file etc... I was thankful that someone made that video because I had no idea how to do all that! It's like another language to me. But thanks for taking time to help out.
Last edited by Buzztard on Thu Jul 07, 2016 11:57 am, edited 2 times in total.
Buzztard
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This was it!

Post by Buzztard »

synthphase wrote:I ran into this problem the other night. Don't know what the driver is looking for but I have two soundcards and was unable to hook up the old one which is usually the fix if deleting the key doesn't work. Even searched my registry for the offending soundcard and deleted all entries.

Simply copy the correct driver name from "description" key of the driver in the ASIO branch in your registry:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\software\asio

In your case it would probably say HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\software\asio\ASIO4ALL

Copy out the text from the description value (in case it has a weird name and you don't feel like typing).

Paste the txt into the DriverName key of HKCU\software\Jeskola\buzz\Polac ASIO

Fixed it for me anyway
Synthphase, my brother! This was it! I followed your instructions and it bloody well worked!! I don't understand how it works, or why it is even a problem, but thank you!
Buzztard
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Re: Polac Asio issue: "Asio initialization failed"

Post by Buzztard »

AndersBrontosaurus wrote:Have you by any chance used different soundcards or drivers?

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=2152
I may have done so, am not sure. However I followed synthphase's advice and that worked. Now I'm gonna to move to my second dumb question, which is:

"How to use polac's inventions to set up Buzz to be the midi master, controlling the start/stop/pause etc of external hardware".

But I have set up another thread for that, if anyone can shed some light.

PS I didn't realise that 'Buzztard' was a name for one of the Buzz clone softwares. I just liked it because it was half way between Buzz and Retard, which is what I feel like oftentimes when using Buzz.

But I love it, so I persist!

Peace
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