UA native plugins VS Cubase?

[Monk]

Hello. Does anyone on here have any experience getting UA plugins to run smoothly in Cubase? I just purchased a bundle of plugins but they keep causing Cubase to freeze/crash - particularly when closing projects - and I'm trying to troubleshoot why.

I have reinstalled both Cubase and the UA stuff several times. When I do that, things will run smoothly for at day or two, but sooner or later another crash will happen, and then it's like that one crash causes some sort of corruption in the whole system where every project shutdown from then on will make Cubase freeze and force me to shut it down via the Windows task manager. What makes this extra annoying is that I then need to restart the whole computer - sometimes two or three times - in order to be able to restart Cubase properly again - not because Cubase wont restart, but because UA Connect wont restart.

I'm generally beginning to suspect that the whole problem is related to UA Connect, so I would like to understand how this program is supposed to work. I keep my licenses on an iLok USB and only bring my PC online for updates and installations. So despite the warning about "network connection lost" on the picture below, UA Connects is apparently working properly when it looks like this:


But what's been happening is that at some point it loses more than the network connection and starts looking like this:


When that happens, the already inserted UA plugins in my projects seem to keep working, but I can't load new plugins or even remove existing ones without causing Cubase to freeze/crash, and if I try to close the project, Cubase also freezes and forces me to resort to the task manager. In order to restart UA Connect I then need to restart the computer, and as long as UA Connect has this white look with the endlessly spinning circle I can forget about restarting Cubase.

Am I understanding these things correctly - or is it in fact a problem that I'm even getting the "Network connection lost" warning in the first place?

Also, below are a couple of screenshots of my task manager. Is it normal to have that many UA Connect processes running?



I hope someone can tell me if anything looks abnormal here. The day before yesterday I went through all the steps suggested here:

https://help.uaudio.com/hc/en-us/articles/15035318493972-Troubleshooting-UA-Connect-Launch-Issues-on-Windows-

> even reinstalled Edge! After that, things were working great until last night, when one crash turned the whole setup to crap once again.

Any help/suggestions are welcome. Thanks.

Oh, specs: I'm running Cubase Pro 12 on a Windows 11 machine with a UA Volt interface. All software and drivers are up to date.

 

[Sid Chigger]

Hi Monk! Your Pace iLok software is up to date?. Running your iLok usb stick through a hub? Powered hub?

I run with no trouble but my UADx licenses are on the iLok Cloud and I stay connected to the web..

 

[Monk]

Hi Sid, thanks for the reply.

I'm not using any USB hubs, just going directly into one of the USB ports on my PC. Your question did give me the idea to try and move the iLok key to a different port but that doesn't seem to have made a difference.

I reinstalled the iLok License Manager the day before yesterday (following the instructions here: https://help.uaudio.com/hc/en-us/ar...shooting-UA-Connect-Launch-Issues-on-Windows-) so everything should be up to date.

Nevertheless, I think you're definitely on to something with your focus on the iLok side of things. When UA Connect crashes/loses connection, it appears to be taking the ILM with it (or maybe it's the other way around), so that I can no longer see my various "activations" inside ILM. But if I then go to the Windows task manager and shut down the "process" named "Pace License Service", this process immediately restarts itself and shocks both ILM and UA Connect back to life. At least that appears to be the pattern. And I can then shut down and restart frozen Cubase WITHOUT HAVING TO RESTART THE COMPUTER! That is progress. So thanks for that. It would still be nice to figure out what is causing UA Connect and ILM to constantly space out though.

 

[Joe Porto]

A couple things to try….open iLok manager and close the cloud session if it’s open. Also, try disconnecting the internet (turn off wifi or disconnect ethernet). While not a permanent solution, it will force UA connect to stop searching for a connection and default to iLok usb license location. if this works, it’s and indication that UA connect is somehow losing connection during operation.

 

[Monk]

Thank for the suggestions. I will try them tonight. Like I said earlier, I actually keep the computer offline at all times, but I do that by simply disconnecting the cabling to the internet router. Maybe UA Connect will get the message more clearly if I disable the ethernet in the device manager instead. Will try. Thanks again.

 

[Monk]

Well shoot, I believe the problem may be fixed. After shutting down the Cloud session in ILM a couple of days ago, I haven't experienced a single crash, freeze or other calamity. Everything has been all smoothness. Hope it stays that way. Thanks a bunch guys.