Blank Main Stage

I'm getting the same issue. I just upgraded from Logic Pro 7 and Logic works fine.

I open Mainstage and I get loading dialogues for the instruments and libraries, then nothing. The only file menu that is not null (greyed) out is File>Create New Concert/Open Concert/Close Concert. If I choose to do a new concert then select one of the templates from the project window, then it loads and crashes. I have been able to duplicate this several times.

I have ran the latest updates as well (as of June 17, 2008).

That's really odd. The updates have worked fine for me. You might try trashing the Mainstage prefs file to see what happens.

Quit Mainstage then go to: User/Library/Preferences and look for the com.apple.mainstage file. Move this file to the trash, and if you're worried about losing anything don't delete it for now. Relaunch Mainstage and see if it's still occurring.

Let us know if that fixes it or not.

I deleted the Mainstage plist file. Still getting a blank screen, but it did open up some more file menu items (All of File/Edit menus are now active "black instead of grey"), although they do not do anything still.

Then I tried to do a New Concert, and it started to load and crashed again, similar to last time.

I did reinstall Mainstage also, and that didn't help, but I'm not sure if I did remove all of the Mainstage related files. I used CleanApp, and it pulls all related files into a queue, but not sure if I deleted all of the proper files, because it shares a lot with Logic - I only deleted files that had "mainstage" in the name.

I'm thinking about reinstalling everything again, but that is not my favorite idea. I have to install 7 first, then the upgrade again (w/ content discs). It already took a few hours.

Any other tips?
By the way, thanks for posting that possible solution.

I do have an appointment with a Genius tomorrow, but not sure if they'll be able to fix it either.

Hi,

Try creating a brand new user (System Prefs/Accounts) and then log out as you then login as the new user account and try opening MS.

If it works on the new user, your issue is with your old user account ( this is good ), if its the same as the old user, its a system wide issue (not good).

Good Luck

Great idea! I always forget to test another user.

Unfortunately in this case, I still experienced the same issues and could not get Mainstage working. Then it crashed again. I appreciate the suggestion though.

Any other thoughts?

I just uninstalled Logic and reinstalled from 7. It did take a few hours as I expected.

I am still receiving the same exact issues with Mainstage.

Here is an excerpt from the error report:
Date/Time: 2008-06-16 18:34:58.083 -0600
OS Version: Mac OS X 10.5.3 (9D34)
Report Version: 6

Exception Type: EXC BADACCESS (SIGABRT)
Exception Codes: KERN PROTECTIONFAILURE at 0x0000000000000020
Crashed Thread: 0

I don't know exactly how to translate this, but I know that a Crashed Thread and "KERN PROTECTIONFAILURE" does not sound good. There are several more Thread Crash items throughout the report, but I did not want to paste the whole thing in here.

Does anyone know what this could mean?

I also just repaired and verified disc permissions with Disc Utility with no luck and same results.

If you look in that crash report dialog that comes up you should see one section of it that indicates the particular thread that crashed.

Paste that section into this thread.

Is this what you were referring to Aerol?

Thread 0 Crashed:
0 libSystem.B.dylib 0x928edb9e __kill + 10
1 libSystem.B.dylib 0x92964ec2 raise + 26
2 libSystem.B.dylib 0x92974428 __abort + 97
3 libSystem.B.dylib 0x92974490 flockfile_debugstub + 0
4 com.apple.mainstage 0x00218474 0x1000 + 2192500
5 libSystem.B.dylib 0x928ec09b _sigtramp + 43
6 ??? 0xffffffff 0 + 4294967295
7 com.apple.Foundation 0x91e797bf NSPopAutoreleasePool + 1007
8 com.apple.AppKit 0x936dfe54 -[NSApplication run] + 892
9 com.apple.prokit 0x0181e1b3 NSProApplicationMain + 324
10 com.apple.mainstage 0x0000d8a5 0x1000 + 51365
11 com.apple.mainstage 0x00003736 0x1000 + 10038
12 com.apple.mainstage 0x0000365d 0x1000 + 9821

+and this section:+

Thread 0 crashed with X86 Thread State (32-bit):
eax: 0x00000000 ebx: 0x9297443f ecx: 0xbffff44c edx: 0x928edb9e
edi: 0x0f973230 esi: 0xbffff518 ebp: 0xbffff468 esp: 0xbffff44c
ss: 0x0000001f efl: 0x00000286 eip: 0x928edb9e cs: 0x00000007
ds: 0x0000001f es: 0x0000001f fs: 0x00000000 gs: 0x00000037
cr2: 0xffe17438

- Maybe bad install/update disc(s), causing the software to not install right. Watch 'all logs' on the MS installers.

- Take to SW disc's to Apple store and load your SW on a another similair Apple system. Alot of time, but a path to a potential solution.

- As to the 'kernel protection error', this is bad. Typically SW more then a HW issue, but HW is not totally out of the question.

Just saw your trace dump, hmmm

4 com.apple.mainstage 0x00218474 0x1000 + 2192500
5 libSystem.B.dylib 0x928ec09b _sigtramp + 43
6 ??? 0xffffffff 0 + 4294967295


Line #6 is my guess to whats going on, Dynamic library loading prior and then a signal trap.

Did you already trash the com.apple.mainstage pref file already ?

Try loading an another system, that will definately divide the possiblilties

I will have to wait to try to install it on another system.

I was wondering if I do have some bad install discs. The only thing is that I'm not sure if it is related to the app main install disc, or any of the content.

My appt. is in a few hours, so I'll see what the Genius says.

Thanks a lot for everyone's help and feedback on this issue!

If you do have any more ideas, please feel free to keep posting them.

Just a sanity check.. but you are running Mainstage 1.02, right?

cheers

Yeah, ran updates right after and it is v1.0.2

I wish it was only that 😉

So the Genius said that based on the error report, the thread issue is definitely related to the OS, but they couldn't pin point exactly why or what was happening. They were also baffled by the fact that Logic worked fine, yet Mainstage did not. A re-install of the OS is probably due.

I did install it on an external boot drive, and Mainstage did start up fine right away. So we can rule out hardware (at least everything but the hard drive).
And we can rule out bad install Discs.

One genius mentioned performing a clean install, but that would call for a full day of re-installing software, re-setting preferences, environment, updates, etc.

The other Genius, said that an archive install may do the trick. I uninstalled Mainstage and am currently performing an archive install. If this doesn't work, then a clean install may be in store for me. Urrgghh! 😟

I'll post my results in a couple hours.

The archive install worked!

Well, Mainstage opens now with the interface and other components in view. I have yet to mess with it, but that is a big start.

The only thing that seems strange, is that the new installs that I have done of Logic 8, seem to be adding to the memory usage, instead of overwriting the older files. The archive install made a previous system folder which was 14GB. I'll get rid of that in time, but the remaining total doesn't seem to add up. That's a whole other topic though.

Thanks again to those who provided help on this. It is always a last resort to do a new OS install, so it was worth trying all of those tips.

It's really great to know that there is a knowledgeable Logic community out there who is willing to share and help others out. This was one of my first discussions that I joined, and the participation was quick and helpful. I'll be sure to help out when and where I can as well.

Message was edited by: artistIQ