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Guitar Lab crashing on macOS Big Sur

jeffwhitfield

jeffwhitfield

Apr 11, 2021
22
30
#1
Hey folks,

Been having this problem for a number of weeks with both my new Zoom G3n and B3n units. Seems Guitar Lab wants to crash while editing patches. Amps and cabinets appear to be the easiest ones to make it crash. Happens more frequently on my B3n. This is on a 2019 MacBook Pro. I've tried a number of different things including different USB cables...no go. Still crashes. Anyone else having this problem? Already contacted Zoom about it and currently working with support.
 
#2
jeffwhitfield said:
Hey folks,

Been having this problem for a number of weeks with both my new Zoom G3n and B3n units. Seems Guitar Lab wants to crash while editing patches. Amps and cabinets appear to be the easiest ones to make it crash. Happens more frequently on my B3n. This is on a 2019 MacBook Pro. I've tried a number of different things including different USB cables...no go. Still crashes. Anyone else having this problem? Already contacted Zoom about it and currently working with support.
Click to expand...
Check permissions. No go?
Uninstall, Find the preferences files in either your or system wide library , and discard. Reinstall.
 
#3
/\/\3phist0 said:
Check permissions. No go?
Uninstall, Find the preferences files in either your or system wide library , and discard. Reinstall.
Click to expand...

Permissions? What permissions? Not sure I follow. I'll try doing a full uninstall, clean any preferences and settings files, and reinstall. Could very well be some sort of cache file that Zoom uses to temporarily store settings before pushing them to the unit.

One thing that's different between Guitar Lab and ToneLib is that Guitar Lab sets the unit in "PC Mode". Could be that the method used to communicate with the G3n/B3n is what is causing the fault. Probably requires some sort of update to Guitar Lab to stabilize it.
 
#5
It does sound like Guitar Lab needs to do an update to be compatible with Big Sur. I've been a Mac user since 1986, including doing support, training and designing databases, but since the release of Catalina, deep changes to MacOS have forced third party developers to accelerate their update procedures, some don't keep up as readily.

I've use an app for many years, Canvas X Draw, for my desktop publishing, graphic design, photography, drafting, web pages, but since Catalina, I've found a number of bugs in each iteration of the app that they tell me are due to the many changes in the OS, which are difficult to keep up with.
 
#6
/\/\3phist0 said:
Permissions (security settings as to what hardware a particular application can access for example)
How to Change Application Permissions on a Mac: 7 Steps
Click to expand...

Ah, right. I'll check to see if there's a particular security setting that might be causing issues. It's weird because it's intermittent. It doesn't crash immediately. It works for a while and then just crashes. Some sessions, I might be able to go for a good 5 to 10 minutes without crashing. Might be a security issues...might not. :P
 
#7
KohanMike said:
It does sound like Guitar Lab needs to do an update to be compatible with Big Sur. I've been a Mac user since 1986, including doing support, training and designing databases, but since the release of Catalina, deep changes to MacOS have forced third party developers to accelerate their update procedures, some don't keep up as readily.

I've use an app for many years, Canvas X Draw, for my desktop publishing, graphic design, photography, drafting, web pages, but since Catalina, I've found a number of bugs in each iteration of the app that they tell me are due to the many changes in the OS, which are difficult to keep up with.
Click to expand...

Yeah, totally get it. But it's also part of the landscape. Updating cross-platform apps is a big part of being a tech company like Zoom. Best thing they can do is to rebuild it using the latest versions of Xcode so that they use modern API's and whatnot. My guess is that they're using older API's that might be causing all sorts of problems with newer systems.
 
#8
you have a Catalina backup, right? you'd better keep it until you'll find more things that are not compatible with Big Sur yet.

for me that's Softube and iZotope stuff. and my audio interface doesn't work with Big Sur yet.
 
#9
Well, I do have a fallback. I use Parallels Desktop so I can run Windows 10 for web design testing purposes. Could just run in Windows or load up Catalina. It's an inconvenience for sure but might be worth it.

Even better would be if ToneLib updated their app to include all the latest effects updates. Then I wouldn't have to load up Guitar Lab hardly at all. :P
 
#13
jeffwhitfield said:
Hey folks,

Been having this problem for a number of weeks with both my new Zoom G3n and B3n units. Seems Guitar Lab wants to crash while editing patches. Amps and cabinets appear to be the easiest ones to make it crash. Happens more frequently on my B3n. This is on a 2019 MacBook Pro. I've tried a number of different things including different USB cables...no go. Still crashes. Anyone else having this problem? Already contacted Zoom about it and currently working with support.
Click to expand...
This is why I'm still running Catalina. While MOTU say they have updated the drivers for my interface to be compatible, Digital Performer still isn't.
 
#14
Carl Hillman said:
This is why I'm still running Catalina. While MOTU say they have updated the drivers for my interface to be compatible, Digital Performer still isn't.
Click to expand...

Strangely enough, that's one of the reasons I returned the BOSS effects processor I got originally before getting the Zoom B3n and G3n. Roland relies heavily on actual software drivers. While I had no problems loading them on Big Sur, they are not compatible with M1 processors as of yet. That bothered me, especially since Zoom doesn't require drivers at all.

Looks like everyone is pretty much dragging their feet getting software updated so it's pretty much a "wait and see" kind of thing. :P
 
#15
And...I'm returning all my Zoom stuff. I submitted a support request about this weeks ago and just seems like Zoom can't wrap their head around it.

I did try a few things including loading up a copy of Catalina to see if it helps. Still crashes. So there's something definitely weird about Guitar Lab.

On top of that, I ran into issues building patches, especially with some of the different amp models. Noise and digital artifacts are a pretty big issue, especially if you're using other pedals in the chain. As such, I decided to just not fool with it and just go with a better solution (ie. Line 6).
 
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