Troubleshooting

Solutions to Technical Problems

No Sound: I can't hear any sound after a fresh install
No Sound: Muting a particular instrument also mutes other instruments
Error Message "Failed opening MIDI system" on startup (Win7/64)
MacOSX: Program does not respond to mouse clicks after starting
MacOSX: Message: "E0543 The MIDI subsystem configuration failed"
MacOSX: Message: "Please make sure Macintosh HD can be written to by the current user" (Installation)
Windows: Computer suddenly reboots during installation
Program won't start. No messages shown, nothing happens at all
Installation doesn't start or crashes half way through
Windows Vista: Installation and Authorization Issues
Error Message: MSVCR71.DLL can not be found
Message: "Error: Sharing Violation" during Install/Uninstall (Windows)
Instruments don't sound like expected
HN stops responding to MIDI input in the palette window

No Sound: I can't hear any sound after a fresh install

In case you can not hear any sound despite you have selected the correct output in Audio and MIDI Setup, this is almost always because the mixer volume for the built-in Microsoft Windows Synthesizer is turned off. You will find the mixer in the task bar (click on the speaker icon at the bottom right of the screen). You should see multiple faders, one of which is assigned to the synthesizer (the mixer looks different depending on the installed sound card brand).

Please also have a look at this Troubleshooting Guide: No Sound. (Back to Top)

No Sound: Muting a particular instrument also mutes other instruments

In the palette window, instrument muting is related to a particular MIDI port and channel. In case there are not enough sounds available for the instruments used by a pattern (i.e. categories like "piano", "guitar" oor "bass"), it may happen that different instruments are allocated to the same sound (and hence, muted too). It is a good idea to have at least one General MIDI (GM) device enabled, so there are always enough default sounds avaialble for all categories. (Back to Top)

Error Message "Failed opening MIDI system" on startup (Win7/64)

If your startup log reads like this, there is probably a conflict with the ASIO4ALL driver under Windows 7 64bit:

Linking to external MIDI libraries
exception occured #(3221225477 0)
Failed opening MIDI system [exception occured #(3221225477 0)]
Failed opening MIDI system [error: 2]. Possibly built-in GS Wavetable Synth is blocked from using your audio driver.

You might need to disable the internal Microsoft GS Wavetable Synth, which attempts to use the driver. The current release of ASIO4ALL can only serve a single client (synth, DAW) at a time, so if you have a DAW running, HN2/Synfire Pro can not start if the synth is still enabled. Here's a forum post that discusses how to disable the GS synth: http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?p=1427967

(Back to Top)

MacOSX: Program does not respond to mouse clicks after starting

This was a bug with versions 1.5.1 and earlier. Please update to the most recent version. (Back to Top)

MacOSX: Message: "E0543 The MIDI subsystem configuration failed"

Please read this article for a solution. (Back to Top)

MacOSX: Message: "Please make sure Macintosh HD can be written to by the current user" (Installation)

Please read this article for a solution. (Back to Top)

Windows: Computer suddenly reboots during installation

This strange behavior was observed in conjunction with certain versions of the software "Spyware Doctor", which doesn't seem to like a MIDI driver being installed. Please disable or uninstall Spyware Doctor while setting up Harmony Navigator. (Back to Top)

Program won't start. No messages shown, nothing happens at all

On the Macintosh, this happens if you try to install Harmony Navigator on MacOS X 10.3.9 or earlier. HN however requires at least MacOS X 10.4 Tiger or later. On a Windows PC, this behavior may point to another (possibly crashed) instance of the program still running invisibly in the background. Please open the Windows task manager and terminate HN.exe (or SynfirePro.exe). This should free up all locked files and resources. (Back to Top)

Installation doesn't start or crashes half way through

The downloaded file may be incomplete or corrupted. Please do not use download managers, e.g. GetRight, Mass Downloader, Fresh Download, or Star Downloader. Please download all files the conventional way. We suspect our server can not handle mass downloaders well. (Back to Top)

Windows Vista: Installation and Authorization Issues

These problems have been fixed in version 1.5 and later. Please update your installation to the latest version. (Back to Top)

Error Message: MSVCR71.DLL can not be found

This library file is usually included with a new Windows installation. However, it happens that it is missing from some systems for some reason. Please get the file and its installation instructions from our download section. (Back to Top)

Message: "Error: Sharing Violation" during Install/Uninstall (Windows)

This message points to another (possibly crashed) instance of the program still running invisibly in the background. Please open the Windows task manager and terminate HN.exe (or SynfirePro.exe). This should free up all locked files and resources. Another possible cause for this are insufficient access rights for the current user to write to the folder "C:\Program Files\Cognitone". Please set the access rights for this folder manually such that all users have full access to it. (Back to Top)

Instruments don't sound like expected

It is likely that there are not enough sounds available in your Audio and MIDI setup, in order to allocate a suitable sound to each instrument being used by the built-in patterns. You should always keep at least one General MIDI Device (GM) enabled, so there are enough default sounds for each instrument category available. (Back to Top)

HN stops responding to MIDI input in the palette window

This was an issue with 1.1.3 and earlier. Please update to the most recent version. (Back to Top)