Yes! I just figured out how to reproduce the problem, and did it several times in a row to test it.

First, my specs: MacOS 10.11.6, Digital Performer 9.52 76360, VE Pro 6.017011

This project has three instances, one for Kontakt 5, one for Vienna Instruments Pro, and one for Play 6. 

I use the Mac OS Menu Bar File Menu to select Save Server Project, then after the project finishes saving automation and the drop down dissapears, my cursor turns into a wristwatch that won't go away. I move the cursor around the screen, and when I hover the cursor over the VEP6 Taskbar, I get the double arrow. This only happens if I am in the Kontakt or Play Instances, it does not happen in the Vienna Instruments Pro Instance. In fact, I can get rid of the double arrow cursor by clicking in the tab for the VI Pro Instance. (Nice to know how to fix it!) 

Hope this helps!

-Helen

I am also having this issue. It makes it a little harder to click on things. I figured out that the double arrow is the window resizing arrow, but it often doesn't go away when I click in the VEP window once I have finished resizing. 

-Helen

DP 9.52, VEP 6.05, Kontakt 5, Vienna Instruments Pro, Play 6

Tim, thanks for the report, I've been considering using Minis for this purpose, and it's nice to see that it can work. I may wait for the OSX Intel to go beyond beta, but it's very, very promising.

How many simultanious voices can you get out of a single Mini?

-Helen

Thanks Christian. I'll get back to you guys in a couple or three days when I've backed up then reinstalled my system.

Again, I appreciate everyone's help. It's nice to know that when you buy a company's wares, they're interested in helping you resolve problems.

-Helen

Well, I was able to install the Orchestral Strings I library by copying the disc contents onto a hard drive, downloading the new Library Installer 1.02 and installing it from the hard drive.

Since I can successfully read from the drive to write to the hard drive (just copying the data, not actually installing) I'm assuming it's not the drive or the wires. Like you, I don't think the problem is with the dvds, I'm pretty sure it's something weird with my system.

I'll have a little time on Sunday, but much more on Monday to deal with this. I may still end up reinstalling the OS, it's still touchy about some other stuff. If so, I'll try installing it via the regular method to see if the OS install fixed anything.

Oh, and just to answer the questions, 10.4.4 and yes, I've tried different ownership on the hard drives, and checking 'Ignore ownership on this drive.' Neither worked. The drive was formatted in Mac OS Extended. I will run TechTool soon to check my drives, though I fixed some stuff about three or four weeks ago and all was fine after that. I've put a copy of my system profile here:
(link removed, as was the file)
if you're still interested in investigating this. I'll leave that up for a few days.

Thank you for all your help on this. Your suggestions helped me come up with the workaround. Have a great week!

-Helen

Another update: I've tried it with all five instruments, and got the same result with each one, except for the Chamber Strings, where the installer just quit without giving me the error message first. At least in quitting it left some of the files installed.

I'm gonna get some sleep now and try and tackle this tomorrow if I can. If I make any progress I'll let you know.

If it helps, I can send a system profile to you guys.

Thanks again,
-Helen

I've repaired permissions several times, so I don't think that's it.

The intaller erases the partially installed files after the error message appears.

I've subsequently tried installing Woodwinds I on a different drive, that didn't work. I changed the ownership of the drive to 'system' from my user name. That didn't work. I'll try Solo Strings and Chamber Strings next, I don't have much to lose.

Hey, have you guys had any problems with Glyph firewire drives? I'm trying to install on my shiny new Glyph GT103 with three 300 GB drives. I'll see if I can install on one of my other drives.

I might (maybe, possibly) be able to install this on an XP machine, but it would mean either erasing some of my Gigastudio stuff or adding a new drive somehow. I could check the installer on my Mac Mini, running OS 10.4.4, if VI will deign to run on such a small machine. (I use the Mini for non-music stuff, including surfing as I am now.) Wouldn't it be absurd if I could run it on the Mini and not the G5? At least I'd know the problem is in my setup that way.

The G5 has been a bit wonky lately. I'm considering a complete wipe and reinstall of everything, though that'll take at least a day of work and won't be fun at all. (Plus probably a day for the backup before the wipe.) Not an approach I want to take, but I may have to take it.

I appreciate your help here.

-Helen

There's 208 Gig available on the disc.

Update: I got the same error when I tried to install the library for Orchestral Strings II. (The first attempt was for Orchestral Strings I). I'm guessing that I didn't get *two* bad discs or files, so it's probably something in my setup or some obscure conflict.

Thanks again for looking,
-Helen

Okay, I've looked through the intall problem threads and have not seen this come up, so I apologize if this is a dumb or redundant question.

I've got my VI shipment and have downloaded the new and improved OSX versions of the Software Installer and the Library Installer. I originally ran the Software Installer from the disc, then ran the downloaded one. When I try to run the Library Installer it starts, asks for the location of the package file, and after I select the package file on the Library dvd it starts to install. About two minutes into this process I get the following error message, "Cannot read installation package (file is corrupted?)" and it says Installation did not complete. Also, it always stops on the same file.

I've tried running the installer from different locations. I've deleted the application, the Vienna Instruments Directory and the componant in the plug-ins folder and reinstalled using only the downloaded version of the Software Installer. I've run out of things to try (outside of trying to install it on a different hard drive, which I don't want to do) and am now appealing here for help.

I'm running OS 10.4.4 on a dual 2.0 gig G5 with 4 gig of RAM.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks a bunch,
-Helen

Well, with the news of Opus 2, I decided to go play with the discount calculator to see if my Solo Strings gets me any discount off of the new package. Unfortunately, after I logged in the discount calculator didn't show my registered products.

I checked in the registered product area, and there they sat, but they would only appear in the calculator if I hit 'Hide Registered Products' then on the next page, 'Show Registered Products', but in neither case would the discount show up when I chose another product to purchase and hit 'Recalculate'. (I tested it with the complete First Edition, since in the past the discount has shown up there.)

FYI, I know the box on the left is the registered product check box, and the box in the middle of the column is the purchase product box. I'm certain I was checking the correct boxes, it's just the discount never showed up for any product I chose to purchase.

If it helps, I'm using Camino, a Firefox browser for the Mac.

I use Digital Performer, so sadly, the template won't work. Thanks for the offer - I think this will really speed up some of my work. I'll be trying this today with a pop song I want to add some strings to.

Thanks again!
-Helen

Paynterr, thanks for the great post. I think I may try your 'two tracks for each instrument' approach - I like the idea of being able to copy the line without the keyswitching.

-Helen

My apologies. I'm living happily with DP, so I don't investigate others often.

-Helen

If you do serious classical sequencing you'd probably do best to take the plunge into a more robust sequencer. Logic and Digital Performer for the Mac, Nuendo and Cubase for the PC (or so I've heard - I'm a Mac/DP kinda gal) lead the packs. Once you get used to using the new sequencer you'll be amazed at what you can do, and how much better everything sounds because of the degree of nuance you can program (that you simply can't in Reason). I'm not putting Reason down here - it can be an great tool for some purposes, but I really don't think it was designed to be a classical music sequencer, and I think that shows.

The good news for you is that you can use Reason within these sequencers via Rewire, so you'll still have access to the rack of equipment you're used to.

Look carefully at the programs available for your platform, and try to use them if you can before you make your purchase. Finding a friend who uses them is the best thing you could do - they can show you the ropes and answer questions. You'll hear a ton of different opinions on what's out there, but the important thing is that you get a sequencer that fits the way you work. Different people find different things to be intuitive, and that's very important when you're trying to be creative. Find the one that works best for you, how you think, and how you write.

Then make sure you have a softsampler that can handle VSL, and you're set!

Thanks for the recommendations, they're much appreciated. I'll have to save a few pennies for the RAM, but it's on the list of things to get. (I'll have to get two 1Gig DIMMS.)

Any Halion users out there that might want to report on their user experience? I can upgrade an old Halion1 at a much lower cost than buying a new Kontakt, so I'd really love some opinions on Halion3.

Thanks again!

Hi folks, sorry if this has been answered elsewhere, I've searched through the forum and haven't found a set of opinions, so I'll ask the following:

I have Opus 1 and the Solo Strings, both loaded on my Gigastudio 2.5 with 1gig of RAM. I'm using DP 4.5 as my sequencer, on a G5 2x2 (with currently 2.0 Gigs of RAM, but that can easily be increased.) I also own a G3 blue and white 400mhz machine that can run either OS 9.2.2 or OS X (the latter is generally slow).

I'm thinking of getting either Halion3 or Kontact as an additional way to use the VSL libraries. (I'd get the side-grade for the appropriate sampler.) I'd love to hear different people's takes on which of the two soft samplers works best with DP and VSL, particularly running with DP on the G5.

Also, if anyone's got experience running either softsampler standalone on an older Mac, I'd appreciate any advice or opinions you could give on the feasability of such an arrangement.

Fwiw, I don't run a lot of plugs. I might be running some Altiverb, but not excessively.

Thanks in advance for your help!