Articulation tool stopped working

[motet]

-

[motet]

Is that the 20H2 update, currently "optional"?

An antivirus program shouldn't affect the keyboard, but any recent change is suspect and worth testing.

(I think "Defender" was the Windows 7 name for Windows Security.)

[zuill]

Is that the 20H2 update, currently "optional"?

An antivirus program shouldn't affect the keyboard, but any recent change is suspect and worth testing.

(I think "Defender" was the Windows 7 name for Windows Security.)

You're right. Windows Security. Sorry. The 20H2 has been optional. It had been warning me that 1909 would end support in May. My system decided to do the update without asking first, which it had been doing for the last month. After talking to my son, who is an IT guy, he said that 20H2 is good and go ahead with the update, so I did. Aside from resetting some things that I had mentioned, it seems okay. Last month, 1909 had a known BSOD issue with some printers. I don't have those printers, but I did have a BSOD right after the update. Only once. I believe the same update affected 20H2, so I figured updating shouldn't cause any more concern.

Zuill

[rbaker13]

I spent time pursuing a wild goose today. An earlier post suggested that a recent MS update was causing printer problems (blue screen). My brother happened to call me today because he's having printer problems (not blue screen, but unable to print). I researched and found that several MS updates caused these printer problems - the only one on the list he had was KB000802. I happen to have that update too, and I've also had some printer issues recently (can't print duplex - the dialog doesn't give me the option).

So, I uninstalled that update, and walked my brother through it at his end as well. This corrected both of our printer problems. I hoped this might also somehow fix my Finale problem but sadly, it didn't. Since it was an important Security Update I reinstalled - my printer is still working correctly, and Finale is still broken. I'll try disabling or uninstalling Sophos next.

Tomorrow is another day, Scarlet...

[rbaker13]

Sunday update - I decided yesterday to opt for the nuclear option and uninstalled / reinstalled Finale. I've been using it for a couple hours since and so far, no problems. Hopefully whatever was causing the issue has been corrected - fingers crossed.

BTW - I was researching "virtual stuck key" and saw a post from 2017 on the Make Music Help Center. This is exactly what I've been fighting. There were no responses to the posting, but the user mentions Google Chrome as a possible cause. I tried to replicate the steps taken in the post, but Chrome seems to have no effect on my issue. Whether using Chrome or not during a session, the issue would eventually return. (As I'm typing this I realized that I did use Edge at least once while testing, so I may have invalidated my results since it's based on Chrome now.)

https://makemusic.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/ ... uck-Glitch

Thanks, again, everyone for all the suggestions and patience! I'll repost again if the problems return.

[ebiggs1]

Hope you found it and corrected it.

[RGreenhouse]

This has been happening to me ever since I upgraded to version 26. Chord entry tool also misbehaves similarly. It is a frequent but unpredictable (to me) bug. The only way that has been successful for me is to save all work, close Finale and start over. Extremely annoying. It never happened to me before version 26 and I am a ~30 year user of Finale.

Funny - after posting this reply, my articulation tool stopped working, as did the smart shapes tool and the expression tool - all at the same time!

People keep suggesting, close Finale and start again - yes, that sometimes works, but when you have to do it five times during a single editing session it is a pain in the butt. Or yes, you can reboot and get a cup of coffee and come back when Windows has settled down and then restart Finale again...maybe.

[miker]

I have found that restarting the computer is a more reliable fix than restarting Finale.

[ebiggs1]

... you have to do it five times during a single editing session it is a pain in the butt.

I can imagine this is a real PITA for those that have it happen or are experiencing it. I have a common nothing special off the shelf Dell computer running the latest Windows and 26.3. I let Windows update itself as it wants. I run most of the JW plug-ins, NP3 and Perfect Layout all without issue. Finale runs for days sometimes.
This is the kind of work I do which is also nothing special.

I wish I had an answer for you but I can confirm Finale 26.3 on WIndows will run. You have to have something, stuck key , something else, whatever, that is causing the conflict.

[rbaker13]

The articulation problem reoccurred for me again - even after uninstalling and reinstalling. I don't think this is why the problem returned but I thought I'd document it anyway. I was exporting .WAV files to practice to, then using Vegas Movie Studio to convert to .MP3. I created 25 or so files, then opened Vegas and converted them all. When Alt-Tabbing back to Finale (I hadn't exited), it was unresponsive and the only way out was to do a hard stop with Task Manager. When relaunching, the articulation problems had returned. (I think the problems would have returned eventually, anyway.)

I decided to do a downgrade to version 2012 as a test so I downloaded and installed, and so far it's been working without issues. The problem is intermittent so I'll continue using v.2012 until I'm satisfied that it's OK, then I'll download the next newer version that's available to me and try it (2014, then v.25).

I suspect that the problem is with v.26, based on some of the other comments, and not with my computer, although I suppose it's possible there's some conflict with some other software I'm running.

[ebiggs1]

I suspect that the problem is with v.26, based on some of the other comments, and not with my computer,

I don't! Too many of us are running 26.3 without issue for it to be a 26.3 problem. I do think, since the articulations were "improved" in 26.3 that that is the cause of the problem but not because it is in 26.3 but with some conflict it sets up somewhere else with some other software.

... although I suppose it's possible there's some conflict with some other software I'm running.

This is where I would concentrate my search and efforts.

[rbaker13]

Since my last posting I've been running Finale v2012. It worked flawlessly for quite a while, then suddenly the same issues began - weird articulations being input no matter what I select. So, if this is a conflict with something else I'm running, what might it be? I don't have a lot of apps installed:

• MS Office Professional (newest subscription version)

• MS Front Page 2000 (website creator - 21 years old) *

• Nuance PDF Professional 6 (an Adobe alternative - not supported) *

• Click 'n Design 3D (for printing CD labels - not supported) *

• Coffee Cup FTP (for uploading files)

• Family Tree Maker v5 (genealogy software designed for Windows 95 - not supported) *

• Picasa (Google picture manager - not supported) *

• Vegas Studio v17 (for video production)

The ones with an asterisk are quite old, but they still function in Win 10. The one I might suspect of causing a problem would be Family Tree Maker just because it's very old and I occasionally get an error message that the .ftm extension it uses is reserved for Finale. I also always use the PDF software as I'm working in Finale, so it might be a suspect too.

Any of these look like they might be causing this sort of problem?

[motet]

The way to find out is to kill them one at a time until the problem goes away.

[ebiggs1]

Any of these look like they might be causing this sort of problem?

Since you need none of these programs for Finale to work, why do you have all them running? It may not even be a software conflict. It could be a hardware issue. I would unhook any add-ons you might have like a USB reader or port. What sound card do you have and is its drivers up to date. Matter of fact you need to make sure all your drivers are current. Video driver too. Video could be the whole problem.

[motet]

I may have misunderstood. If these programs are just installed and not running at the same time as Finale, they're unlikely to be responsible for your problems.

[rbaker13]

The only one running when I use Finale is the PDF tool - so I can view a piece of music as I transcribe it. I'll try uninstalling one at a time to see if it fixes anything. None of the others would be running as I use them rarely.

I'll also update all the audio and video drivers. This new computer does have a rather high end video graphics card - Radeon RX 580. Looks like there's an update available so I'll install that.

[motet]

If they're not running, uninstalling them will be a waste of time, I think.

[ebiggs1]

So, if this is a conflict with something else I'm running, what might it be?

I, too, thought this meant these were also running when Finales was being used. If they are not running, they are not the problem.
I am going to lean towards a hardware conflict. Go ahead and update all your drivers.

[ebiggs1]

Another thought, you may have some malware or bloatware on your computer so do a complete scan with a good detector program.
You can check your startup apps to see if some things are loading that you don't need or even want.