Finale 26 - "Server busy" error

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daveclilverd
Posts: 19
Joined: Mon Jun 20, 2016 3:28 pm
Finale Version: Finale V26
Operating System: Windows

Post by daveclilverd » Fri Oct 12, 2018 2:02 pm

Hi Guys,
I have just upgraded to Finale V26 from 2014.5 (I never upgraded to V25). When I launch Finale V26 I get a 'Server busy" error box pop up containing the text:

This action cannot be completed because the other program is busy. Choos 'Switch To' to activate the busy program and correct the error.

It also has 'Switch To', 'Retry' and 'Cancel' buttons on the dialog (and the Cancel button is disabled).

Searching the MakeMusic knowledge base I have found articles from 2016 (presumably around the time V25 was released?) which talk about problems caused by conflicts caused by printers or audio components. Following the instructions there I discovered that stopping the Print Spooler service does indeed allow Finale V26 to launch successfully. So I then moved on to follow the more detailed article to try and find which printer was causing the conflict. However, after disabling all the printers (in Device Manager) ready to re-enable them one-by-one to find the specific culprit, I find that Finale V26 still hangs with the same error as before, even with all printers disabled...!!

Has anyone else had a similar problem (maybe when they installed V25) or has any other suggestions for trying to debug and cure the problem? I have submitted a problem report to MM, but I've had excellent help and support from the forum before and hoped someone may be able to help me this time!

Kind regards,
Dave.


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ebiggs1
Posts: 1424
Joined: Tue Dec 06, 2016 8:57 am
Finale Version: Finale 27.3
Operating System: Windows

Post by ebiggs1 » Sat Oct 13, 2018 3:34 pm

I had the same problem with Lightroom, not Finale. It was because LR was looking for its cache on a hard drive that was asleep. I changed the drive's setting to not allow it to sleep and the error went away. Maybe something similar to your case?
Finale 27.4.1 - Perfect Layout Silver - Note Performer 4.4 - SmartScore Pro 64 - Windows 11
President, The Shawnee Concert Band, Composer/Arranger, retired Music Teacher.

daveclilverd
Posts: 19
Joined: Mon Jun 20, 2016 3:28 pm
Finale Version: Finale V26
Operating System: Windows

Post by daveclilverd » Sat Oct 13, 2018 4:39 pm

Many thanks fo the reply - but I'm pretty sure that isn't the case for me. All my disks are awake all the time! The reply from MM wasn't at all helpful. From what the support guy said it sounded like they knew about the problem but were not working on a fix. It was a case of "you'll just have to live with it"...!!!
Kind regards,
Dave.

User avatar
ebiggs1
Posts: 1424
Joined: Tue Dec 06, 2016 8:57 am
Finale Version: Finale 27.3
Operating System: Windows

Post by ebiggs1 » Sat Oct 13, 2018 10:25 pm

"The reply from MM wasn't at all helpful."
Gee, what a surprise! :o
Finale 27.4.1 - Perfect Layout Silver - Note Performer 4.4 - SmartScore Pro 64 - Windows 11
President, The Shawnee Concert Band, Composer/Arranger, retired Music Teacher.

daveclilverd
Posts: 19
Joined: Mon Jun 20, 2016 3:28 pm
Finale Version: Finale V26
Operating System: Windows

Post by daveclilverd » Sun Oct 14, 2018 11:25 am

Just in case anyone else is interested or comes across this same problem...

I discovered that once Finale V26 is running, it is possible to re-start the Print Spooler and Finale will continue to work correctly (or at least I haven't found any problems in my testing and use so far!). Of course that means that it is then still possible to print from Finale - without needing the workaround of exporting to PDF first - which wouldn't be possible if the Print Spooler isn't running while Finale is running. I have noticed that the first time you invoke the Print dialog it does take a little while to display it (and Finale looks like it isn't responding during the 'pause') but it gets there in the end!

Additionally, I have created AutoHotKey scripts to stop and restart the Print Spooler and bound them to keyboard keystrokes so it is relatively quick and easy to invoke the necessary commands.

Would still be better not to have all this faff though...!!!! Oh well...

Kind regards,
Dave.

casiochris
Posts: 1
Joined: Mon May 20, 2019 12:01 pm
Finale Version: 26
Operating System: Windows

Post by casiochris » Mon May 20, 2019 12:09 pm

Hi,
Are there any updates to this problem? I installed Version 26 last week and got on to do a quick arrangement but ran into problem after problem with my setup! The print spooler error is the most annoying. Just thought I would see if anyone had a permanent fix yet.

daveclilverd
Posts: 19
Joined: Mon Jun 20, 2016 3:28 pm
Finale Version: Finale V26
Operating System: Windows

Post by daveclilverd » Mon May 20, 2019 12:20 pm

I've not seen any progress or sign of a fix for this. I'm still using the workaround as described above. :(

burchseymour
Posts: 2
Joined: Thu Feb 13, 2020 11:07 pm
Finale Version: 26.2
Operating System: Windows

Post by burchseymour » Thu Feb 13, 2020 11:10 pm

13 Feb 2020 - Version 26.2 - Still getting the Server Busy error. Looks like this was reported no later than 0ct 2018, so why is is STILL broken? I filled out a help request (they weren't answering phone due to a company meeting) so we'll see what happens. I'll update if anything useful comes of it.

User avatar
motet
Posts: 8229
Joined: Tue Dec 06, 2016 8:33 pm
Finale Version: 2014.5,2011,2005,27
Operating System: Windows

Post by motet » Thu Feb 13, 2020 11:33 pm

They seldom fix anything.

It would help to know what the "server" is. Have you tried unchecking "Automatically Check for Updates" in the Help menu? This is not very useful anyway, since there are usually no updates, only new versions.

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miker
Posts: 5993
Joined: Fri Mar 13, 2009 4:28 pm
Finale Version: Finale 27.4
Operating System: Mac

Post by miker » Fri Feb 14, 2020 6:04 am

There will always be a “meeting.” They no longer accept calls.
Finale 27 | SmartScorePro 64
Mac OS 13.2.1 Ventura
Copyist for Barbershop Harmony Society

burchseymour
Posts: 2
Joined: Thu Feb 13, 2020 11:07 pm
Finale Version: 26.2
Operating System: Windows

Post by burchseymour » Fri Feb 14, 2020 9:59 pm

I heard back from MakeMusic today and they suggested that I update my printer drivers. I did this and now I can start Finale. So for me at least, this worked. I had been able to open Finale before this by stopping the printer driver, though I did not consider this an acceptable solution. I'll copy in their full response below.

Hope this helps.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thank you for contacting MakeMusic! This is still an issue that we're working on fixing. It's been difficult to narrow down a solution though since the behavior varies so much between different hardware and printer drivers. I've found in most cases, that updating the printer drivers on your computer usually resolves the problem. You may need to reach out to directly to the manufacturer for your printers (including ones that you no longer use) in order to get those updates.

I've also found that updating Windows 10 itself resolves the issue in some cases as well. I'd recommend giving that a try on your end too.

In the rare situations where neither of these solutions help out, we recommend exporting your work as a PDF file for any documents that you need to print out. I know that this is a constant hassle though to start and stop your print spooler though so I hope that the previous solutions will help out in your case. Please keep us updated though and let me know if you have any other questions!

kub1x
Posts: 1
Joined: Tue Dec 08, 2020 9:15 am
Operating System: Windows

Post by kub1x » Tue Dec 08, 2020 7:20 pm

Hello all, I got here searching for the same issue.
It is still happening as of December 2020. I simply find this a very poor design. The program should just warn user and start with limited functionality.

The solution for me was to disable "Print spooler" service in windows before program launch.
If that helps, it means a printer driver is in a way of starting Finale. It might help to update some printer drivers.
Here are instructions directly from MM:
https://makemusic.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/ ... d-Windows-

Cheers

Elweenia
Posts: 1
Joined: Tue Jun 21, 2022 1:35 am
Finale Version: Finale 26
Operating System: Windows

Post by Elweenia » Tue Jun 21, 2022 1:37 am

I have been experiencing this problem as well. I currently am running Finale 26 on a Windows 11 system. I was able to fix it by setting Print to Pdf as my default printer. Other solutions didn't work, unfortunately. I hope this helps others experiencing this issue.

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