[ Print Version ] [ Print Version ] [ Back to the User Guide ] [ Back to the User Guide ]
You may encounter problems using Variations. This is a list of the bugs and issues we know about. If you find a bug not on this list, please report it.
Variations Browser Links Won't Work
When Variations is first installed, clicking on a Variations link in a web browser will not work. First close all browser windows, then restart your browser. The restart is necessary because the browser needs to know about Variations when it starts running.
Audio Problems
Sometimes audio playback stops working. If this occurs, try any of the following.
- Toggle the pause/play button (
). - Check to see if the network is down by opening a web browser and going to a website.
- If the network is up, close the window that is causing the problem and re-open it.
- If it still doesn't play audio, close Variations and restart it.
- If Variations starts properly but audio still doesn't play, reboot the computer.
- If audio still doesn't play, please report the problem
Crashes
Variations is less stable on Macs than on PCs (but it still may crash occasionally). Most of the problems occur when resizing the score viewer window or creating playlists. If you are creating a playlist, a timeline, or annotating a score, save your work frequently. Bookmarks are saved automatically, but only when you exit the application. If you are creating a lot of bookmarks, either exit Variations regularly to make sure your bookmarks are saved on the server, or export your bookmarks as a .v2b data file regularly.
Listening Drill
From within the listening drill window, if you pick "Edit/Add Track information" and change the order of the playlist tracks, those changes are not recognized by the listening drill. Instead, edit the track information by clicking the "Edit" button in the playlist window. Then, when you open a listening drill, the data will be correct.
Slow Start-Up
Variations may be slow to start, particularly on Windows PCs. You can reduce the time it takes each window to open if you keep at least one window open. For example, if you're going to listen to multiple recordings, don't close each one before you open the next one--leave at least one Variations window open.
Installation (PC)
Not Installing. Make sure that your computer meets the requirements listed at the top of the checklist. If you receive a message that states "1604: This setup does not contain the > Windows Installer engine (INSTMSIA.EXE) required to run the installation on this operating system," then you are likely trying to run Variations on Windows 95 or 98. Variations will only run on Windows 2000 or Windows XP. If you do have one of these versions, you will need to download the Windows Installer engine from Microsoft at this address: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/release.asp?ReleaseID=32832
QuickTime with Java not Installed. Variations requires QuickTime version 7 or higher with QuickTime for Java to be installed. The easiest solution is to install QuickTime 7, which includes QuickTime for Java automatically. For instructions on installing QuickTime, see the download page
General
Fonts display as boxes. If your computer does not have the Arial Unicode MS font installed, certain characters may appear as 'boxes' in the search results display and elsewhere. These boxes may appear instead of flat or sharp symbols, or perhaps foreign language characters. The best solution is to install Arial Unicode MS, which is available as a supplemental font on the Microsoft Office for Windows CD. For more information on installing this font on Windows, please see Microsoft Knowledge base article Q287247.
We strongly recommend that you install the font Arial Unicode MS in order to be able to view all international and special characters in the application. This font can be installed as part of the "international features" option in Microsoft Office 2000 or XP. You can easily check to see whether this font is already installed by opening Microsoft Word and looking at the list of fonts. For more information on installing this font, see Microsoft Knowledge Base article Q287247.
Searching/Browsing
Slow search results display. Some searches returning a long list of results may be slow (especially on Macs), taking a minute or more to fully display the results. Also, immediately after displaying a long results list, there may be an error message or Variations may freeze for up to another 30 seconds or so.
Slow browse results display. Browse results start to appear immediately, but the list--especially the list of Works--may take a long time to complete. While the browse results are being rendered, CPU usage will be high and other windows that are opened during this time may be sluggish or nonresponsive.
Sorting works with multiple composers. Works with multiple composers aren't handled properly in either search or browse tabs when they're sorted by composer (rather than the default sort by title). For example, search for Work Title "love": the many matching Beatles songs by Lennon and McCartney or vice-versa all appear under McCartney's name and not Lennon's, but they're listed as either by Lennon and McCartney or by McCartney and Lennon (in the order their names appear on the albums). Similar problems can occur in the browse tab with creators and performers with multiple roles when they're sorted by role, and possibly in other situations.
Audio Player
Dead player window. If your computer is not connected to the network, or if the network is down, the player window may hang (freeze) rather than give an error message.
Audio not working. If the status bar in the audio window says "Buffering" continuously, there may be network issues that are preventing playback. If you are connected to the internet at a speed that is slower than 45K, audio will not work (note that even if your modem is 56K, the actual connection speed may be slower). If the status bar does not say "Buffering", and the window appears to be working properly, but there is no sound output, first check the volume controls on your computer. Sometimes, especially just after a machine is rebooted or when clicking links from a Browse list before it is rendered completely, audio will appear to be working but there will be no sound output. Try closing the window and reopening it. If that doesn't fix the problem, try closing the entire application and reopening it.
Score Viewer
Slow score viewer window. Score viewer windows may take a long time to open and initialize. Image loading may be slow, especially on slower computers or computers without much memory. This issue is more frequently encountered on Macs.
Opus Window
Slightly slow initiation. Opus window may initiate slowly (taking 10-20 seconds to appear for certain selections), especially on the Mac.
Printing
Slow on Macs. Printing scores is extremely slow on Macs.
External Browsers
Links not working on Mac. Clicking Variations links in a browser on the Mac (especially Safari) may not work properly. To configure browsers to work with Variations, follow the browser configuration instructions on the download page.