Centre Stage Discos
Yes, perhaps another eye-catching, sensationalist type heading from me but that's what my disco became last Saturday - A DISASTER.
After setting up the disco equipment on Saturday I ran VDJ Pro only to get an error message on the laptop. In the panic which resulted I omitted to note down the error, but it was an error message I had not seen before. It was not the ASIO error message you get when the laptop and Denon controller are not connected. Whatever happened, I was being watched and felt under great pressure.
In desperation I had to uninstall VDJ Pro and re-install the trial VDJ edition I happened to have with me in an attempt to get something working, forgetting that this had already been installed an had expired on that machine, so I was again stumped. However, while trying to run the trial VDJ I had further error messages. One relating to the ASIO driver (the laptop was connected to the Denon HC4500 at the time) and also another error message wtating that there was an invalid skin present which would not let me get any further.
Eventually, after messing around rebooting and uninstalling/reinstalling I managed to get the trial VDJ working, only to find out that it sclosed down after a few minutes due to it having expired. So I was stuck with Windows Media Player or nothing. After some discussion with the organisers, they wanted me to return home to get the full VDJ Pro so I could reinstall it. I know I should have had this with me, but I thought I had. Instead, it was the trial version I had. Anyway, I did as requested and got everything working successfully, first time. But why did the original VDJ Pro return an error message in the first place? I had not made any changes to the machine whatsoever.
I started the disco, a joint 30th birthday party - 3 & 1/ HOURS LATE.
Has anybody else had similar problems?
After setting up the disco equipment on Saturday I ran VDJ Pro only to get an error message on the laptop. In the panic which resulted I omitted to note down the error, but it was an error message I had not seen before. It was not the ASIO error message you get when the laptop and Denon controller are not connected. Whatever happened, I was being watched and felt under great pressure.
In desperation I had to uninstall VDJ Pro and re-install the trial VDJ edition I happened to have with me in an attempt to get something working, forgetting that this had already been installed an had expired on that machine, so I was again stumped. However, while trying to run the trial VDJ I had further error messages. One relating to the ASIO driver (the laptop was connected to the Denon HC4500 at the time) and also another error message wtating that there was an invalid skin present which would not let me get any further.
Eventually, after messing around rebooting and uninstalling/reinstalling I managed to get the trial VDJ working, only to find out that it sclosed down after a few minutes due to it having expired. So I was stuck with Windows Media Player or nothing. After some discussion with the organisers, they wanted me to return home to get the full VDJ Pro so I could reinstall it. I know I should have had this with me, but I thought I had. Instead, it was the trial version I had. Anyway, I did as requested and got everything working successfully, first time. But why did the original VDJ Pro return an error message in the first place? I had not made any changes to the machine whatsoever.
I started the disco, a joint 30th birthday party - 3 & 1/ HOURS LATE.
Has anybody else had similar problems?
Inviato Mon 01 Mar 10 @ 8:37 am
djsonance
Hey. Damn I feel ure pain. It can be real nerve-wrecking when you cant get your gear to work. Been there many times. I realised that more often than not, its acting up cuz of something i forgot to connect or turn on, and that looking at it retrospectively, it could have been resolved in a easier, faster way had i just calmed down and reviewed the situation.
Perhaps you should have tried restarting your laptop first? Or tried disconnecting ure hardware and just running vdj? I'm no expert but it might have worked without the need to install/re-install.
Perhaps you should have tried restarting your laptop first? Or tried disconnecting ure hardware and just running vdj? I'm no expert but it might have worked without the need to install/re-install.
Inviato Mon 01 Mar 10 @ 8:53 am
GadgetMan
Big lesson there about having things with you... Guess you won't make that mistake again ;-)
I'm also not sure why you felt you had to uninstall Pro immediately. That's where your first problem was...
You can install multpile versions of VDJ on your PC. You just have to install them in different folders.
I have 6.0.2 and 6.0.5 on mine. I'm now using the latest version by default and have .0.2 in standby - both with desktop shortcuts...
We all make mistakes, but without them we wouldn't learn. Unfortunately for us it will always happen in front of an audience...
All I can tell you is:
You're skin will get thicker
You will learn to ignore those who watch over you (or find ways of making it uncomfortable for them to be there)
You will develop backup/disaster recovery plans in the form of backup laptops, cd players or even an ipod/mp3 player
You will forget about this in a few weeks (maybe months)
Stick at it, you'll get there...
Cheers,
Roy
I'm also not sure why you felt you had to uninstall Pro immediately. That's where your first problem was...
You can install multpile versions of VDJ on your PC. You just have to install them in different folders.
I have 6.0.2 and 6.0.5 on mine. I'm now using the latest version by default and have .0.2 in standby - both with desktop shortcuts...
We all make mistakes, but without them we wouldn't learn. Unfortunately for us it will always happen in front of an audience...
All I can tell you is:
You're skin will get thicker
You will learn to ignore those who watch over you (or find ways of making it uncomfortable for them to be there)
You will develop backup/disaster recovery plans in the form of backup laptops, cd players or even an ipod/mp3 player
You will forget about this in a few weeks (maybe months)
Stick at it, you'll get there...
Cheers,
Roy
Inviato Mon 01 Mar 10 @ 8:59 am
djtonis69
what about YOUR SECOND LAPTOP ?
Be happy that this didn't happened during a wedding.
Get a second of everything. second mixer , extra speakers,cables, everything.
even my mixer had a problem this weekend and I don't have time to think. I get my second mixer from the car and no sweat.
i hope you have backup of your collection
Be happy that this didn't happened during a wedding.
Get a second of everything. second mixer , extra speakers,cables, everything.
even my mixer had a problem this weekend and I don't have time to think. I get my second mixer from the car and no sweat.
i hope you have backup of your collection
Inviato Mon 01 Mar 10 @ 10:16 am
kradcliffe
Another Username wrote :
Has anybody else had similar problems?
No. The installation of VDJ and setup with the HC-4500 should be simple and work first time every time.
I have never taken a backup system in 10 years of digital DJ'ing. If your primary system is configured correctly and tested it should be all you need.
I think you are just unlucky.
Keith
Inviato Mon 01 Mar 10 @ 10:31 am
dizzyrocks2001
I would have just run VDJ in standalone mode and forgot about the controller for the night. As for not having a back-up laptop, you're pushing your luck if you don't have one. I agree with djtonis, you should have a back-up for everything. Hell, even if my second laptop dies on me I still have some pre-recorded mixes on my iPhone and an iPod that I can play.
Inviato Mon 01 Mar 10 @ 10:55 am
Rob Kalmar
This is from a gig I did this Sat, Feb 27th at a Club I had never been to b4. I brought every possible extra wire, hook-up option as we were doing videos. As you can see I even hooked up my back-up lappy just in case.
That being said my set-up ran flawlessly for the night, never touched the back-up, but I had a track loaded up just in case.
Having said that my back-up lappy which I used LAST night (Sunday) without any controllers, acted up & I had to close VDJ twice during the night. (used the MP3 player as back-up)
ALWAYS have a back-up plan when using computers. They are like people. Just when u think you can trust them they will screw you! lol
That being said my set-up ran flawlessly for the night, never touched the back-up, but I had a track loaded up just in case.
Having said that my back-up lappy which I used LAST night (Sunday) without any controllers, acted up & I had to close VDJ twice during the night. (used the MP3 player as back-up)
ALWAYS have a back-up plan when using computers. They are like people. Just when u think you can trust them they will screw you! lol
Inviato Mon 01 Mar 10 @ 2:18 pm
Centre Stage Discos
Sorry I haven't got back to this - things have been very hectic. I will post here in a day or two whan I have a few more minutes.
Cheers all.
John
Cheers all.
John
Inviato Sun 07 Mar 10 @ 4:27 pm
SBDJ
Without the initial error message you really aren't going to be able to get much help I'm afraid.
I've personally never had an issue whereby VDJ won't start. I do however always have multiple backups, including a backup laptop. What if you got to your gig and you had a hardware issue with your laptop?
I've personally never had an issue whereby VDJ won't start. I do however always have multiple backups, including a backup laptop. What if you got to your gig and you had a hardware issue with your laptop?
Inviato Sun 07 Mar 10 @ 6:39 pm
djsherz
My system:
Main gig rig - includes setup exe file and a note of my license code
also an assortment of tunes on the c drive in case the music drive were to fail
Winamp also installed just in case!
2nd rig - Little cheapie netbook running vdj with a hercules controller, some music on the c drive and a usb hard disk with a backup of all music
3rd rig - Nokia n86 mobile phone - can be used as a mass storage device. Has around 10GB of music on it, plus a vdj database in the root, so it can be plugged into a pc to replace a failed music drive. I also carry an audio cable to plug it directly into the mixer in case of dire emergency!
And if it all goes completely t*ts up, there's a dozen or so CDs in a wallet covering the standard dance/rnb/alt/party anthems....
Paranoid? Possibly. Prepared? Definitely. Don't think I'm talking like a smug preachy smart*rse, I've learned these lessons the hard way over the years, I know how much it can stress you when something goes wrong, and I find these measures make it easier to work. It's hard to concentrate on a gig when you've got that niggling doubt in the back of your mind... "what if something crashes?"
Main gig rig - includes setup exe file and a note of my license code
also an assortment of tunes on the c drive in case the music drive were to fail
Winamp also installed just in case!
2nd rig - Little cheapie netbook running vdj with a hercules controller, some music on the c drive and a usb hard disk with a backup of all music
3rd rig - Nokia n86 mobile phone - can be used as a mass storage device. Has around 10GB of music on it, plus a vdj database in the root, so it can be plugged into a pc to replace a failed music drive. I also carry an audio cable to plug it directly into the mixer in case of dire emergency!
And if it all goes completely t*ts up, there's a dozen or so CDs in a wallet covering the standard dance/rnb/alt/party anthems....
Paranoid? Possibly. Prepared? Definitely. Don't think I'm talking like a smug preachy smart*rse, I've learned these lessons the hard way over the years, I know how much it can stress you when something goes wrong, and I find these measures make it easier to work. It's hard to concentrate on a gig when you've got that niggling doubt in the back of your mind... "what if something crashes?"
Inviato Sun 07 Mar 10 @ 7:24 pm
DJ Andrey Seagull
Sometimes I had to power off HC4500 and then turn on to restore the connection but VDJ always can be started.
Inviato Sun 07 Mar 10 @ 10:32 pm
Centre Stage Discos
It's never a bad idea to carry backups, but backups of everything? It's a question of how far do you want to go, carrying a duplicate of everything. Well, for starters it's not always possible to carry two of everything.
I got back into doing discos at the end of last year, starting out with my old laptop, which seemed to be fine. I knew I was going to need a backup and, more importantly, I knew I ought to get a better, more reliable machine. Most of you here say Sony Vaio is a good, reliable brand. But I know three people who have Vaios and they have had nothing but problems with theirs, all hardware related. There always seem to be good and bad reports about all makes and models of laptop. Anyway, that's another story.
On the night of the problems I tried everything I could think of before re-installing VDJ. Nothing worked. Rebooting was the first thing I did. I checked to see if any impportant files had been deleted or modified. Nothing! Believing that I had a back-up of VDJ on the laptop I tried to re-install it, but I realised I had copied the wrong version and only had the (already expired) trial version. We all live and learn, but I felt I was well equipped.
I powered down the HC4500 to begin (sveral times in fact) with but this did nto rectify the problem.
The error message was just that, an undefined error, but there could have been an error number in there somewhere. I was more concerned with getting things started than noting down the wording of the error message.
In future I will carry a spare laptop. The problems are still onging here though as I am still waiting for my latest Sony Vaio to be returned from Comet, which I thought would be better than Currys and PC Shite. For the record, Comet said they would have to send the fautly laptop (persistent "hardware error" when trying to install Windows 7) but Sony REFUSED to test it sicne I had removed the original bloat which came with it - no less than SEVENTY items pre-installed. After two weeks wait (Comet said no more than one week) I am expecting the laptop to be returned from Sony and to visit Comet where they said they will have an engineer on hand while I try to install Windows 7 in front of them, then they can see the problems I have been having. Comet said they would foot the bill for this.
So, the months keep ticking by and I am no further forward. Thankfully, my old laptop has been holding up well apart from the odd VDJ problems the other Saturday (for which the party are only willing to pay for a third of the bill by the way).
I thought VDJ was supposed to be 100% reliable? It seems a lot of you have quite a few issues.
John
Sutton-in-Ashfield, Notts.
I got back into doing discos at the end of last year, starting out with my old laptop, which seemed to be fine. I knew I was going to need a backup and, more importantly, I knew I ought to get a better, more reliable machine. Most of you here say Sony Vaio is a good, reliable brand. But I know three people who have Vaios and they have had nothing but problems with theirs, all hardware related. There always seem to be good and bad reports about all makes and models of laptop. Anyway, that's another story.
On the night of the problems I tried everything I could think of before re-installing VDJ. Nothing worked. Rebooting was the first thing I did. I checked to see if any impportant files had been deleted or modified. Nothing! Believing that I had a back-up of VDJ on the laptop I tried to re-install it, but I realised I had copied the wrong version and only had the (already expired) trial version. We all live and learn, but I felt I was well equipped.
I powered down the HC4500 to begin (sveral times in fact) with but this did nto rectify the problem.
The error message was just that, an undefined error, but there could have been an error number in there somewhere. I was more concerned with getting things started than noting down the wording of the error message.
In future I will carry a spare laptop. The problems are still onging here though as I am still waiting for my latest Sony Vaio to be returned from Comet, which I thought would be better than Currys and PC Shite. For the record, Comet said they would have to send the fautly laptop (persistent "hardware error" when trying to install Windows 7) but Sony REFUSED to test it sicne I had removed the original bloat which came with it - no less than SEVENTY items pre-installed. After two weeks wait (Comet said no more than one week) I am expecting the laptop to be returned from Sony and to visit Comet where they said they will have an engineer on hand while I try to install Windows 7 in front of them, then they can see the problems I have been having. Comet said they would foot the bill for this.
So, the months keep ticking by and I am no further forward. Thankfully, my old laptop has been holding up well apart from the odd VDJ problems the other Saturday (for which the party are only willing to pay for a third of the bill by the way).
I thought VDJ was supposed to be 100% reliable? It seems a lot of you have quite a few issues.
John
Sutton-in-Ashfield, Notts.
Inviato Mon 08 Mar 10 @ 6:52 am
studio70554
djtonis69 wrote :
what about YOUR SECOND LAPTOP ?
Be happy that this didn't happened during a wedding.
Get a second of everything. second mixer , extra speakers,cables, everything.
even my mixer had a problem this weekend and I don't have time to think. I get my second mixer from the car and no sweat.
i hope you have backup of your collection
Be happy that this didn't happened during a wedding.
Get a second of everything. second mixer , extra speakers,cables, everything.
even my mixer had a problem this weekend and I don't have time to think. I get my second mixer from the car and no sweat.
i hope you have backup of your collection
I love that Idea I am doing the same thing really soon. For now I have just a second laptop and it feel like a weight is lifted from my chest knowing that I have back up. Confidence is everything in Djng if you don't look sure in what your doing the crowd won't look sure of dancing to your music.
Inviato Mon 08 Mar 10 @ 10:22 am
djsherz
"I thought VDJ was supposed to be 100% reliable? It seems a lot of you have quite a few issues."
To be fair, it is. Yes, you get the occasional bug or glitch like with ANY software, but these get addressed in later versions. 99 times out of a 100 it's to do with Windows and/or hardware. Sometimes it takes a little experimentation to get the best out of your particular system, but once you're there, it's no problem. At the risk of tempting fate, I've only experienced a crash a couple of times, and on both those occasions, it was a problem with my hardware (dirty contacts in my removable drive caddy). Breakdowns on a well set-up system should be EXTREMELY rare, but it's always good to have a backup plan, if only for your own peace of mind during the gig. Keep the faith!
To be fair, it is. Yes, you get the occasional bug or glitch like with ANY software, but these get addressed in later versions. 99 times out of a 100 it's to do with Windows and/or hardware. Sometimes it takes a little experimentation to get the best out of your particular system, but once you're there, it's no problem. At the risk of tempting fate, I've only experienced a crash a couple of times, and on both those occasions, it was a problem with my hardware (dirty contacts in my removable drive caddy). Breakdowns on a well set-up system should be EXTREMELY rare, but it's always good to have a backup plan, if only for your own peace of mind during the gig. Keep the faith!
Inviato Mon 08 Mar 10 @ 10:43 am
mp3jrick
So you got an error... and don't know what it was...or whether it was a windows or vdj error, so you uninstalled your software without anyway to reinstall and then installed a 20 day trial that had expired.
And you question the stability of VDJ?
You are dealing with third parties on this instead of Sony directly and they don't want to hear it?
I would be looking at aquiring the drivers you need for 32bit os from Sony and buy an oem operating system.
And you question the stability of VDJ?
You are dealing with third parties on this instead of Sony directly and they don't want to hear it?
I would be looking at aquiring the drivers you need for 32bit os from Sony and buy an oem operating system.
Inviato Mon 08 Mar 10 @ 10:57 am
Djmadman73
Even if you uninstalled VDJ you should have a Text of the crash in you VDJ folder or in my Docs check there first! Sorry about your problem...I always cary a case of CD's with me in case of a crash!! not to big on carrying a second laptop around...
Inviato Mon 08 Mar 10 @ 12:50 pm
kradcliffe
John,
"I thought VDJ was supposed to be 100% reliable? It seems a lot of you have quite a few issues."
I nearly fell off my seat when I read that ..........
As I've said before I have used VDJ on a multitude of machines from a handheld Sony with a 900mhz Celeron all the way to a quadcore Nehalem MacPro and NONE of them have ever given me a problem with VDJ. I have not had a single installation error or any sort of crash in over 2 years. And that's probably on 8 or 9 machines as I'm a bit of a techie freak!
Nothing in the computing world will ever be perfect as there are so many OS, processor and software compatibilty issues to overcome. I think VDJ is fine for 99.9% of users.
You should be able to buy a laptop, use something like startup.cpl (as previously mentioned) to disable crapware from starting up (if there is any), load the Denon ASIO drivers, install VDJ and that's it. I really don't know what you're doing but maybe all the dicking about you're doing with drivers, changing OS, installing and uninstalling software etc. is where your problem lies.
I would never have recommended you to purchase VDJ if I didn't think it would work properly. I can assure you the problem isn't VDJ.
I never take a backup of any sort with me and I work in a very busy club. That tells it's own story about the stability of VDJ
Keith
"I thought VDJ was supposed to be 100% reliable? It seems a lot of you have quite a few issues."
I nearly fell off my seat when I read that ..........
As I've said before I have used VDJ on a multitude of machines from a handheld Sony with a 900mhz Celeron all the way to a quadcore Nehalem MacPro and NONE of them have ever given me a problem with VDJ. I have not had a single installation error or any sort of crash in over 2 years. And that's probably on 8 or 9 machines as I'm a bit of a techie freak!
Nothing in the computing world will ever be perfect as there are so many OS, processor and software compatibilty issues to overcome. I think VDJ is fine for 99.9% of users.
You should be able to buy a laptop, use something like startup.cpl (as previously mentioned) to disable crapware from starting up (if there is any), load the Denon ASIO drivers, install VDJ and that's it. I really don't know what you're doing but maybe all the dicking about you're doing with drivers, changing OS, installing and uninstalling software etc. is where your problem lies.
I would never have recommended you to purchase VDJ if I didn't think it would work properly. I can assure you the problem isn't VDJ.
I never take a backup of any sort with me and I work in a very busy club. That tells it's own story about the stability of VDJ
Keith
Inviato Mon 08 Mar 10 @ 12:53 pm
Centre Stage Discos
You really insult my intelligence. READ MY POSTS MORE CAREFULLY
mp3jrick wrote :
So you got an error... and don't know what it was...or whether it was a windows or vdj error, so you uninstalled your software without anyway to reinstall and then installed a 20 day trial that had expired.
And you question the stability of VDJ?
You are dealing with third parties on this instead of Sony directly and they don't want to hear it?
I would be looking at aquiring the drivers you need for 32bit os from Sony and buy an oem operating system.
And you question the stability of VDJ?
You are dealing with third parties on this instead of Sony directly and they don't want to hear it?
I would be looking at aquiring the drivers you need for 32bit os from Sony and buy an oem operating system.
Inviato Mon 08 Mar 10 @ 12:55 pm
jchiar
Backups hardware is a must. I carry an extra laptop (extra harddrive) with VDJ installed on it.
I also have my iPhone loaded with any of the customers requests, along with a few playlists.
You would think a hardware based solution would be 100% reliable, but these are really nothing but a harddrive and mp3 encoders. Even thats not 100%.
I also have my iPhone loaded with any of the customers requests, along with a few playlists.
You would think a hardware based solution would be 100% reliable, but these are really nothing but a harddrive and mp3 encoders. Even thats not 100%.
Inviato Mon 08 Mar 10 @ 1:01 pm
jimmy b
John,
Just give me a call when you're sorted and when you have your laptop back. and I'll come up and see you if you like. You are only a few miles away from me. You have my number
VirtualDJ is reliable but I know when you start seeing errors that you haven't seen before or the pressure is on you start panicing and doing unnecessary things. Everyone does and has!!!!
I don't use VirtualDJ a lot nowadays but we'll try and get it set up. Two heads are better than one in my book mate.
"Don't Panic Mr Mainwaring, don't panic" ;)
Inviato Mon 08 Mar 10 @ 1:17 pm
