Am I the only one seeing regular crashes in Rapid Weaver?
I keep all software up-to-date, usually a couple of weeks after a new version release, but whichever Mac I use, and they are different machines, I see 1-2 crashes per session.
I am rapidly falling out of love with RW (sadly, after so many years) and It is making me look around for other solutions. Auto save would help but with zero comms from Realmac these days and no support, I hold out no hope.
Thoughts?
No crashes for me.
Remember a plugin (not a stack addon itself) is able to be the cause of the crash.
What versions of RW and Stacks are you using?
Not at all.
I found rw7.55 with Stacks 3.6to be the most uncrashy.
Then rw7.55 with Stacks 4.04 to be more crashy.
rw8.51 with Stacks 4.1 to be even more crashy.
I sometimes find that when rw7.55 with Stacks 4.04 crashes, I usually get the Realmac crash alert, and if I cancel this, I can continue to use rw. Other times I get an instant full crash and rw just quits and I very rarely get a crash report window appear on the next start.
As I prefer rw7, I am close to trying the latest Stacks 4.13 but will wait a few days before the upgrade.
If you use RW with Stacks, then it will crash often if you do certain things and don’t follow a course of action to avoid crash.
IMHO using rw7 with stacks 3.6 and now 4.04:
Don’t use cmd-Z to undo last action
Save often and restart RW every 10 minutes
Avoid stacks with lots of settings
Try to avoid large content pages if possible
If you see anything odd happening, then save and restart rw.
Thanks for the reply and thoughts. Sadly I’m on RW 8 (.6.2) and stacks 4.1.3 - too late to go back to RW 7, although I remember it being far more stable.
Your advice is really sound, but I’m running a single large page for much of my main site, so I’m kind of stuffed on the ‘lots of content’ , ditto the ‘stacks with lots of settings’.
As a Photoshop user from the early 90s, saving every couple of minutes was second nature, but approaching 30 years later, no app should crash and lose all changes.
I’m going to have to relearn ‘Type, ⌘ S - Type, ⌘ S’ on repeat, allow over again. It makes me want to cry… Now if there was an alternative platform that would run Stacks…It seems that most of us do use stacks for 99% of our work?
Interesting thought Jannis. I only have 2 plugins though - Stacks and SiteMap
I also rarely experiences crashes, and I have a lot of the stacks and plugins that is available.
@Kent Thank you for your feedback. I have so few issues with other apps (despite beta testing a lot of graphics software). It is driving me to distraction and I want to get to the bottom of it, or move on.
I have numerous stacks, but only 2 plugins. SiteMap plus was involved in the big, bad one today, so I may try life without it for a day or two.
I only have Stacks plugin. Still no crashes.
I can’t remember the last time RW crashed on me. In fact, the current set up is very reliable.
RW 8.7 with Stacks 4.1.0, 4.1.1 and 4.1.2 was extremely unstable for me, across four different machines, so not machine-based. I was not alone in this. I rolled back to Stacks 4.0.x and everything is fine now.
This is why I asked up there what versions of things the OP is running.
I see that 4.1.3 is now out but haven’t updated yet.
The RW forums are littered with these threads where some report no problems and then those who experience a lot of crashing, and this has been the case for years.
Those who see regular crashes appear to continue to see crashes on different Macs, different versions of MacOS, different versions of RW and Stacks over time. So a reasonable explanation is that the Crashers are doing stuff that causes or increases the chance of crashes that the Non Crashers are not doing, and hence don’t experience the crashes. Stuff such as using lots of Partials, Partials inside Partials, high numbers of stacks inside stacks, adding plugins, using Undo, etc…
From my experience I find that if I avoid the things that I know by experience, have lead to a crash in the past, and restart RW every 10 minutes or so, I can go for days without a crash and I can live with that.
Also I should add that I never use the latest RW versions.
@Webdeersign My understanding is that the bug that caused S4.1.x to crash for me was known to Isaiah, and was common to many people. It was a bug, as such, not something the “crashers” were doing, per se.
Isaiah was working on a fix the last time I spoke with him, but I’m unaware if that fix is in 4.1.3.
I say this, as it feels, from your post, that you are saying the crashing is a user error, which it isn’t.
I updated Stacks to 4.1.3. This did not improve anything. I still have occasional crashes (when changing something inside partials), disappearing stack labels and input boxes in stack settings that are losing focus in the middle of typing.
I never put partials inside partials, but my pages are quite complex, with a lot of content.
I’m on macOS Mojave, RW 8.6.2, Source 2.1.0 and Stacks 4.1.3.
I suspect then the fix will be coming along soon. Last I heard the fix was with beta testers, but the holidays slowed down testing.
I’m happy enough to sit at 4.0.x knowing that Isaiah is on top of the issue, and a fix will be along soon enough.
Not at all. It was a general observation (and not specific to your current crashes) that the way that some users use RW+Stacks contributes to those people seeing crashes. The undo bug is a good example here, in that those who use Undo are more prone to crashes, and those who never use Undo, never see the crash caused by the use of Undo.
In general, the more complex your builds are, then the more likely you are to experience crashes if you do certain things.
I’m sure it did improve lots of stuff, but not the issue that is causing your crashes, and that’s assuming it’s a Stacks releated issue.
Poor Isaiah is wrestling with a multi headed shape shifting beast that appears without warning, and wont stay still long enough to be sure that the “over 1000” stacks all work in all the ways that users can set them up, mix them up, drag around, etc…
LOL.
Contradicting yourself in the same sentence! Some going ;-)
Sorry Steve and Gary, not trying to cause any arguments here :)
I know some people are more prone to crashes, like others kill watches - normally I have few issues with software and tend to keep computers pretty ‘vanilla’ ie stable. The 4.xx bug, as it seems to be has been causing me a great deal of anguish, so I am going to see if I can get a copy of Stacks 4.0 for a new site I’m starting to build.
I should add that I am incredibly grateful for all the feedback here - I have hardly touched web stuff recently, so a touch rusty. If I can return favours by helping anyone with anything Photography/ Film / Colour management / Lightroom / Photoshop or Sound related, please ask away!