False "Previously failed while loading project" message

[CraigG58]

Anyone else ever run into this? It began happening intermittently a few updates back (can’t remember which version) and I’ve really no idea if that had anything to do with it anyway. It only seems to occur between PC reboots, the first time REAPER is run:

1) Despite the message, the project did not previously fail to load, and naturally the last activity was a save on the way out.

2) Clicking “Yes” results in the project loading with no issues, and everything seems to be just as I left it on the previous load. REAPER is then closed without saving the project, then immediately re-opened.

3) Project then loads without this error message, once again with everything seemingly intact.

It's not exactly a huge deal, but is annoying and worse makes me wonder if there's something wrong with my installation under the covers.

Guess I could try backing out to an earlier release. Although I've never done so, I do keep the last 20 or so installers in my back pocket for convenience. Seems a bit drastic though, since I'd hate to lose the newer features added and actual bugs that have been squashed. I maintain REAPER at the current version, religiously.

Any idea what the cause of this might be? 🤔

Uninstalling/reinstalling REAPER would probably be a more prudent first step. I'd hope that all customization in “C:\Users\craig\AppData\Roaming\REAPER” (and possibly stored elsewhere) would remain intact following an uninstall?

[akademie]

I don't know the exact reason for the warning. but the full path is pretty long (exactly 126 character if there aren't some double spaces..):
"D:\craig\Music\Cygnus Studios\Software\REAPER\Projects\Rock and Roll Dreams Come Through\Rock and Roll Dreams Come Through.rpp"
Anyway, 126 characters should not be a problem (I thought initially, it mey be longer than 128 chars, which coul make some problems, but after I retyped the full path from screenshot, it sums to 126 chars).

Also, what comes to my mind - don't you have some extensions installed? (They are also writing to the RPP file and maybe there could be culprit)

[Justin]

This is likely caused if you quit reaper too soon after loading the project? Anyway can ignore that message, it’s really just there to give an out if a user can’t open reaper due to the last project being loaded crashing

[CraigG58]

@akademie:
Yeah, I tend to get a little organizational crazy with folders. 😉

In Windows 10 version 1607 and up, the default maximum path length is actually 256 characters. If there’s a limitation there it must be within REAPER, although I can’t imagine why it wouldn’t be able to use that length as you would think it should be governed by the OS. I’ve completed many mixes with long path names (although all were <128 chars) and never saw this warning occur before now.

Plus, if this was the cause, I wouldn’t think it would be intermittent.

I did notice one thing: Have another look at the screenshot and you’ll see the path name has many leading spaces leading up to the drive letter. Although that may be normal for this message, it just looks a bit odd.

ReaPack and SWS are indeed installed, but those have been in place since I first started using REAPER over 4 years ago and there are no synchronizing issues.

As I’d previously mentioned, at this point I’m seriously thinking about uninstalling/reinstalling REAPER. However, I’m a bit worried that I’d lose customization, templates, etc.. Do you know if there are any other locations besides “C:\Users\[username]\AppData\Roaming\REAPER” where that stuff resides?

Thanks for your reply and suggestions!

[CraigG58]

Originally Posted by Justin

This is likely caused if you quit reaper too soon after loading the project? Anyway can ignore that message, it’s really just there to give an out if a user can’t open reaper due to the last project being loaded crashing

As I mentioned in my OP, the last activity on the project I'm working with is a save, followed by closing REAPER once that completes (which should be very common). The message is occurring intermittently and immediately during subsequent loads.

I'm aware I can ignore this message since the project loads fine after I respond "Yes" to the warning. I'm just concerned there may be something corrupt in my installation which could possibly lead to other problems.

I've been using REAPER for over 4 years, and have never experienced a single crash.

[Justin]

I wouldn't worry, it's more likely a bug in the logic that prompts that, which is being triggered by some sequence of actions that we haven't seen. Looking into it now.

[CraigG58]

Thank you, any information you may be able to find would be very much appreciated.

[CraigG58]

FYI, I haven't seen this issue since installing the recent update. Doubt there was a bug fix for this specific problem in there, but I'm guessing something was corrupt in my previous install which overwriting who-knows-what component corrected.

An enigma, wrapped within a mystery.