Plug in crashing FCP

Question

OK, before I cry my huge head to sleep on my huge pillow, I wanted to see if anyone knew how to clear up this issue - I know there have been posts on this before, but I just cannot overcome this problem.
FCP 6.04, late 2007 MacPro --- I am trying to "send to soundtrack pro multitrack project" a sequence from FCP. It gets about 53 percent through the process, and then FCP quits with a message saying that it "might have been from the Pro Media Plug In". Naturally, I went looking for this plugin and I am finding that it doesn't exist in the FCP Plugs folder and is not coming up on a spotlight search. I trashed preferences (FCP Rescue 6) and tried it again - FCP keeps crashing when I go to export this sequence to STP - I really need to get this sound edited - anyone have any other clue as to what the heck to do? Thanks.

Answer 1

Jerry's solution seems like a reasonable workaround.
On the longer view, it may be time to do a full erase and reinstall of the whole system and apps.
It's a painful move but it will ensure you have the cleanest machine possible. Herein are X's rules for a happy experience.
• Make a list of all Applications to install. Which ones do you need? Go through your Applications and Utilities folder and note which ones you'll want to reinstall. Note the version.
(I don't know about you, but I had a shocking number of apps I downloaded, used for a few times and never used again. Forget installing these disused apps.)
• If you are upgrading from a PPC to an intel machine, you'll want to know if the apps are UB or PPC. Upgrading your PPC software to UB can be a significant cost in a PPC to intel conversion. Know what you are getting into - do a search before installation to see if there is a UB version available. You can find out whether an app is PPC or UB by looking in System Profiler>Software>Applications. This window will also tell you the current installed version number. Generate a .pdf file of it and have everything listed for your records.
• In the list, note whether is was a download or you have a disk. If it was a download, find the DMG or installer package and copy it to an external firewire drive. Put it in a folder titled - Apps to be installed - or something easily identifiable.
• If you need to go back to a previous version (e.g. QT 6.5.2) download the dmg file BEFORE you start the installation process.
• In the list, note if the application is a full install or an UPGRADE. If an upgrade, make sure you have the previous version's disks (as well as the serial numbers - see below).
If the UPGRADE version does not require the previous version to be present - eg when installing the upgrade version of FCP 6, DO NOT install earlier software. All you'll need is the previous serial number. The way to figure this out is to try to install the newest version. If it needs the previous version present before proceeding, the install process will tell you that.
Some upgrades will require that a version of the previous app is on the disk. If this is the case, when you install the first version, simply install the minimum so the app will be on the hard drive. You will need to do this because there will be NOTHING on the disk after you do your clean erase.
• Referencing your list, find ALL your disks before you start. This includes previous versions if you are unsure whether they will be needed.
• Spend some time looking through this forum for Professional Application installation issues. The classic example is a conflict between Logic and FCP. Install FCP first and you'll have no issues.
• Sort your list into an installation sequence. Lay out your disks in that order.
• Referencing the list, make sure you have ALL your serial numbers including those you've downloaded. I've purchased a number of programs on line and the only documentation of the serial number was an email. All those are kept in a dedicated folder in Mac Mail. For serial numbers that arrived via electronic means, use cut and paste instead of re-typing whenever possible. This will prevent errors in transcription.
In making the list, TEXT EDIT works ok, (I use Excel). Text edit has the benefit of being easily readable on any mac. Print the list out for reference, put a copy on a flash drive or a firewire drive where you can access it to cut and past serial numbers during the installation process.
• Download Carbon Copy Cloner or one of the other backup utilities and do a full backup of your existing system drive to an external firewire drive. Make the drive bootable. *Do not* cheap out on this as this is your insurance policy. If you forget something or can not find a serial number, you often can find it and copy it from the backup system to the newly installed version. Or, if things go horribly wrong, you can simply copy the old system back to your computer and pick up where you left off.
• Recognize this is going to take some time. Ranting, drinking too much coffee, swearing, sitting in front of the computer watching the progress bar, etc will not make things go faster. All it will to is put you in a really bad frame of mind. Do it over a weekend when you can be multitasking. While you are cleaning off the mountains of paper on your desk or raking the yard, you can take regular breaks to check on progress.
Process -
• Once you have gathered and organized all the materials and backed up the drive ...
• Erase the hard drive. Use the ZEROs option as this will map out any bad sectors. This will take time. See the note above.
• Install the OS. If it is an upgrade install, see the note above regarding upgrade installs. Repair Permissions and then run the updates. Repair Permissions.
• Install your applications following your list. Make sure to Repair Permissions after each install and update..
Have fun, be prepared for a few minor glitches. If you multitask, you can get the garage/ or office cleaned out and your computer rebuilt. In all honesty, this process took all weekend plus time in the next week as I discovered apps that needed additional updates, configuration settings, etc. No doubt it would have been faster if I was sitting at the console the whole time, but I was able to get the office cleaned up and organized (which also makes ME much faster). Overall it was a very slick process.
When you have a fully functioning system again, CLONE the new system and put your info, your notes and the disks in a safe place - once you've done this once, why go through the pain of organizing this stuff again ...
Now, rejoice in a much faster, problem free machine with a lot more free disk space.
Cheers,
x