libFLAC.dll error

[talcardo]

Everytime I try to open or save FLAC, I get that. How do I solve this?

[GoldWave Inc.]

Search your computer for all copies of the libFLAC.dll file to make sure you don't have any older ones installed.

If the only one present is in the GoldWave File folder, then there may be an unusual compatibility problem with your computer's processor or perhaps the DLL file is corrupt. Try reinstalling GoldWave to see if that helps.

Chris

[talcardo]

I already had done those checks and also reinstalled a couple of times.
I have gone as far as downloading libFLAC from sourceforge, even older versions to see if any of them would work.
Everything has failed so far.
I would like to know of some other app that uses libFLAC and see if it also fails there or if it's something related to GW.

[GoldWave Inc.]

It looks like you are using an older version of Windows, which I would guess means you are using an older computer. It's possible that libFLAC.dll contains newer CPU instructions not present in your CPU. FLAC appears to be working fine on my computer.

Chris

[talcardo]

I use Windows XP. I purposedly use the classic theme because I don't like XP's default.
The CPU is an Athlon XP 2000+, which is not new, but other FLAC software works perfectly, including the official commandline encoder.

[GoldWave Inc.]

The command line FLAC encoder may have been built using different compiler options that are compatible with older processors.

Chris

[talcardo]

OK, I just found another app using libFLAC.dll : not other than WINAMP.
installed it, tried it, worked, changed libFLAC with the one from GoldWave's "File" directory and it works (you have to disable winamp "agent" sytem tray app, because it keeps a cache of winamp's dlls, nullifying the replacement of dlls) .
When I remove libFLAC.dll winamp crashes when attempting to play or encode flac, and when I put it in again, it works, so I can be quite sure it's actually using libFLAC.dll.

The conclusion: same libFLAC.dll works in Winamp and crashes in GoldWave, so it's not my system.

[talcardo]

No further diagnosis?
Come on, The libFLAC.dll that comes with GoldWave and crashes on my comp works fine with WINAMP on the same system.
Don't you see anything suspicious there?

[GoldWave Inc.]

Your conclusion is presumptuous. The following conclusion is just as valid: same libFLAC.dll works in GoldWave on my computer (and many other computers) and crashes in your computer, so it's not GoldWave. Click here for evidence.

It's likely that GoldWave uses features in the DLL that Winamp doesn't. Is there a specific set of files causing the problem? If you create a new file in GoldWave and save it in FLAC format, do you still get the error? If not, there may be a problem related to metadata in existing files, in which case I may require a file for testing. If you still get an error, then your computer's old CPU is most likely the problem.

Chris

[talcardo]

It does crash when trying to save newly created files from GW.
So far I've been able to decode and encode to FLAC with two libFLAC.dll based apps: WINAMP and CDex, which are the two I could find. If you can provide any other I'd gladly try it.
GoldWave gave me similar errors with all libFLAC.dll versions I threw at it. Not a single one worked.

libFLAC.dll does work SUFFICIENTLY in my OLD AND RUSTY computer so that WINAMP and CDex can use it to make working FLAC files. Why can't GW do that too?
If it is true that GW uses features within libFLAC that some old CPUs like mine doesn't support, then I say it'd be a good idea to make some compatibility mode the final user can use in case the normal one fails, because you see, WINAMP and CDex created correct FLAC files that I can use elsewhere and I don't think I or anyone else would need anything else from GoldWave's FLAC support.
What could these features be, anyway? Optimizations for CPU extensions like SSE and the like? aren't these optional? If CPU extensions are the problem, maybe you guys are enforcing them instead of using an autodetection algorithm... most programs have that.

[GoldWave Inc.]

Unfortunately GoldWave Inc. is not involved with the development of FLAC at all, so I have no control over the CPU instructions that it may be using. The DLL is taken directly from the FLAC development site. Looking at the link I mentioned above, it could very well be the CPU detection algorithm (FLAC__cpu_info) that is causing the error.

Also since I can't get the problem to occur on any of my systems, there isn't a way for me to find a workaround (if there is one). Rather than investing a lot of time making GoldWave/FLAC "compatible" with an old computer you may be throwing out in a year or so making all that work worthless, the best long term solution is to get a new computer or continue using the command line version of FLAC for now.

Chris

[talcardo]

I KNOW you are not involved in the development of FLAC, but since WINAMP and CDex can use the dll in my PC without a problem, I'm suggesting that, perhaps, you are passing wrong options/parameters to the dll.
There ought to be a parameter to intruct the DLL not to use CPU optimizations, if that's actually the problem. I don't think it would take a year of development to make a compatibility mode libFLAC.dll interface within GoldWave for this, frankly.

[DougDbug]

You said "every time", but have you tried different files? Have you tried opening a "simple" WAV file (maybe one of the Windows sounds from the Windows/Media folder) and saving it as FLAC?

I don't normally use FLAC, but I've seen weird hard-to-reproduce problems with audio/video files that are somehow related to the particular file. (For example, some MPEG files will crash my video editor, but they play fine on Windows Media Player.)

Just for reference... I have two (older) computers here at work with GoldWave installed, and both can save a file as FLAC and then re-open it.... One is a Pentium 200 running Win98 and GoldWave 5.25. The other is an AMD Sempron 2000 running Win2K and GoldWave 5.57

[JackH]

Not sure what the problem might be, but take a look at this:

http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?func=de ... tid=113478

It sounds like the same thing.