Audio static then crashing

Comments

• cvanbuck

  October 1 edited October 1

  Hi @lmgetzphd

  A couple of things you could try:

  • First, double-check that all your audio files are in the exact same format (sampling rate, bit depth, and number of channels; e.g., with Audacity). Even small inconsistencies can sometimes cause the sampler to crash.
  • Crashes like the one you describe can also come from bugs in the underlying libraries. If possible, you could try switching to the PsychoPy backend to see if that resolves the issue.

  Let us know if that helps,

  Claire

  P.S. About your inline script: depending on what it does/how it is used, it should be possible to adapt it for OpenSesame 4 (which is generally recommended). If you’d like, you can share your experiment file so that we can take a closer look at it.

  Check out SigmundAI.eu for our OpenSesame AI assistant! 🤖
• lmgetzphd

  October 1

  Thanks for the suggestions @cvanbuck !

  We have been running the same experiment for a while, and the problem just started occuring this week, so I don't think it is the audio files, but I still double checked and all seems well.

  I changed the PsychoPy backend and the same issue remains.

  
  

  One issue I noticed that I'm not sure if it's related is when I open the program, it says "could not parse retrieved OSF settings" "Using cached OSF settings instead" (see screenshot image).

  

  
  

  It just doesn't make sense that this issue would start now when I have been running participants with this same setup for months.

  I'm happy to share my experiment file, but my inline script is using item.set() which has been removed in Open Sesame 4 so I would need to determine how to count trials and insert a break screen after every 14 trials with the new version of Open Sesame. I have not searched for help doing so yet as I was hoping to run all participants using the same version of Open Sesame.
• cvanbuck

  October 2

  Hi @lmgetzphd

  Thanks for the extra details.

  Since the experiment and audio files haven’t changed + changing the backend didn't help + consistent audiofile formats + the issue only started recently, it does sound like it could be related to your device system (e.g. drivers, Windows update, or audio output). But I am not sure, so I'll do my best to help.

  A few things you could try next to continue troubleshooting:

  • Check whether your system or audio drivers were recently updated. If that's the case, and if possible, roll back to a previous version.
  • If you’re currently using speakers, try switching to headphones (or vice versa) to see if the issue is tied to the audio output of your device.
  • You could also try disabling the sampler items in your experiment, to check if the issue is tied to audio playback; if it's still crashing, then it might be something else.
  • Try running the experiment on a different computer with the same Opensesame version, or, indeed, share your experiment file here so I (or anyone else) can test if the crash is reproducible.

  Let us know how it goes!

  Claire

  Check out SigmundAI.eu for our OpenSesame AI assistant! 🤖