Warning before updating NewBlueFX plug-ins!

optodata

Senior Contributor Location: California, USA Joined: Sep 16, 2011 16:04 Messages: 8630 Offline

Solved by

Oct 08, 2021 01:17

NewBlue FX just released a slew of updates for their plug-ins, like Stabilizer, Elements 3 Energizer and Filters 5 Refocus. All of the affected packages will show up in the NBFX Activation Manager (and aren't related to the FX bundled with PD), and all afftected version numbers end in x.x.211005 (as in Oct 5 2021).

If you install any of these updates then try to launch any version of PD, it will crash as soon as the media libary contents are shown. If you reboot, newer versions like PD19 or 20 may be able to run, but the updated plug-in will no longer be available. Older PD versions, like PD14 and PD17, will not be able to launch until the updated plugin(s) has/have been removed.

I'm going to report this to both CL and NBFX but please be careful and avoid any of these updates until the issue can be resolved.

As long as you have older installer versions of these plug-ins, you should be able to restore the functionality. I restored my last system image before the PD20 version of PD365 came out and the issue is present in PD19, so this appears to be unrelated to the licensing issue that voided all bundled NBFX last month.

This has been assigned ticket ID 60832 by NBFX support; and CS002413842 by CL tech support.

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at Oct 08. 2021 01:48

optodata

Senior Contributor Location: California, USA Joined: Sep 16, 2011 16:04 Messages: 8630 Offline

Oct 10, 2021 17:30

Here is a video showing my findings. It's 5 and a half minutes long and may only be of interest to the NewBlue and Cyberlink support people.

My main findings are as follows:

Updating any of the NewBlue packs to the latest version will cause all installed PD versions to crash when trying to launch them

Uninstalling any updated pack restores all functionailty across all installed PD versions

Installing the latest NewBlue version, then rebooting, will allow PD20/365 to run but the installed pack is not available in the editor. All older versions of PD will crash after launch

Installing the older version of any pack will restore functionality to all older PD versions. However, once a pack has been uninstalled, PD20/365 will no longer have access regardless of which version of the New Blue pack is reinstalled

To restore the missing functionality, PD20/365 has to be uninstalled and then reinstalled after the older versions of any updated NewBlue packs have been (re)installed

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at Oct 11. 2021 10:22

tomasc

Senior Contributor Joined: Aug 25, 2011 12:33 Messages: 6464 Offline

Oct 13, 2021 00:16

NewBlue users should see this post: https://forum.cyberlink.com/forum/posts/list/85971.page .

optodata

Senior Contributor Location: California, USA Joined: Sep 16, 2011 16:04 Messages: 8630 Offline

Oct 13, 2021 01:14

That's the same issue. Seth at NewBlue support has forwarded the issue to their QA department as it's the latest update that's causing the crashes.

Hopefully they'll be able to figure out what's going on as the crash affects all PD versions that I've tested (PD13, 14, 17, 19 and 365).

optodata

Senior Contributor Location: California, USA Joined: Sep 16, 2011 16:04 Messages: 8630 Offline

Oct 14, 2021 14:40

CL tech support has responded and said that after analyzing the crash reports from my computer, they found the crashes were caused by the NewBlue_PlugIn_Filters.dll module and that I will need to follow up with NewBlue.

I'll post back once I hear any news from them.

keithwjones

Newbie Joined: Sep 24, 2019 18:53 Messages: 48 Offline

Oct 15, 2021 06:32

Quote
I'll post back once I hear any news from them.

Thank you for the update.

Keith

tomasc

Senior Contributor Joined: Aug 25, 2011 12:33 Messages: 6464 Offline

Oct 15, 2021 20:29

I have received responses from NB support and supplied them with requested and relevant info from my pc. This is a response from today:

Hi Tommy,

Unfortunately, this is a known bug that started occurring after the latest update of PowerDirector that we have not determined a solution as of yet. Our developers are working on this with high priority.

Your request is being put on hold until we have a resolution. At that time, we will contact you with further instructions. Again, we apologize for the inconvenience and thank you for your patience.

I did follow up that I am reporting this on a previous version of PowerDirector. Hopefully this will be fixed soon for all PD versions.

bjtap1

Member Joined: Nov 19, 2010 21:36 Messages: 79 Offline

Oct 15, 2021 22:17

Unfortunatelly, I did not see these posts in time and I cannot delete all the x.x.211005 files. So I have a New Blue ticket in that will not be looked at until at least Monday .... but: I changed the compatibility mode of PD 20/365 to (I believe) windows 8,1, and PD is running again.

I don't know if this will cause any problems down the line, but if you are stuck like I was (am) perhaps this will be a temporary solution until either New Blue or CL fixes things. (I did uninstall and re-install of PD 2x).

BTW: I mentioned I cannot delete all the x.x.211005 files: in my case I have Filters 5 Ultimate of said version but I can find no way to delete it or downgrade it. Not listed in uninstaller, not listed the start menu under New Blue or anywhere I can find. Online, NB only has the x.x.211005 version available for download. If anybody has an idea how to delete the Filters 5 Ultimate please let me know.

Thanks,
Barry

optodata

Senior Contributor Location: California, USA Joined: Sep 16, 2011 16:04 Messages: 8630 Offline

Oct 15, 2021 23:19

That's a fascinating fix to use compatibility mode. I'll do some testing when I have time.

I just checked on the NewBlue My Products page, and while they list all the updates that have been released for each purchased pack, the only version that can be downloaded is the current one. Same goes for the download-dash page that's linked in the purchase confirmation email.

When you first downloaded the pack Filters 5 Ultimate pack the installer should have been named something like NewBlueFilters5Ultimate-180730.exe and a search of your download folders should let you recover it and reinstall that earlier version. You most defintely want to avoid the x.x.211005 versions!

I've moved all my NewBlue installers and patches to a OneDrive folder so they're always available from either of my editing PCs. Hopefully you'll be able to find the earlier installer versions.

For uninstalling the unwanted Filters 5 Ultimate, try the free version of Revo Uninstaller Pro.

optodata

Senior Contributor Location: California, USA Joined: Sep 16, 2011 16:04 Messages: 8630 Offline

Oct 15, 2021 23:39

I actually just ran a few quick tests and I can confirm that setting the compatibility mode (right-click on the desktop icon then choosing Properties | Compatibilty | Compatibility mode and setting it for Win8) will allow PD20/365 to run, but the updated NewBlue pack will not be available. Note that if you have Win11, you first need to select Show more options from the initial right-click menu to get to the Properties tab.

Unfortunately, that process doesn't seem to work for older versions like PD17.

Also, as long as you can find an earlier version of the installer for any affected packs, there's no need to uninstall the current version. The older installer will show a bunch of errors in the log file but it will overwrite the newer version and restore asccess in all PD versions.