Scores won't play and MuseScore stops other sound files from playing on my PC

• Oct 11, 2014 - 19:15

I've upgraded my operating system from Zorin 8 to 9 and re-installed MuseScore, version 1.3 revision 5702. Since doing this the program won't play back any score, there is no sound when you click the play icon and the bar/beat number don't change. The only observable difference is that the word 'play' appears at the bottom right hand corner of the screen next to the bar/beat number, and the notation toolbar (starting with "Concert Pitch") greys out.

Additionally, no other music will play on my computer while the MuseScore program is open. If I'm trying to listen to a song using Rhythm Box, nothing will happen until I close down MuseScore, at which point the sound suddenly kicks in.

Never had this problem before upgrading and re-installing, any ideas? Thanks.

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• Oct 12, 2014 - 08:57

Thanks. I looked under Edit-Preferences-I/O and selected "Reset to Default", and score playback works fine now.

Still have the issue of no sound from any other application (Rhythm Box, YouTube etc.) while MuseScore is open, which is annoying if I'm transcribing, so if anyone knows how to fix this I'd appreciate it!

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• Oct 12, 2014 - 12:09

The only difference between your I/O settings and mine is that the "ALSA Audio" box was unchecked in yours. I unchecked it in mine too then re-opened the program, but the result was the same, i.e. scores will play but no other music files will work in any other applications until I close MuseScore down. Infuriating! :-)

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• Oct 12, 2014 - 18:36

... and they either work just for MuseScore or not at all. No selection results in me being able to play music files on other programs while MuseScore remains open. As I use the software mainly for transcribing, this is a bit of a pain!

I'm currently getting around the issue by listening to the music on my phone or, where possible, a CD, whilst transcribing using MuseScore on the PC. Things were so much easier before I upgraded though, being able to switch simply between MuseScore and YouTube/Rhythm Box with a click.

Church Organist, what you say about the sound card makes makes total sense but I can't find the relevant settings. Might post this on the Zorin forum to see if the gurus there can shed any light.

Thank you both for your help.

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• Jan 22, 2015 - 15:42

My problem is very similar, although more recent. Here is a description:
There doesn't seem to be a category for this problem:
Starting, I think, with an update about 2 weeks back, I find that my sound
ceases to work whenever I open Musescore. To begin with, I thought it was a
hardware problem, but as Musescore was freezin every three notes or so, I
decided to uninstall and reinstall. Exiting from the program magically
restored the sound! I never-the-less proceeded to remove and reinstall.
Next time I opened the program I happened to be listening to the radio. This
went silent instantly when I clicked the icon to start Musescore. Closing Musescore restored the sound. I have repeated this several times with the same result. Sound within Ms is also
disabled, so I can't play back what I have written.
I am using Ms in Ubuntu 14.04 lts, 64-bit version.
The business of the program freezing every few notes seems to have cleared up
with the reinstallation, although I have not used it much since then.
Regards,
Aine

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