Editor Not Loading

Product: Flyer

Platforms: 2000 3000 3000T 4000 4000T

Problem: When loading the Toaster, or moving within the Toaster software modules, the Editor fails to load, or seems to have unloaded, though it was present before.

Note: the Editor is the portion of the Toaster 4.1 software that allows you to assemble projects. The Editor is present if you the row of command buttons in the center of the Switcher screen, just below the Project window: Delete, All, Clone, Tools, Controls, the "VCR" buttons, Save, Programs, Views. If these buttons are missing, the Editor (also referred to as the "Sequencer", is not loaded.

Below are some low-memory situations that may prevent you from running a Toaster program, or from performing a memory-intensive operation within one.

System 4.1 makes quite a few demands on the chip RAM and fast RAM in your Amiga computer. While it's important to have enough total RAM, chip RAM can be critical. In the situations described below, where you may not have enough RAM to run a program, the probable cause is that the Amiga's available chip RAM is low. (For this reason, we recommend that Amiga 2000 owners with a stock system consider the MegaChip 2000 product, which will raise the chip RAM from 1MB to 2MB and alleviate the problem.)

1) On Startup: I see the Switcher but not the Editor.

In this case, which occurs during low-memory startup situations, the Switcher appears on the bottom half of the screen, but nothing appears on the top half. Either an error occurred that kept the Editor software from running, or there is not enough chip memory available for the Editor to load.

Press Ctrl+L Alt+F10 to exit the software and return to the Workbench.

Make sure that no other programs are running (especially graphics-intensive programs like image processors). Restart the Toaster/Flyer software. If it does not load successfully this time, exit once again and restart your Amiga (power down and back up), then start Toaster/Flyer software again.

2) Exiting a Toaster program: I see the Switcher but not the Editor.

If you use one of the custom startups for System 4.1, the explanation is simple. Some of the custom startup scripts keep the Editor from loading intentionally, freeing up a goodly amount of Chip RAM. This leaves more memory for the application you want to work in. LWStart is one example of this.

If you exit a Toaster application and return to the Switcher/Editor screen but the Editor is not there, you can press a hotkey combination to load it. Press F8 to load the Editor software atop the Switcher.

3) The Editor suddenly "went away".

Occasionally, a set of steps followed in a certain order can cause the Editor software to shut itself down (leaving the Switcher still on screen). (By the way, if this happens, try to write down those steps right away and report them to NewTek so that we can verify and fix the problem.)

You can reload the Sequencer and continue to work on the project you were editing without losing any work, because the project remains in RAM (even though the Sequencer exited). Just press F8 to reload the Sequencer software. Your project will reappear when the Sequencer reloads. At this point, we recommend that you save the project under a new name to be certain.