Troubleshooting

First isolate the editor, engine, project, media, Showmesh output, and downstream signal path.

Engine link lost

1. Read the ENGINE LINK LOST banner and retry count.
2. Remember that playback may still be running.
3. Confirm whether engined.exe is listening on port 7788.
4. Reopen the editor and allow it to attach to the persistent engine.
5. After reconnecting, verify NOW, NEXT, outputs, and control state before GO.

Video is black

• Verify the selected program display; use Ctrl+Shift+0 for a windowed check.
• Test without --gpu and preserve the engine log.
• On a hybrid-GPU system, inspect Windows Graphics Settings.
• Test a known H.264 or ProRes file.
• Check opacity, scale, position, layer order, and both resource/cue trims.
• Confirm the downstream display, NDI receiver, or Spout receiver separately.

Preview is missing

Preview is a separate low-rate channel. SHOWMESH_PREVIEW_HZ=0 disables it. The real program output is authoritative.

No audio

• Check resource and cue Volume; they multiply.
• Verify the audio bus device and channel range.
• Check Windows mute/device state and embedded audio channels.
• A null-audio device produces no physical sound.

MIDI is absent

Windows builds include RtMidi. The engine log should report both input and output port counts. Reconnect the device, restart the engine if port enumeration changed, inspect Control I/O → MIDI, and test the monitor before using Learn.

Installer is blocked

The beta installer is unsigned, so SmartScreen may warn. Use only an installer received from a trusted Showmesh source. A missing NDI sender usually means the NDI runtime is not installed.

Build fails with __std_* or _Thrd_*

Delete the stale engine build directory and reconfigure from the matching Visual Studio 2022 tools terminal. See docs/SETUP.md in the app repository.

Show state is unclear

Use PANIC only when a fast global fade/cut is safer than the unknown state, then use the prepared recovery cue. Never hand-edit the project during a live show.