Critical GUI issue. Window/GUI does not react to any mouse and keyboard input. Impacts Ableton Live via M4L too.

Hi,

as stated in the title I have this massive issue that's been occurring since Max 7.

So far I cannot reproduce it reliably and I need your help to figure it out.

Very often, yet unpredictably, Max MSP interface completely freezes and stops reacting to any keyboard or mouse input whatsoever. Even more, if the window had been minimized to the Windows taskbar before the GUI freeze, it cannot be recovered. Also, the window controls such as minimize, maximize and close are not responding. When I try to right click the Max MSP icon (not the window!) in the taskbar I can get the menu to show up but I can not select any option from the menu as it simply does not respond to any input - the same way as Max MSP window.

Yet Max is still working in the background and playing sounds and also responds to MIDI devices connected to it so I can for example play on my MIDI keyboard even if the window is completely unresponsive to any other input as stated above.

Now I have found out that this exact same issue happens in Ableton Live when using M4L devices. The whole Ableton Live window then shows the exact same symptoms as standalone Max MSP. Ableton even manages to refresh the GUI itself so when I press a note on my MIDI keyboard I can see Live updating volume meters and MIDI input indicators. Yet I can't do anything with the window via mouse and keyboard and again the window cannot be recovered from taskbar, minimized, maximized, closed. Nothing. When I kill Live and try to recover the project, then immediately after M4L loads the window becomes unresponsive again. So immediately after the Live window opens there is like a 1 sec time-window when I can click on something but when M4L is finished loading the window immediately freezes.

I have tried many things such as running Windows 10 in safe mode, switch between integrated and discrete GPUs, disabling various suspected processes etc. Nothing helps.

I am losing hope so I desperately need your help in order to figure out the reproduction steps.

I am prepared to describe as many details as needed but I need your help to point me to a direction.

Thank you!