Sinclair  Stewart

I have all of sudden got a launch problem with Max 8 - every time I open the programme I get a "(not responding)" and the programme fails to launch. I have tried reinstalling and deleting the preferences folder with no luck. I have also tried earlier versions of Max which manage to launch but freeze with a spinning wheel at the console window. I have also tried to reset the permissions in recovery mode but do not have the space to reinstall the operating system.

Running on Mac Catalina 10.15.7 Use Ableton 10 as well - M4L stock devices seem to be working but editor window does not open.

I have sent a message to tech support aswell but thought I would post here in case someone had fixed a similar issue.

I have all of sudden got a launch problem with Max 8 - every time I open the programme I get a "(not responding)" and the programme fails to launch. I have tried reinstalling and deleting the preferences folder with no luck. I have also tried earlier versions of Max which manage to launch  but freeze with a spinning wheel at the console window. I have also tried to reset the permissions in recovery mode but do not have the space to reinstall the operating system. 

Running on Mac Catalina 10.15.7  Use Ableton 10 as well - M4L stock devices seem to be working but editor window does not open. 

Good afternoon,
I have all of sudden got a launch problem with Max 8 - every time I open the programme I get a "(not responding)" and the pr

max-won't-launch!

Use Ableton 10 as well - M4L stock devices seem to be working but editor window does not open.

Running on Mac Catalina 10.15.7 
Use Ableton 10 as well - M4L stock devices seem to be working but editor window does not open. 

I am on Windows but I have the same exact problem. What was the solution for you?

Hi Sinclair

I am on Windows but I have the same exact problem. What was the solution for you?



Hi Sinclair! I have the same problem, but on Windows. How did you resolve the issue?

I reinstalled my operating system and it resolved the issue .

Hope you get it sorted - it was a right pain for me.

I reinstalled my operating system and it resolved the issue . 

Omg, I hope I have to not do that. It would be equally painful rn

Same problem here: I really don't want to reinstall windows though there's gotta be another way?

On Windows, can you see if anything Max-related is still running in Task Manager even when Max is closed? On Mac, you could run the terminal command

to see if there are any lingering processes.

On Windows, can you see if anything Max-related is still running in Task Manager even when Max is closed? On Mac, you could run the terminal commandps aux | grep Max to see if there are any lingering processes.

Thanks but unfortunately it's worse than that. I updated bios and drivers yesterday I think it's related to that. I am trying to undo that process unsuccessfully

I honestly suggest to do a reinstall of windows without cancelling datas and apps (beside max). It was fast and painless for me. If I knew it was that easy, I would have done it from the start. I contacted support about the problem tho, but unfortunately I had to do the fresh install because of a work, so we didn't continue.

I had this problem some time ago, if you have a corrupted patch sometimes MAX fails to launch. I also deleted all my 32-bit plugins when I had this error and it worked! Definitely easier than having to reinstall windows.

Try deleting your MAX preferences folder. It will be in Users>your user name>AppData>Roaming>Cycling 74. Fixes a multitude of errors.

@FOLDH Thanks, I did just that and it worked!

I was having a similar problem. Max would not start up at all. Trying to start the program, the Max icon would appear on my windows toolbar for 5-10 seconds, and then just disappear without ever successfully loading.

To resolve this, I opened up the Windows Event Viewer, selected "Windows Logs/Application". Here, there were a number of Error level log items pertaining to Max. I was able to figure out that Max was failing to start because of a problem with ASIO4ALL that I had installed. Uninstalling ASIO4ALL corrected the problem and now Max opens with no issues.

Hope this will help anyone else experiencing similar issue.

Asio4All runs on my windows10 installation and Max 8 without any problem,

Most Max stuck on launch problems are related to corrupt preferences,

leftovers from auto saved restore patches and similar problems.

Wiping the user preferences folder is allways a good start.

Bad configured audio drivers are also sometimes causing problems.

Asio4All runs on my windows10 installation and Max 8 without any problem,
so I would not blame it in first place.
Most Max stuck on launch problems are related to corrupt preferences,
leftovers from auto saved restore patches and similar problems.
Wiping the user preferences folder is allways a good start.
Bad configured audio drivers are also sometimes causing problems.


Just wanted to chime in here to add to the dialogue. I resolved this issue for myself on windows by opening task manager and scrolling far down beyond background processes and sure enough found max 8. Ended that task and it restarted fine. Can't imagine having to reinstall my OS over this. Make sure to check the entire list on task manager before taking drastic measures. It was hidden but not too hard to find.

whan max icon reappears in the taskbar, then it did relaunch

If it hangs in background and icon does not show, then easiest 

solution is to kill it using small batch script. 

whan max icon reappears in the taskbar, then it did relaunch
but has problems.
If it hangs in background and icon does not show, then easiest 
solution is to kill it using small batch script. 


Max won't launch!