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Troubleshooting

Each entry gives the symptom, its usual cause and the fix. When none fits, open the worker log (right-click any component, Open worker log) and report an issue with the log, your operating system and the Rhino version.

The worker does not start

Symptom: components stay red with The worker at ... could not be started, exited while starting or did not answer within ... s.

Cause: the worker's Python environment is missing or broken, often after an interrupted first installation (it downloads several GB), or something blocks local connections on 127.0.0.1.

Fix: run the installer again and wait until it says Restart Rhino; restart Rhino. Check that a firewall or security tool allows Rhino's local connections. The log names the Python it tried to start.

"Run the installer again"

Symptom: is not this version's, runs compas_acoustics or schema mismatch: run the installer again.

Cause: the plugin and the worker come from different releases, for example after updating only one of them, or COMPAS_ACOUSTICS_WORKER_PYTHON points at an environment with another version.

Fix: run the installer of the release you want, then restart Rhino. If you set COMPAS_ACOUSTICS_WORKER_PYTHON, install the same compas_acoustics version there or unset it.

Binaural or Ambisonics is missing in Python

Symptom: ca.Binaural or ca.Ambisonics raises ImportError: ... needs Python >= 3.11.

Cause: they need Python 3.11 or newer (pyFDN, spharpy and multislope); on 3.9 and 3.10, Rhino 8's Python among them, compas_acoustics leaves them out.

Fix: use an environment with Python 3.11 or newer. In Grasshopper the Simulate Binaural and Simulate Ambisonics components work anyway: they run in the worker, which has Python 3.12.

macOS blocks the plugin

Symptom: Grasshopper does not load CompasAcoustics.gha, or macOS says the file cannot be checked.

Cause: files downloaded from the internet carry the quarantine attribute.

Fix: remove it from the plugin folder (Grasshopper: File > Special Folders > Components Folder), then restart Rhino:

xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine "<Components Folder>/compas_acoustics"

Windows blocks the plugin

Symptom: Grasshopper reports the plugin as blocked.

Fix: in the Components Folder, right-click each file of compas_acoustics, choose Properties and tick Unblock; restart Rhino.

Old components appear next to the new ones

Symptom: an older version of a component (for example an Audio Player) appears, or Grasshopper reports a component ID conflict.

Cause: a copy installed another way: an old Yak package from the Package Manager, CPython components (.ghuser) of an earlier version in UserObjects, or a developer build folder listed in Grasshopper's settings.

Fix: uninstall compas_acoustics in Rhino's Package Manager if it is listed there, delete compas_acoustics files from File > Special Folders > User Object Folder, remove extra folders listed by Rhino's GrasshopperDeveloperSettings command, and restart Rhino. The installer removes the old .ghuser components itself.

Where the logs are

  • The worker's log: right-click any component, Open worker log. It is a temporary file named compas_acoustics_worker_<process>.log, one per Rhino session.
  • The installer's log: the log output of the installer component.
  • The worker's environment: ~/.compas_acoustics/worker.json names its Python.