How to use a debug version of MuseScore

Updated 6 years ago
This page shows old instructions for MuseScore 1.
For MuseScore 4 users, see How to use a debug version of MuseScore.

Note: This page is from 2010 and out of date. Nightly builds can be downloaded from https://musescore.org/en/download#Nightly-versions. If want to run in "debug" mode, execute MuseScore from a terminal with " -d" as a command line option . However, this doesn't print out all the qDebug messages. If you want that, you will have to self compile MuseScore: https://musescore.org/en/developers-handbook/compilation.

A special "debug" version of MuseScore displays messages about each step that is happening inside the software. It can be useful for finding the source of bugs or problems with the software. The instructions below show how to use a debug version that is pre-built.

Important: the debug version is not a stable release and is only intended for testing a specific problem. Please use other versions of MuseScore for creating or editing normal scores.

Instructions for Windows

Download the "debug" version of MuseScore.
http://prereleases.musescore.org/windows/nightly/mscore-debug.7z

After you download the file, you will need to decompress the file using 7-Zip (as explained on the Windows nightly builds page ).

When the "debug" version is running it displays detailed information in a separate window called a "command prompt". The "command prompt" usually appears as a small window with white text on black background.

  1. Open the uncompressed "mscore-debug" folder
  2. Double-click "runDebug.bat". This should open the main MuseScore window and the debug window
  3. Follow the exact steps that are causing problems for you in MuseScore and then choose File > Quit

The command prompt should remain open after you close the main MuseScore window. It is sometimes helpful to share the contents of the command prompt text when discussing a bug. However, the text is often lengthy so it is probably best to only share it if requested or if you notice something important. Copying text from the command prompt is different from any other program in Windows so the remaining steps describe this procedure.

  1. Right click on the command prompt window and choose "Mark"
  2. Click and drag to select the text. Make sure you get all the text
  3. Press Enter. The text is now copied
  4. You can now paste this text in other programs via the normal methods (Edit > Paste)