The toolbar is totally missing from BiaB. Ctrl+T moves the chord sheet to accommodate for the needed space for the toolbar but still nothing appears. I have updated to the latest patch. If I open a song, it still plays fine, but no toolbars!

[img]https://drive.google.com/open?id=18IehNpP4ufX-ZdwbHhJ3Wn8c5lNnsEVN[/img]

Hello,

I don't think the image you linked to is publicly viewable.
It sounds like you are somehow missing the toolbar images. Open your Band-in-a-Box (bb) folder and look for Data\Images\MainScreenButtons. Do you have that folder?

You should be able to view the image now. I will check the folder when I get back home. Thanks!

Well, we can see the image now, and definitely there's no toolbar.

Let us know the results of Andrew's question.

I do have that folder. It contains 20 folders within it along with 2 additional bmps.

so what is the solution? I have the same issue, and I got a preinstalled HD, so I BETTER have the folder. My first impressions with 2018 are that this seems pretty buggy.

Don't know about BIAB's demands for graphic stuff in Windows, but with other (audio) software and plugins a GUI problem often is fixed by Visual basic updates or repairs, sometimes even DOT Net, DirectX. BIAB 516 and 519 sofar proved very stable on my Win10 64bit 1803 (Fall Creators). - F

JohnnyBravo (great name by-the-way),

Try using the Windows control panel to change your computer's screen resolution setting. Depending on your computer graphic driver, you may have to restart the computer for the new setting to take effect.

This will cause the computer to "draw" screen images differently and it may "draw" the missing part of the image.

If this makes a difference, you likely can return to the original screen resolution and the image will be correct.

Good info about sources of graphics updates. But I can answer the first sentence: BIAB has a very low graphics requirement. Of all the components in a computer such as CPU, RAM, disk or SSD storage etc., graphics are at the bottom of the list to worry about for BIAB.

Last postings on this are from 2018. Like many other PG threads, no verified root cause or solution is presented in any of the postings. I just installed BIAB 2019 and I get the same exact problem pictured in the original poster's image. I also checked the Data\Images\Mainscreen Buttons folder and the 10 subfolders plus 2 additional graphics are present.

What is the solution for this problem, PG?

Looks like the OP never returned to tell us the fix. I agree, that is aggravating for a newbee. Sorry, I have never seen this problem. Likely the very same folks will chime in with the same advice...


btw welcome to the forum.

GetReal,

Welcome to the forum and to Band-in-a-Box.

Did the program not have the toolbars the first time you opened the program? If so then try "Options" > "Return To Factory Settings ..." > "Return ALL To Factory Settings".

The first reply assumes I'm a newbie to BIAB. That's baseless and 100% false. But at least the other points in that reply have some truth. Based on the other reply so far, it appears true that if post your issue in a PG forum, you are much more likely to get other posters trying to guess a solution to your problem, based on the remote chance that it might work and bring them some momentary heroic image, versus PG actually determining the root cause of the bug and actually solving it, for everyone.

Software debugging reduced to a runaway sprawl of forums which are overwhelmingly filled with guessing by individuals who have nothing to lose -- that's a great way for the same critical bug in 2018 to remain a critical bug in 2019.

In this case, I was specific about asking PG what the root cause and solution is for this problem which several of us have reported. I'd like to hear PG's analysis and root cause determination for this bug and the solution. Thanks.

To the second response - just another off the wall guess - I did one better than your proposed guess. I completely reinstalled BIAB 2019. I didn't alter factory settings in the fresh install. Doesn't solve the problem.

What's the solution, PG?

GetReal, welcome to the forum.

This is a user forum, so it shouldn’t be unusual that it contains replies of varying quality by users. There is nothing to be gained by criticizing those volunteers who are only trying to help. A few of us have been helping for decades. Some of us (not necessarily overlapping with length of effort) are fairly good.

Questions for PG Music Support can be directed several ways; see the Support tab above. I think the support by the company is normally excellent.

It is unfortunate that the solution was never posted, even assuming one was found, but I am pretty sure that I haven’t seen this problem mentioned outside this thread. I do recall a similar vexing problem that affected only a very small number of users, and PG Music was able to narrow it down to users of a specific chip. A patch was then issued. I wonder if something like that is at work here.

Since you’re not new to BIAB, you must be familiar with the GUI change in 2018. What happens when you switch to the older GUI by Ctrl+T ?

Give Support a shout. Hours this Monday are limited for the Canadian holiday.

GetReal, I support Matt's comments. This is a User Forum where users share ideas and try to help each other. There is no guarantee that PG Music staff will be involved with or witness any of these discussions.

Your issue might be better resolved by contacting PG Music support directly, rather than criticizing end users for not providing an answer. I also agree that it would be beneficial if a resolution had been posted but there may be many reasons that this did not eventuate. I haven't witnessed anyone here looking for "some momentary heroic image". That's not how the users on this forum generally operate.

Please communicate with PG Music Support directly, and please do post the resolution you find here.

Even though we could not have known previously, no welcome is apparently needed for you for Band In A Box, but welcome to the user forums is in order.

Matt Finley and VideoTrack, I read your replies. So, first, I'll respond to the only on-point question in the sum of your replies, with a similarly concise, on-point update:

MF: "What happens when you switch to the older GUI by Ctrl+T ?"
GR: The blank gray rectangle where the tool ribbon should be becomes twice as tall.

Regarding the rest of what you two wrote, I'd add (for the benefit of all users)
* Constructive criticism is good and necessary in order to have effective forum threads that quickly solve problems and leave lean, focused results that people can use. Note that you both criticize what I wrote, which is ok, but it shows that you also think criticism of forum input is good/necessary.

* If someone is asking a specific, clearly articulated question and you feel compelled to reply, at least re-read your draft reply first, asking yourself "does my reply directly address the question?" If the answer is "no", or even "maybe", don't post it. Verbiage that's superfluous or recites the obvious, like 'this is a user forum... people are going to say [whatever]... I'm another person who needs to welcome you to the forum... I agree with the opinion of the guy who just replied' or similar wastes your time, other users time, and more importantly it de-values the whole forum by encouraging a habit of clogging up the threads with low value-add content.

* It's fine to also have open-ended forum threads, but this one is about a very specific problem - a critical bug (something that makes the software severely unusable.) If you want to pursue open ended green lighting about the toolbar UI, start a separate thread on how BIAB toolbars should be designed and what acceptance criteria must be met before new/fixed UI is released. By simply not posting off-topic verbiage, you are helping the forum thread resolve the problem or helping to keep it clear that the user forum is unable to solve it.

We suggested you contact PG Music Support. What was the result?

GetReal,

Have you tried directly contacting PG Music technical support? +++ PG Music Contact +++ . There is also an online technical support request form +++ for Windows +++ and +++ for Mac +++

Good luck on your search for an answer. I hope you will take time to share the answer with us.

1. Does your MainScreenButtons folder look something like this:



2. Check if you are using a custom skin:

Opt. | Preferences | Display --> Custom Skins --> choose default.

3. If your Mainscreenbuttons folder appears to be incomplete, replace it with a factory folder. I will send it to you in a PM. Close Band-in-a-Box, replace the files, then re-open.

Keep a backup of the "bad" folder so that we could compare them later.

If the folder appears to be complete with all files present, perhaps system security software is playing a role, blocking access to some files.

4. Try returning factory settings. To do this, close Band-in-a-Box, find the Preferences folder and make a copy of it to have as a backup. Next, delete all the files inside the Preferences folder, and re-launch the program.

Let us know what you find.

We do expect you to post the verified root cause and the solution, once you find it. Please advise.

GetReal, I believe that you are quite incorrect. You appear to have mistaken genuine guidance, useful advice and honest recommendations as being "criticism".

There has only been sensible, useful advice from us. Please do identify the exact statements that were used that "criticized what you wrote". I re-read all statements and couldn't find them. I only found useful explanations, genuine well meaning advice, and further recommendations to try to assist you to resolve your issue.

Also, before replying, please ask yourself "does my reply directly address the question?" Please be concise.

I apologize for welcoming you to the forum, also. It was off topic.

Please explain, in detail, using all of the information provided, how you derived that this suggestion was "just another off the wall guess". I'm quite interested to know. I saw this as good, helpful advice.

You didn't appear to even answer the question that the member asked: "Did the program not have the toolbars the first time you opened the program?" You just "did one better than your proposed guess".

So, in summary, you asked a question and then "did one better" than following any helpful suggestions, because in your view they were "guesses"? Is that correct? How so?

This problem seems to be unrelated to the presence or absence of image files, but rather it seems to be a bug related to certain multi-monitor configurations.

We are looking into it and will report back when we have more info.

I guess my off-the-wall speculation wasn't so off, after all.

Thank you, Andrew.

If you are experiencing this specific problem (toolbar sometimes becomes blank with a multi-monitor setup) with Band-in-a-Box 2019, could you test out this new build (pre-release) and let us know if it is fixed.

Note this is a pre-release build. You can install the latest shipping patch afterwards if you need to revert back to the shipping build.

https://nn.pgmusic.com/pgfiles/support/patches/bb2019_win_update_build632.exe

I installed and tested the patch bb2019_win_update_build632.exe.

Note: The patch documentation lists many resolved bugs; I only tested the missing toolbar issue.

Result: BIAB software patch build 632 resolves the missing toolbar bug on my Win 7 computing environment.

I downloaded and installed the pre-release fix, but where is the documentation? Other than the toolbar issue, what else does it fix?

Dave, I understand that there are no changes in build 632 aside from the toolbar fix.

Thanks for confirming the fix. We will post this as a patch within the next few days.

Hi VT
Get Real says that the documentation fixes several bugs.
I can wait for the full release though - just thought I could get a quick start

Thanks Dave

The patch documentation advice is that only the missing toolbar issue is addressed in this pre-release.

GetReal stated "Note: The patch documentation lists many resolved bugs; I only tested the missing toolbar issue."

However, the release notes for 632 clearly states"


GetReal presumably didn't properly identify that the patch documentation contains a summary of multiple changes for earlier releases also, even though this is very clearly stated in the release notes.

Also, except for a single comment in 2018 on an issue with ASIO drivers, the word 'bug' is not used in the release notes. The term 'many resolved bugs' is only used in the wording used by GetReal.

Thanks - I was just looking for the release notes. I was hoping (and still hoping) that it will resolve 3 issues with notation I sent to PGM when 2019 was released. One has been there since 2004!

Dave, in a different thread I asked about this, and one of the developers confirmed what VideoTrack said, that this Build 632 ONLY fixes the reported multi-monitor problem.

In other words, your other suggestions are not addressed by this build.