Error creating ASIO buffer - PG Music Forums

Hello

I am a new owner of BIAB 2013, and it seems like it may be some fun software – if I ever get it running.

First off – I am not a recording engineer or computer geek. I am a singer-songwriter-guitar player.

I have been recording successfully in a home studio using Cubase 6 coupled with a Lexicon Omega for several years. Cubase uses the ASIO drivers in the Lexicon Omega.

So I set up BIAB 2013 to utilize the ASIO in the Omega .. and every time I try to use BIAB I get the following admonishment.

“Error creating ASIO buffer Access violation at 00A06185 in module bbw.exe
Write of address 00000004 at 00A06185”

Then it doesn’t play at all and then freezes up.

Nice that it tells me I have an error, but I am left with no suggestion of what I can do to correct it.

If I switch the audio setting to MME … perhaps one track will play, MIDI seems totally absent.

Now fully realizing my technical short-comings I have spent some time in the PG help chat and been put through the cycle of reboot, change the drivers in Real Band (which I have yet to use at all) and reboot … change the drivers in BIAB .. reboot … this cycle is endless and accomplishes absolutely nothing.
PG chat support seems to be right there and well meaning .. but I am getting nowhere.
At the end PG support suggested that Windows itself is using the Omega ASIO and BIAB can’t operate if another program is using it. (Win7 takes control of an ASIO DAW) ?

This is a dedicated computer, music creation only.

The only productive programs on this computer is Cubase 6, BIAB and Real Band. No Microsoft Office, Email, or the other nonsense. All windows sounds are shut off, no onboard sound card, only the Lexicon Omega for vocal/guitar input.

My recording computer is: ACPI x64, Windows 7 Pro 64 bit, Intel Core i7 CPU 6 GB RAM
I am using the BIAB 2013 hard drive.

I am tempted to install an onboard Sound Blaster card .. but every home recording forum I frequent says “No, never, ever and don’t. Use a good DAW”. Which I think my Lexicon Omega is still pretty good.
Even swapping out the DAW or installing a sound card .. I suspect I may inherit the same dilemma.
I think I need a solution to the problem, rather than continuing to guess and/or buy equipment I may not need.

Any kind soul out there have any ideas as to a solution that a BIAB newbie might understand ? Or perhaps a suggestion on a proven BIAB-DAW setup ?

Thanks

Welcome to the forum. I hope someone here has your setup and can help. Just curious, are you using the latest 2.7 driver for the Lexicon Omega?

And a few general questions that may yield some clues:

Are you running BBW.EXE as Administrator?

Do you have a virus checker running?

Did you disable any virus/malware program before installing BIAB?

You said you are using the BIAB 2013 drive. Are you running BIAB from the drive? Which of the four setup options did you choose?

Hi Windy Mac,

Welcome to the forums.

Did you run the setup program on the USB drive before attempting to run BIAB? If so, which option did you choose? Also, what package did you get (e.g. ProPak, MegaPak, UltraPlusPak, etc.)

Personally, if your internal hard drive has enough space, I suggest fulling installing the program on your hard drive (this is not possible if you purchased the Audiophile version). Also, if you do install it on your hard drive, do not add it to Program Files. Keep it in a directory (folder) off the drive (e.g. d:\bb).

Regards,
Noel

Hi Windy Mac and welcome to the forum!

**When using any USB sound device with Band in a Box, it is important that the USB device be connected and recognized by the OS before starting up Band in a Box.**

Don't know if that is your particular problem or not, but it sure gets me quite often as I have other programs for recording that don't need to do it that way, they will recognize my USB appliances when I choose to plug them in to the computer. Cubase may be like that, don't know for sure.

HTH,

--Mac

Hi Matt and Noel196 – Thank you for responding, I very much appreciate it.

MATT:-
Yes I installed the latest 2.7 driver for the Lexicon Omega.
Yes I have virus checker running - Microsoft Security Essentials
Am I running BBW.exe as Administrator ? - I am running the windows system as Administrator.
Did I disable virus/maleware before installing ? - If the setup asked me to disable virus/maleware, I think I would have done so. If you are asking if I did - I cannot remember
Am I running BB from the drive ? - Yes I am running BB from the usb drive – choice of setups, I do not know short of running setup again.

NOEL196:
My purchase was BB Ultra Plus PAK
I ran the setup application on the BB hard drive
Noel you are suggesting I am better off installing BB onto an internal hard drive. As you see, I do have ample room on my E or F internal hard drives.
Drive C 148 GB ( 87.3 free )
Drive E 931 GB, ( 843 GB free )
Drive F 931 GB, ( 888 GB free )

So guys … Should I stop driving myself and you guys nuts trying to fix this and continue to run the usb, or cut my losses and aggravation and do a complete install on one of my internal drives ?
If so, am I doing a ‘copy’ over to the hard drive, or will it be an install ? If so … will the setup guide me through a clean successful install, or do you have any advice on ‘how’ and ‘where’ and ‘what’ to select. (Noel suggests a separate folder, not Program Files) Are there residual items on the C drive from running the usb that I should uninstall from the system before doing so ?

I know my status on the forum will be, ‘newbie pain in the ass’ for a while. It is a little intimidating as I can see by reading the forum most of the members are light-years ahead of me musically and BB engineer-wise. However; I am looking forward to the software, it seems everything a songwriter needs.

Thanks guys – pleasure to know you

Hi Mac ..

My usb sound device, Lexicon Omega is plugged-in prior to opening BB. My mics work fine through the windows sound with the Omega and in BB with the Omega. Its the ASIO that will not work. As to your question, and upon thinking of it, of course the usb BB hard drive and the Omega are plugged-in as required. Perhaps the sequence affects the setup.

It has been suggested I install BB to an internal drive and not use it as a usb device.

Onwards .. and forever sideways ...

Thanks mate

Hi Windy Mac,

Given that you have so much space on E: and F: drives, I encourage you to install the program on one of those. It will run a little faster. The USB drive then becomes a great back up. (The UltraPlusPak is a terrific purchase! You're going to love it once it's up and running.)

Regarding the install, there is nothing you need to uninstall before going for the full install. BIAB does not use Window's registry and only puts a couple of files (like fonts) in the Windows directory. BIAB will certainly guide you through a full install. All you need to do is to specify folders for BIAB and Realband: say something like e:\bb and e:\Realband (these are PG Music's default names). The install will take a little while because there's a great deal of copying to be done. If presented with the option to install Coyote WT (Coyote Wavetable), choose "yes".

A full install might not fix your problem but it will make it a little easier to troubleshoot because any potential USB problems are eliminated.

When you initially setup BIAB ...

Go to "Opt | Preferences | Midi Driver" (1).
Select Microsoft GS Wavetable synth (2).
Activate the check boxes (3).
Make sure that Coyote WT is selected as your VST/DXi (4).
Set the audio driver as MME.

This is a standard setup and the most likely to work. It's best to check this configuration out before playing around with other software synthesisers and other audio drivers.

Regards,
Noel

Ooooh-kay ...

As suggested .. installed BB on my F hard drive ...
No immediate ASIO warning on opening BB and no freeze up
Set 1,2,3,4,5, as you instructed .... MME driver
Songs play .... studio mic working ..
(holding my breath here) .... and will keep you posted.

Thanks for the help guys

I have had this same problem (Win 7 x64) with BAIB 2013, ASIO4ALL, and external USB sound devices (ART and TonelabST-not Lexicon), and discovered that it would resolve if I started another music program which used ASIO4ALL (Reaper in my case). I played with both RealBand and BBW and discovered I could cause the problem by removing a device (internal sound device) from the ASIO control panel from within either program. Then I would get the same error you describe. Restarting the program wouldn't help. My first solution was to start Reaper and configure ASIO. Then the RealBand and BBW problems disappeared.

I discovered that the problem could also be solved by choosing an MME driver, playing something in RealBand or BBW using the MME driver, then EXITING (critical to exit) RealBand or BBW. When you restart BBW, you can choose an ASIO driver and configure it, and it works. Since you're using MME now, you could just restart Band in a Box, configure ASIO, and it should work. Your device may also be usable with ASIO4ALL if this solution dowsn't work with your ASIO driver. My TonelabST has its own ASIO driver but also works fine with ASIO4ALL.

It may later redevelop, which it will on my computer if I start RealBand or BBW without my USB sound device connected. Then ASIO4ALL defaults to the internal sound. If I then try to remove that internal sound device, the problem will always recur.`

You might try this and see if it works for you.

Windy Mac,
I have been working on solving this same problem. The problem doesn't seem to be in the BIAB or any of the platform issues. It's in the Asio and Soundcard. It will allow only one input and one output so you can only do one thing at a time. I found some help on this issue in a video when I googled "Windows 7 and Asio" I'd post a link but I don't know how to do that. In the video there were several ways discussed to work around the problem. I've tried them all and finally settled on getting a USB external soundcard to handle my other devices with extra in and out ports. Hope this works. I downloaded the latest Asio driver as a start and found the new panel to be a big help in selecting the in and out ports.
Good luck in your efforts.
Val

Yes, typically ASIO is best when used with only one program that addresses audio drivers running at the same time. There are, however, examples where ASIO can be used in two programs at the same time. Inside BiaB, in the MIDI/Audio settings window, pushing the Audio button you should find a toggle, "ASIO Always On" that defaults to true. You can try unchecking that and see if it helps, although usually keeping it checked is what helps.

Also -- Any soundcard where the ASIO drivers can be set separately within the soundcard's control software to any bitrate and depth other than 44.1/16 can cause error messages when opening Band in a Box. This is because Band in a Box is designed only to work at 44.1/16. Band in a Box wants control of the soundcard to set it to that and some mfr's designed their software to allow manual selection of other bitrates. BB often can't change that. Try changing to that bitrate and depth inside your soundcard control software, or perhaps there is a setting there that allows any host program to choose when opened, that can work as well. This problem is typically only for ASIO drivers as choosing MME drivers will likely already be at that bitrate anyway.

--Mac

Thanks for all the suggestions ... all or some of which may have some answers - at least I am not the only one with this problem.

Noel - BB is noticably faster since installing on my internal F drive. I am up and running, albeit in MME. Guitar and vocals through the Lexicon are now showing up in BB. MIDI-track selections are not working well yet.

Mac - you may have a point with the 44 1/16 .. I always try to set at 44 24 to match my Cubase6 (did not know BB can't handle above 16)

Val - Thanks .. I will read up on Win 7 and ASIO

DrT - Your program switching and resetting may have been what PG chat was attempting to have me do while online. It did not seem to help, but I will consider another attempt. I have been afraid to select ASIO anything again in case I screw the whole thing up again. But .. for vocal and guitar I will low latency ASIO . . .

Thanks everyone . . . keeping the faith here ....