Before I bother support.. does anybody recall this happening before.. and maybe a solution?

When I first boot up and start RB, no problem.
If I run BIAB first, then open RB I get the following error messages:

"THE ASIO SAMPLE RATE IS NOT SUPPORTED BY ONE OF THE USB INTERFACES... PLEASE CHECK YOUR SYNCH SETTINGS IN CONTROL PANEL"
(everything in control panel is set the same as in RB)

then as soon as that error is gone, I get:
"YOUR ASIO DRIVER IS A MAC BASED FORMAT... THIS PROGRAM DOES NOT SUPPORT MAC BASED FORMATS"
(that error repeats 3 times in a row)

Then I get this error:
"ERROR STARTING ASIO DRIVER... IF ERROR PERSISTS RESTART WINDOWS"

Restarting windows does fix it, but it happens so predictably, I have to wonder what's causing it.


I should probably add that If I start RB right after bootup and everything works fine, then close it and reopen immediately... I get the same cluster of errors.


Any thoughts?

I have the latest driver for the audio interface (which is an M-Audio Ozone keyboard)
Computer is DELL Inspiron 8 Gigs ram, Windows 7 Home Premium, build 7601

I should also mention that if I exit both RB and BIAB, no program should be using ASIO. But if I turn off my audio interface, the PC locks up and I eventually get a blue screen. This is the same thing that has always happened if I turn off the audio interface while its in use.

Its as though the programs aren't releasing ASIO when I exit.

Sounds like the 'System' may be reserving the ASIO driver, and being a 'one man dog' the next application suffers. Especially if it happens in multiple apps.

Good point... can you recommend a workaround? Reboot? Always?
That would be a pain, but I like it better than the blue screen I'm getting


is there a time requirement for windows to relinquish control? Maybe I'm just jumpin' the gun...?

That's one I would be calling tech for the answers.

I am dead in the water here.

for some reason my email won't send new messages... so I can't email PGMusic about it.

I tried calling, but they just give a recorded message and there is no opportunity to wait for an available operator. After the recorded message the call ends.

I tried live chat... but that's apparently for software installation help, not tech problems. He told me to call the toll free number with the recorded message.

I guess next step is to contact my ISP and find out why my email won't email.

I hate when you have to solve one problem before you can solve another problem so you can solve another problem

Pat, why do you need ASIO for BIAB? Can't you get by with MME and then save the ASIO driver for RB where you need it for recording? I run BIAB (MME) concurrent with Reaper and reserve the ASIO for Reaper. Would that work for you?

By the way, what audio interface? ..and what ASIO? Is it current?

Oh, and remember I have not yet installed my BIAB2015....

Hi Pat

I remember that I had a funny message when I first opened BIAB 2015 which suggested that I had compatibility problems with my ASIO driver and the program. The message suggested that I check the advanced settings in the Control Panel for Sound Playback/Record in Windows. I found that in the Advanced Pages, for the devices I was using. that they had been set to a default 24 bit studio quality. I changed this to 16 bit CD Quality and have had no problems since.

There are still oddities. I now cannot use MME drivers in BIAB and ASIO Drivers in RB - they work better with ASIO selected in both programs.

The current soundcard was installed some 12 months ago and has operated flawlessly until the above.

Thanks Lyn! Sounds exactly like my symptoms... I'll look at this.. I appreciate your help!



Interesting , though, that the same device with the same windows settings does not generate any errors when used with BIAB... only with RB

Lyn, as a followup to your suggestion:
I went back to control panel to check the windows configuration of the audio interface. I thought I had already made sure they were alike, but apparently not. Windows said 24bit, RB said 16bit.

So I changed everything to 16 bit. But even after restarting windows, returning to factory settings etc I still get error messages.

So I switched to a different audio interface and the error went away. Must have been something about the previous device that RB didn't like.

What was the previous Audio Interface Pat?

previous interface was an M-audio oxygen MIDI controller/audio interface

New interface is a Focusrite Scarlett 2i4

But today I'm getting different results. The scarlett has no problems running ASIO in BIAB, but in RB if I switch from MME to ASIO it sounds very slow and distorted.

It doesn't make sense that it runs fine BIAB but not in RB

Pat you probably already know this but ASIO is a one horse operation. Thus if you have BiaB open using ASIO then also open RB with ASIO the driver goes nuts and messes something up.

I do not record in BiaB so I use MME in it and ASIO in Sonar and I have absolutely no problems running both at the same time.

If you already knew this then sorry about the redundancy.

It depends on the ASIO device used. I use a Creative ASIO Driver with which I can actually play BIAB and RB tracks at the same time.

I'm like you in yet another way Mario! I don't normally need ASIO in BIAB since I don't record in that environment. I just set it up to use the ASIO driver as "process of elimination" test to see if the ASIO driver failed in every application, or if it only failed in RB.

The ASIO works fine in BIAB. So there must be something different about the way that RB uses it. Still researching and bugging support people at both companies.

Thanks for offering your thoughts! We're on the same page!

Have you actually changed BiaB to be MME, rebooted and then launched RB and tried ASIO?

Just curious.

ASIO is indeed a one man dog, and some drivers can switch between applications without problem while others don't seem to get properly 'released' for use in another program. I'm wondering if you are opening BiaB (or any audio program) and the drivers don't get properly released for RB. The most basic test is to set everything to MME, reboot (so Windows settings clear) and then try ASIO in RB.
That would determine that the RB/driver combo is an issue ..
or maybe a setting in the Oxygen is itself is errant. You said you changed everything in the computer to be 16 bit .. but if the Oxygen itself is set to be sending 24 bit you may have adjusted everything the wrong way.
.. then comes the 24/44 or 24/48 question .. some devices only support one of these.

Sorry, but lots of testing options came to mind when I read this.

bob,

Most of the time I only use RB, nothing else. Booting up from scratch I still get problems.

If the oxygen was set to 24, then it would have NEVER worked.. but it does work sometimes. I think the OXYgen had some problems though, and I'm not sure what all it might be affecting. So I took it out of the equations and started using a Focusrite 2i4. It also has problems with ASIO, but not the same ones as the oxygen.

I have an Oxygen 49 which I use to enter Midi notes, test chords etc. It comes with a lot of sliders and knobs most of which I do not use.

I have set up the 49 Driver as Input only and get it to work by selecting a specific Midi track with the output to an external Midi Synth (not DXi/VSTi). It is necessary to activate the connection at the start by clicking on the Program Column (in the Classic Tracks Window) and selecting the Patch via the Patch Panel. Once started, you can select different tracks/patches although, if you hear a piano unintentionally selected then repeat the patch setup as above.

It is a pity that changes in the 2015 RB version (accidental I hope) have changed the way in which selecting Midi Patches as above works as more keystrokes are now required.


.

I don't understand what you mean here Lyn.. I don't see a change for the worse... in fact I was just thinking yesterday that it seems easier to me now when I have to change MIDI patches.

I used to have to alternate between right click and left click, but now left click does it all... they've even set the patches up in multiple ways so you can either enter a patch number, or pick it from a pick list.

after complaining about my focusrite 2i4 not working in ASIO mode... yesterday and today it works flawlessly... and I have no idea what changed!

But I'm glad it did!

OK, I figured out what changed.

In the audio setup screen there is a checkbox that says something like "use IM effects". Checking that box triggered the distortion problem.

The problem of the crashing was caused by the driver. I sent Focusrite support the information provided to me by PGMusic support, and they sent me a new driver. So far so good (no blue screens)

And it turns out that a bunch of other issues I've been having with RB were caused by file corruptions that were caused by blue screen shutdowns that were caused by the bad driver.

After getting a driver that works, and then reinstalling BIAB/RB from the USB drive, everything works again!

Funny how often people say 'drivers drivers drivers' and some get annoyed.
Thanks for posting this so I can reference it.

I will admit; RB can have driver issues more often than some other DAWs, but it is quite often the driver and not RB. I've seen multiple instances of the device manufacturer realizing it doesn't correctly support a subset of the requirements (and therefore didn't work in RB). They can often easily fix it once pointed out. The good ones do this. Sounds like Focusrite went the extra mile and supplied the applicable driver for you. I'm liking them more and more.

Now go have some fun with RB!

That IM box adds a LOT of extra load to the system. If a system is stable and has the resources it can be cool and fun to play with.
However it should also be of one those features that is enabled only when you need it. I never save that setting with a song (This is a good tip).
Otherwise inattentive users can have all sorts of issues. This feature is not for beginners. Not that you, Pat, are a beginner, just saying this so others don't go enabling it without knowing what is required and how it works.

Hi Pat,

When I want to audition patches from a number of Synths using the Patch Lists then I open The Classic Tracks window and use numbers in the Program, Bank and LSB columns. These numbers used be able to be changed progressively by using the + and - keys providing a very speedy way of selecting and auditioning sounds. This method of changing patches has been available in RB from the start and in PowerTracks since the mid 1990 at least.

I pointed out the change during Beta testing and have Emailed Support. I suppose the problem could be local but my last copy of PTW still works as above described.

in some ways I am very much a beginner. Features change. We all seem to have our preferred way of using RB, and often that means using a limited subset of its features. Add full time employment, and there have been whole versions that I never had time to explore at all until now.

Now that I'm retired and using RB for extended periods every day, it's like being a new user. When offering help, don't assume I know something just because I've owned the product for a long time.

new information:

I thought the corrupted files were caused by the blue screens I was getting... but apparently the crypto wall trojan has been encrypting files in my BIAB folders.

Apparently this problem has just raised its nasty head again in the past week or so. Everybody should probably search their systems for files named HELP_DECRYPT (TXT, HTML or PNG) If you find any of those files, you have the trojan.

I just scanned my drive with a paid version of Adaware virus scanner, and it didn't find it.. so apparently this new strain is not yet recognized by them yet. I have Malwarebytes running now.

Do give us an update on the results of Malwarebytes Pat. It will be interesting to find out.

Malwarebytes didn't find anything either.

I updated the database of signatures and scanned again.. still didn't find anything.

I scan pretty often with multiple programs... a couple of days ago they both found and isolated something, but I don't remember what it was. It's possible that the damage was already done at that time, and I didn't notice it. If so, it would explain why nothing was found yesterday... the trojan may have already been removed before I discovered the symptoms.

However, most of what was encrypted by the trojan was BIAB files, and I had done a complete reinstall of the USB hard drive after finding and removing the previous threat.

So my gut feeling is that its still there but my antivirus is not finding it.

When I searched online for the telltale phrase "HELP_DECRYPT" all the hits were just a few days old, and many of them indicated that their antivirus did not detect it.

apparently the modus operandi of this trojan is that it looks in your RECENTLY USED record and encrypts that first, thinking that you probably use the important files more often, and they might be important enough that you would pay a ransom to have them decrypted.

When I searched my computer for files named HELP_DECRYPT, I notice they were all time stamped at practically the same time. Does anybody know of a utility that makes a record of the date, time and name of any program that writes to the hard drive? If I could determine which program was writing at the time the files were changed, I'd have a chance of deleting the right thing.

Welcome to my world.
Not on my personal PC's, but at work we have over a dozen servers getting attacked every day.
For a personal PC, if the time stamps seem to show it has stopped, I'd just keep an eye on it and keep updating Malwarebytes and scanning every couple days for a while until comfortable.
FreeCommander may help to find recently changed files (by date). That's the most basic tool I can think of to make sure files aren't getting changed still.

FWIW it could have happened during a given 'session' online, maybe only while a certain ad displayed, .. don't really have to do anything wrong these days to have this type of issue. But if it hasn't stopped I'd be more concerned.

/Our servers battle hack attempts every day 24/7 .. it gets SO old
//current cyber attack map shown below
/// notice anything?

hmmm... mostly from USA and China.

I take it the orange dot is where you work? And the map shows all the locations from which your servers have been attacked.

Thanks for the tip on freecommander. If your job is to keep a computer system safe... man, My hat is off to you for a whole new set of reasons! I wouldn't want that job these days for any amount of compensation!

There's a key for the map that I cropped that explains the colors, depending on what's getting hit the hardest. If you watch it in realtime you'd see those ones from the US are a reaction to the DOS attack; they get hit with tons of requests and in response they look like they are sending out a DOS for a second (due to the amount of data they suddenly generate) .. then it goes away. When it stops all together the server may be down.. never good.

This is a national map, and our server rack is in a co-hosted location, so I couldn't single them out using this map. A bunch of hosting companies have equipment there because of the fiber cabling, backup generators, climate/dust control, etc.
Rooms full of servers get hot. It is 9 degrees outside here today for the high and we have the A/C running in our development/testing/corporate servers room!

We're pretty good at keeping things locked down though. The only way to connect to our production servers 50 miles away is to first remote into our corporate system. That's the only IP allowed through the production firewall to begin with. First safety step of many, many layers.
Serious business.

Unfortunately we have companies that pay us to maintain their servers .. and they have terrible server protection on the servers they are leasing, so I do get my fair share of time fixing things when they've been compromised .. not on our system, but on others.

I'm actually head of the web/software development division where I work. And as such I am more involved in the infrastructure side of things than I care to be sometimes.