How to run Band-in-a-Box 11 and earlier on Mac OS X

Last updated:  Wednesday, 31 August 2011

Introduction

Band-in-a-Box versions 7, 8, and 11 run under Mac OS 8 and 9. They will also run under OS X in "Classic mode", which is the OS X emulation of the OS 9 environment. Band-in-a-Box 11 and earlier will not run natively under OS X. If you want to run Band-in-a-Box natively on OS X, you will need to upgrade to the OS X version of Band-in-a-Box. Click here for more information.

Some computers with OS X also have a separate OS 9 install. For some time after OS X first came out, this was fairly common. Newer computers, however, don't ship with OS 9 at all. If your computer does have OS 9, we recommend running Band-in-a-Box on OS 9, and not on OS X in Classic mode.

Running Band-in-a-Box on OS 9

Here is how to restart your computer in OS 9 from OS X, and vice versa.

To start up in OS 9 from OS X:

1. Go to the Apple menu and click on 'System Preferences'.
2. Click on Startup Disk and select Mac OS 9 in the Startup Disk dialog.
3. Click [Restart], then [Save and Restart].

To start up in OS X from OS 9.2:

1. Go to the Apple menu | Control Panels | Startup Disk.
2. Select MAC OS X and click [Restart].

You will want to have Quicktime 6.0.3 installed on your computer; this is the latest version of Quicktime for OS 8 and 9. Quicktime 5 will not work properly. To check which version of Quicktime you have:

1. Go to the Apple menu | Control Panel | Quicktime Settings.
2. Select 'About Quicktime' from the pull-down menu.

Quicktime 6.0.3 can be downloaded from: http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download/. Make sure you select OS 8/9 before starting the download.

Running Band-in-a-Box on OS X in Classic mode

To use Band-in-a-Box on OS X Classic mode, you just need to run Band-in-a-Box. Your computer will automatically launch the Classic environment. If this is the first time you've run Classic since your computer was turned on, it may take some time to load. If you get an error message indicating that Classic is not available, it is possible that Classic was skipped when OS X was installed on your computer. If this is the case, you will need to upgrade to the native OS X version of Band-in-a-Box.

You will want to have the lastest version of Quicktime for OS 8/9 installed on your computer. This is different than the OS X version of Quicktime. Quicktime 6.0.3 is the latest Classic version of Quicktime, and it can be downloaded from: http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download/. Make sure you select OS 8/9 before starting the download. Installing the Classic version of Quicktime on your computer should not affect the OS X version that you have installed. In other words, the OS X version will still be available for use by itself and with your native OS X applications.

You do not want to have Quicktime 5, as this version of Quicktime did not work properly with Band-in-a-Box and other 3rd party MIDI applications. To check which Classic version of Quicktime is installed on your computer:

1. Open Band-in-a-Box to start Classic.
2. Go to the Apple menu | Control Panel | Quicktime Settings.
3. Select 'About Quicktime' from the pull-down menu.

You will encounter the following problems when running Band-in-a-Box in Classic mode:

• You may experience latency with Quicktime. In other words, the notes will be highlighted on the virtual piano keyboard and notation window slightly before you actually hear the note. You may be able to solve this problem by installing Quicktime 4.1.2, rather than Quicktime 6.0.3, but this solution is not guaranteed to work, and can cause more problems than it solves. Click here if you want more information on how to "downgrade" to Quicktime 4.1.2.
• You will not be able to use external synthesizers or sound modules with Band-in-a-Box. This is because Band-in-a-Box requires OMS or FreeMIDI to communicate with your MIDI devices, and neither OMS or FreeMIDI will work under Classic Mode.
• You may not be able to print your music.