Hi, I have installed the 2018 version as an upgrade and there is a problem in the practice window. The 101 Riffs and the Master Solos Columns are not displayed in BOLD and it shows as N/A.
Before the upgrade the two columns were all linking to the files but no longer.
I have spent 2 solid days trying to sort this out, including trying to Chat online to the PG Staff (that was disappointing as I was left waiting between questions, for up to 30 minutes!) but that didn't work.
I have tried to revert back to the older version and then to retry the upgrade, several time and I am now exhausted. I think that it may be to do with the new filing system though.
I also had other problems with the audio and the download manager but I managed to solve that.
This is a known issue, the Practice Window is looking in the BB folder for that material, rather than in BB\Songs and Lessons.
It'll be fixed with an update patch, and in the meantime, you can access that material by hitting File - Open, navigating to the Songs and Lessons Folder, and opening the files manually.
I tried following the steps in Support FAQ #166 ("Can I store the RealTracks and RealDrums on a different hard drive than the Band-in-a-Box® and RealBand program?") and now can't get past error messages. What a mess. I'll try uninstalling everything and re-installing to default on the root of C: (bad programming), but that means I'll have to be very careful about limited free space on C:. Meanwhile, my D: drive has 700+GB free.
You can store RealTracks and RealDrums at another location, on a different drive if required. Many of us do. In fact virtually all Audiophile users do this.
Just install BiaB in the \bb\ folder.
Then in BiaB, Options > Preferences > RealDrums and nominate the Custom Folder where your RealDrums are stored. Repeat for RealTracks.
Also, the default of the program being installed in the root of your selected drive is not bad programming.
BIAB & RB2026 Win.(Audiophile), Windows 10 Pro & Windows 11, Cakewalk Bandlab, Izotope Prod.Bundle, Roland RD-1000, Synthogy Ivory, Session Keys Grand S & Electric R, Kontakt, Focusrite 18i20, KetronSD2, NS40M, Pioneer Active Monitors.
Yeah, this release has given me headaches and at one point I had give up...
For some reason, the download manager showed that some files were not available for download, as if they were already on my computer. I had to download them directly from my account. There were realtrack, mega pak realtrack, bonus pak and video realtrack files to download that were not on my computer.
The instrument files for sforzando were also missing, hence it wouldn't work. Then Coyote plugin was a real pain in the butt... I could see the .dll file but the plugin refused to load. Tried reinstalling it from within biab without success. And when I was closing biab 2018, I was getting "This program stopped working..." message, crashing. I accidentally stumbled on the fix while I was exploring the help menu... were it let you read all the pop up messages that appear at the lower-right of the monitor (the yellow box).
It turns out that link opens up a Notepad txt file, displaying a log of what's been happening during a session in biab. THERE IT WAS!
Basically the message was suggesting to the user to rename a BIAB configuration .txt file within the c:\bb folder and then to restart the program.
Then I was able to use coyote and getting sound from midi tracks, and on closing the program it behaved as it should, no crashing.
Now I am having another problem... I can't seem to be able to load HELIX NATIVE vst plugin, not sure if it is supported.
Is the HELIX Native plug-in 32 or 64 bit? Band-in-a-Box and RealBand are 32 bit applications so 64 bit plug-ins are not naturally supported by the programs.
jBridge is a wrapper utility program that allows 32 bit programs to use 64 bit plug-ins and vice versa for 64 bit to 32 bit.
PG Music worked with the developer of jBridge to develop a version of the program that works with BiaB and RB. You can find out more about jbridge +++ HERE +++
...in the meantime, you can access that material by hitting File - Open, navigating to the Songs and Lessons Folder, and opening the files manually....
Did that, got to the files, and they now open, but when I try to run them, nothing, no riffs, no sound, no music, nothing. Otherwise BIAB works for me.
When do you expect this program update to occur, and in the meantime how do I get my riffs to play?
When you loaded the song, did you load the MGU file? I notice that the STY files are also in the same directory. It is the MGU files that contain the riffs.
...They work fine for me. ... When you loaded the song, did you load the MGU file? I notice that the STY files are also in the same directory. It is the MGU files that contain the riffs....
Noel: Thanks for your quick post, and yes, I loaded the MGU file.
Wow, with all the problems being reported with BIAB 2018, I may decide not to install it. I’ve got 2018 on order, but may put it on the shelf and just look at it. 2017 is working just fine on Windows 7. However, if I had the problems being reported, I haven’t the slightest notion where to start looking. Musician here, with zero computer skills.
Wow, with all the problems being reported with BIAB 2018, I may decide not to install it. I’ve got 2018 on order, but may put it on the shelf and just look at it. 2017 is working just fine on Windows 7. However, if I had the problems being reported, I haven’t the slightest notion where to start looking. Musician here, with zero computer skills.
The only thing I did when I installed BIAB 2018 was to change the the MS Windows WAS audio driver to MME because WAS sometimes took control of the soundcard and other applications were unable to access it. Since there, everything has been working fine for me.
As I see it, there are two possible reasons that you're not hearing the sound. 1. Midi styles are automatically being replaced by Realstyles. 2. Your midi sound setup needs adjusting. Does this help? ...
Yes it does! I went with your 2nd suggestion, and now it's all working beautifully, many thanks!
And if I understand things correctly, you're not a PG Music employee but rather a helpful volunteer on this site, correct? I'm simply overwhelmed with your helpful efforts, again thanks!
As I see it, there are two possible reasons that you're not hearing the sound. 1. Midi styles are automatically being replaced by Realstyles. 2. Your midi sound setup needs adjusting. Does this help? ...
Yes it does! I went with your 2nd suggestion, and now it's all working beautifully, many thanks!
And if I understand things correctly, you're not a PG Music employee but rather a helpful volunteer on this site, correct? I'm simply overwhelmed with your helpful efforts, again thanks!
Glad you're up an running!
And yes. I'm just a BIAB/RB user like you. If I read a problem that I think I have a solution for, I always try to help (just like others helped me when I first started using BIAB). These forums are a vibrant community!
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With the release of Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Mac, we’re rolling out a collection of brand-new videos on our YouTube channel. We’ll keep this forum post updated so you can easily find all the latest videos in one convenient spot.
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