|
Log in to post
|
Print Thread |
|
|
|
|
|
Beginners Forum
|
Joined: Feb 2018
Posts: 11
Newbie
|
OP
Newbie
Joined: Feb 2018
Posts: 11 |
Hi everybody.
I have the 2020 BIAB hdd and am using the split system, running BIAB from the C drive, and accessing the sounds from the hdd. I'm on Windows 7. I haven't used the program much, so still very much a beginner, have barely used it since I got the hard drive, and I haven't used it at all in a couple of years.
My question is, the HDD is seen by Windows as an unremovable drive (U - I don't remember now if it came that way, with the letter U assigned, or if I did that myself). It's listed as Disk 1, under Disk 0 (which is the OS on C: drive) in Computer Management.
Because it's "not removable" I can't use the Safely Remove and Eject. When I try, tt always says "Windows can't stop your 'Generic Volume' device because a program is still using it ..." Of course there's nothing open.
After several hours of google research, I understand now that it's because an HDD is not seen as removable, but treated like an internal hard drive, even though it's USB. I've read in multiple places that this is not changeable. (A few rabbit trails, indicating it is, lead to not so good results, super old info, etc.)
Apparently the only way to safely remove the HDD is shutting down the computer and then unplugging it. But I normally leave my Windows 7 desktop running or in standby. I rarely turn it off.
I don't want the HDD to be constantly plugged in, as I'm not going to be using it very often. I'm extremely leary of just unplugging it anyway, in spite of the "warning" because I've been down that road before.
Some years ago, I had lots of pics on a Passport HDD that got corrupted by doing that. It came up as "RAW - 0 bytes" in windows and wasn't readable. I was able to use some data recovery tool to save most of the pics and save them to a new HDD, but was a huge PITA, and no filenames are preserved. Don't want to repeat that.
What does everybody else who bought a BIAB hard drive do?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Beginners Forum
|
Joined: May 2002
Posts: 7,415
PG Music Staff
|
|
PG Music Staff
Joined: May 2002
Posts: 7,415 |
My question is, the HDD is seen by Windows as an unremovable drive (U - I don't remember now if it came that way, with the letter U assigned, or if I did that myself). It's listed as Disk 1, under Disk 0 (which is the OS on C: drive) in Computer Management. I don't think your disk is non-removable. I think you probably assigned the disk the letter U at some point. This is a trick that some people use with external hard disks to force them to have the same letter when you disconnect and reconnect them. This way, a file can always be accessed using the same path, like U:\bb\bbw64.exe, instead of G:\bb\bbw64.exe one day and H:\bb\bbw64.exe the next. If you assign a high drive letter, windows is less likely to change it the next time you plug the drive in, even if you've been plugging in other devices in the mean-time. Right-click on the Windows flag / 'start menu' and click Disk Management, and you can then right-click on your external hard disk and 'change drive letter / path'. Windows being unable to eject your disk 'because there is a program using it' is a very common problem. Even if you don't have any Explorer windows open, and there doesn't appear to be any visible program running, there might be some background process using the drive - for example an antivirus program running a scan among a long list of other techy things. This is something that I think improved in Windows 10. Typically, Windows will now usually give the "ok" to eject a device on the second try even if it fails on the first - not sure of the reason behind that.
Andrew
PG Music Inc.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Beginners Forum
|
Joined: Apr 2009
Posts: 10,342
Veteran
|
|
Veteran
Joined: Apr 2009
Posts: 10,342 |
Personally, I would not leave the computer running all the time. Shutting it off lets it cool off and rest, and clears the cashe from it's day to day business of record keeping.
I run an older machine with XP Pro 32 and have it set up in the way you describe but without the designated drive number. Since the computer is always run with the same stuff connected and I occasionally pop in a USB thumb drive..... nothing ever changes with the HDD for PG. It always appears as the same drive number/letter.
I have also disconnected the HDD with the machine running and there were no issues.
You can find my music at: www.herbhartley.comAdd nothing that adds nothing to the music. You can make excuses or you can make progress but not both. The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Beginners Forum
|
Joined: Feb 2018
Posts: 11
Newbie
|
|
OP
Newbie
Joined: Feb 2018
Posts: 11 |
Hi - thanks for taking the time to answer. Yes, you are right. I'm pretty sure I probably set the drive letter, so that BIAB could find the files every time. It was awhile back so my memory is fuzzy, but I think at the time, I was working on pictures on another external drive, so wanted each to maintain its own letter. I'm not sure if I should try to change it back at this point. I don't want to have to change the prefs in BIAB to tell it where to find the real tracks, every time the computer auto-assigns a different letter each time I plug it in.
From my research online, it seems a lot of folks are having the issue that these days external hard drives being seen as "non-removable" anyway, even if they didn't assign a letter, as opposed to flash drives. As I said, I'm a bit nervous about it, since windows corrupted one of my eternal drives before. I was just curious how others who are using the BIAB drive are handling this. I know some people run the BIAB program from their external drive. I'm curious about others who have the program on C drive and keeping the real tracks on the BIAB hard drive.
Thanks again for your response. It's one of the things that makes the BIAB forums so great.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Beginners Forum
|
Joined: Dec 2018
Posts: 409
Journeyman
|
|
Journeyman
Joined: Dec 2018
Posts: 409 |
As an aside, there are two kinds of caching: read caching and write caching. The one that can really cause problems is write caching. Things can get scrambled if something is written to the write cache but not committed to the drive.
Anyone remember MS-DOS v4? That piece of software junk not only introduced write caching, it turned it on by default. Lots of peeps who upgraded to DOS 4 got corrupted DBase III databases after that, when they just powered down their PC without flushing the write cache first. Mickeysoft added that feature and didn't really publicize it. But turning it on by default? Super bad idea. I was running real-time SCADA (supervisory control) databases and customers were upgrading their DOS from v3 to v4 and getting corrupted databases. That one took me awhile to figure out. I kept shipping DOS 3.3 until DOS 5 was released. DOS 4 sucked big time.
ThinkPad i9 32GB RAM 7TB SSD; Win11 Pro; RME Fireface UCX II; BiaB 2025 Ultra
Bitwig Studio 5; Studio One Pro 7; Melodyne Studio 5; Acoustica Premium 7
Gig Performer 5; NI S61 MK3; Focal Shape 65; Beyerdynamic DT 880 & 770
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Beginners Forum
|
Joined: May 2000
Posts: 22,165
Veteran
|
|
Veteran
Joined: May 2000
Posts: 22,165 |
As I said, I'm a bit nervous about it, since windows corrupted one of my eternal drives before. As far as losing stuff with a bad drive eject - Personally, I keep all my RT/RD stuff an a drive separate from C: I use a separate internal drive, so my answer may be a little different than your question.. but same principle applies That way the original drive is left intact and not used unless needed for a catastrophic restore situation (which I have been lucky not to have to do so far). Same thing could be done with a second USB external drive .. copy what you need to that and use it as needed, but keep an original copy on-hand Of course, all your original RTs are safely in your account at PGMusic, so if it *really came down to it you could re-download everything, but that would be quite time-consuming in a pinch.
I do not work here, but the benefits are still awesome
Make your sound your own!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Beginners Forum
|
Joined: Mar 2021
Posts: 20
Enthusiast
|
|
Enthusiast
Joined: Mar 2021
Posts: 20 |
"Windows can't stop your 'Generic Volume' device because a program is still using it...
The problem you mention has happened to me a few times, especially when I delete things from that drive and then do not delete it from the recycle bin.
Maybe that's what's happening to you. Before unplugging the drive delete the contents of the recycle bin if you have sent something there. since I do it always lets me disconnect safely.
Greetings
Last edited by Gsus; 07/06/22 03:13 PM.
To the one who gets up early, nobody makes him breakfast.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Beginners Forum
|
Joined: Jun 2017
Posts: 2,954
PG Music Staff
|
|
PG Music Staff
Joined: Jun 2017
Posts: 2,954 |
Harddrives are also safe to remove while the computer is completely turned off, so that is an option as well.
Cheers,
Ember
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Ask sales and support questions about Band-in-a-Box using natural language.
ChatPG's knowledge base includes the full Band-in-a-Box User Manual and sales information from the website.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Video: Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Mac®: VST3 Plugin Support
Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Mac® now includes support for VST3 plugins, alongside VST and AU. Use them with MIDI or audio tracks for even more creative possibilities in your music production.
Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Macs®: VST3 Plugin Support
Video: Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Mac®: Using VST3 Plugins
Join the conversation on our forum.
Band-in-a-Box 2025 for Mac Videos
With the release of Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Mac, we’re rolling out a collection of brand-new videos on our YouTube channel. We’ll also keep this forum post updated so you can easily find all the latest videos in one convenient spot.
From overviews of new features and walkthroughs of the 202 new RealTracks, to highlights of XPro Styles PAK 8, Xtra Styles PAKs 18, the 2025 49-PAK, and in-depth tutorials — you’ll find everything you need to explore what’s new in Band-in-a-Box® 2025.
Reference this forum post for One-Stop Shopping of our Band-in-a-Box® 2025 Mac Videos — we’ll be adding more videos as they’re released!
Band-in-a-Box 2025 for Mac is Here!
Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Mac is here, packed with major new features and an incredible collection of available new content! This includes 202 RealTracks (in Sets 449-467), plus 20 bonus Unreleased RealTracks in the 2025 49-PAK. There are new RealStyles, MIDI SuperTracks, Instrumental Studies, “Songs with Vocals” Artist Performance Sets, Playable RealTracks Set 4, two new sets of “RealDrums Stems,” XPro Styles PAK 8, Xtra Styles PAK 19, and more!
Special Offers
Upgrade to Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Mac with savings of up to 50% on most upgrade packages during our special—available until July 31, 2025! Visit our Band-in-a-Box® packages page for all the purchase options available.
2025 Free Bonus PAK & 49-PAK Add-ons
We've packed our Free Bonus PAK & 49-PAK with some incredible Add-ons! The Free Bonus PAK is automatically included with most Band-in-a-Box® for Mac 2025 packages, but for even more Add-ons (including 20 Unreleased RealTracks!) upgrade to the 2025 49-PAK for only $49. You can see the full lists of items in each package, and listen to demos here.
If you have any questions, feel free to connect with us directly—we’re here to help!
Band-in-a-Box 2025 Italian Version is Here!
Cari amici
È stata aggerate la versione in Italiano del programma più amato dagli appassionati di musica, il nostro Band-in-a-Box.
Questo è il link alla nuova versione 2025.
Di seguito i link per scaricare il pacchetti di lingua italiana aggiornati per Band-in-a-Box e RealBand, anche per chi avesse già comprato la nuova versione in inglese.
Band-in-a-Box 2025 - Italiano
RealBand 2025 - Italiano
Band-in-a-Box 2025 French Version is Here!
Bonjour à tous,
Band-in-a-Box® 2025 pour Windows est disponible en Français.
Le téléchargement se fait à partir du site PG Music
Pour ceux qui auraient déjà acheté la version 2025 de Band-in-a-Box (et qui donc ont une version anglaise), il est possible de "franciser" cette version avec les patchs suivants:
BIAB 2025 - francisation
RealBand 2025 - francisation
Voilà, enjoy!
Band-in-a-Box 2025 German Version is Here!
Update Your Band-in-a-Box® 2025 to Build 1128 for Windows Today!
Already using Band-in-a-Box 2025 for Windows®? Download Build 1128 now from our Support Page to enjoy the latest enhancements and improvements from our team.
Stay up to date—get the latest update now!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Forums58
Topics84,304
Posts777,546
Members39,614
| |
Most Online25,754
Jan 24th, 2025
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Dansk
Deutsch - Windows
Español
Français - Windows
Italiano - Windows
Nederlands
Polski
Português
Svenskt
русский
Japanese
Simplified Chinese
Traditional Chinese
Korean