141. I get a message that the Roland VSC is "...installed properly but currently in use by another program", even though there are no other programs open.

If you get a similar error message that refers to a driver other than the VSC, see this FAQ topic instead.

This article is about the older stand-alone VSC synth, which is rarely used anymore, and is only compatible with Windows XP and earlier operating systems. The instructions apply to Windows 2000 and XP.

A "quick fix" would be to use the Roland VSC-DXi, instead of the VSC3 driver. The Coyote Wavetable is included with Band-in-a-Box®. Check the "Use DXi Synth" box in the MIDI Driver Setup dialog and select the VSC-DXi in the DirectX Plugins Window that opens up.

To resolve the problem with the VSC-3 (older stand-alone MIDI version) follow the tips below.

Other possible may include:

  • "Audio Conversion cannot be started" error message when you attempt to Direct Render your song to a wave file using the VSC.

  • When you open the VSC as a stand alone application (Start menu | Programs | Virtual Sound Canvas...), you may get the error "MIDI device or the audio device to be used for VSC's audio output cannot be opened. Playback unavailable at this time"

There are a few possible solutions. You should be able to resolve the problem by following one or more of the suggestions below. Alternatively, use the VSC-DXi instead of the VSC-3 stand-alone version.

Select something other than the VSC as your default MIDI driver in Windows

  1. On Windows XP, go to Start | Control Panel | Sounds and Audio Devices | Audio tab. On Windows 2000, go to Start | Settings | Control Panel | Sounds and Multimedia | Audio.

  2. Select something other than the Roland VSC for default audio and MIDI playback.

  3. Restart your computer.

Make sure vscvol and vsc32cnf are enabled at startup.

  1. Go to the Start menu | Run, type "msconfig" and press OK. This should open the System Configuration Utility. Note: Windows 2000 doesn't have the system configuration utility.

  2. Click on the Startup tab and make sure there are checkmarks beside 'vscvol' and 'vsc32cnf'.

  3. Press [Apply], then [OK], and restart your computer.

Reinstall the VSC

  1. Uninstall the Roland VSC using the Add/Remove Programs utility.

  2. Right-click on My Computer and select 'Properties'.

  3. Click on the Hardware tab and press the [Device Manager] button.

  4. Expand 'Sound, Video and Game Controllers' and look for 'Virtual Sound Canvas'. If you see it listed there, right-click on it and select 'uninstall'. Restart your computer.

  5. Reinstall the Roland VSC. If you get a message saying that the VSC has not passed Windows Logo Testing, you can "Continue Anyways". You should be prompted to restart your computer again after the VSC has been installed.

  6. Go back to 'Sound Video and Game Controllers' in the Device Manager.

  7. Right-click on the Virtual Sound Canvas 3.2 and select 'Properties'. Make sure that Device Usage is set to "Use this device (enable)".

Change your audio output device settings in the VSC

  1. Click once on the VSC icon in your task bar, point to 'VSC Settings Window' and click on 'Device'. Or: Go to Start | Programs | Virtual Sound Canvas 3.2 | Virtual Sound Canvas 3.2 to open the VSC panel, then click on the [Setup] button and choose the Device tab.

  2. If the audio output device is listed as "Selecting Automatically" choose your sound card's audio driver specifically. If that doesn't work, try choosing a different audio output device if available. Press [Apply], then [OK] before trying each selection. You can also try toggling DirectSound to "On" or "Off", as this may improve compatibility with your system.

Remove old and duplicate MIDI entries from the registry

Proceed with this if the suggestions above didn't solve the problem.

There is a limit to the number of MIDI devices that you can have installed. When you install MIDI devices, windows creates a registry entry, starting with "midi" and up to "midi9". Additional MIDI devices are not recognized by Windows. This can be a problem, since new entries may be created when you reinstall MIDI devices or move a hardware device from one port to another. As well, some MIDI device uninstallers do not remove their registry entries. Even if you have not exceeded the limit, the VSC seems to have trouble if there are duplicate or old MIDI entries in the registry.

First, you should make sure that you have uninstalled any old MIDI devices that you are not using - for example, an old USB interface that you used at some point in the past but are no longer using. If this doesn't help, any old or duplicate entries for midi to midi9 can be removed from the registry. If you aren't comfortable editing the registry, you should get a computer tech to do it for you, since making mistakes can prevent your computer from operating correctly.

Go to Start | Run, type "regedit" (without the quotes), and press OK. In the Registry Editor, navigate to the following location:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ SOFTWARE\ Microsoft\ WindowsNT\ CurrentVersion\ Drivers32.

When you click on the Drivers32 folder you should see the midi, midi1, midi2... entries on the right side of the window. Look for and delete any duplicates. If you recognize one that may refer to an old MIDI device that is no longer installed on your system, you can remove that entry as well. If you are unsure, you should probably leave it alone.

Use the VSC-DXi version, rather than the stand-alone VSC

If you are still having trouble with the VSC, we might suggest that you use the VSC-DXi instead. Band-in-a-Box® 2004 and higher support DXi plugins, and the Coyote Wavetable would have been included with your Band-in-a-Box® purchase. To use the Coyote Wavetable, you need to first install it on your computer. To choose the VSC-DXi as your MIDI output device in Band-in-a-Box®, go to Opt. | MIDI/Audio Driver Setup and place a checkmark in the "Use DXi Synth" checkbox. When the DirectX window opens up, choose the VSC-DXi as your plugin. Close the DirectX window, and you should be back in the MIDI Driver Setup dialog. By default, Band-in-a-Box® will set the Driver Latency to around 2000 milliseconds. This is a high setting, but is safe even on older computers. With most computers, you should be able to choose a Driver Latency of around 200 ms or lower. You can experiment with the Driver Latency until you hear audio glitches. A lower latency will give you a quicker response time.

If you were used to using the "Direct Render to wave" feature of the VSC, you will find that the "DXi Direct Render" feature in Band-in-a-Box® will give you the same results. It is also a quicker and easier method of rendering your songs to wave.


Alyssa - PG Music