There is an old bug still in BIAB 2021 for Windows, (build 804) 64 bit, the latest at the time of writing this. It locks the screen, and prevents the use of the application, which has to be shut down forcibly.
To reproduce: -Open Band in a Box, maximize the window. -Open the Style picker. -Minimize the style picker *this should not be permitted*
In my Windows 10 pro, latest updates, BIAB stops responding because the minimized style picker window requires to be restored, but the main window blocks any click. Tried with the taskbar window selector, with ctrl-Tab, and many developer tricks and none works. It does not even respond to "close all windows" from the taskbar, and have to use task manager to shut down the whole application.
The solution is easy, just prevent the style picker to be minimized or maximized.
This is not happening in my testing. The StylePicker can be minimized, however it stays on top of the main window and can be restored either by clicking on the Band-in-a-Box icon in the task bar or by clicking on the main screen and then clicking the restore button on the minimized window at bottom left...
I have not installed 2021 yet but on many past versions I have had the style picker disappear behind the main BIAB window apparently rendering it inaccessible. But when I alt-tab away from BIAB and then alt-tab back to it the style picker comes back to top. Dunno if this would work for you or not.
I would agree that maybe this window should not be minimizable. It seems like it should be modal. Maybe there is a reason I am not aware of for having it minimizable.
Believe me. I have tested many times and if the BIAB main window is maximized, the style picker goes behind the main windows, making it impossible to access. Both BIAB and Windows 10 are updated to latest. It never minimizes in front of the main window.
On the other hand, I have only minimized the style picker window by accident. There is not any use allowing it to be minimized, specially because at least in my PC, all the controls in the main BIAB window are disabled when the style picker is active, minimized or not.
I have to force close BIAB with task manager when this happens, because BIAB becomes unusable.
Thanks, Neither Alt-Tab or mouse hovering on the taskbar icon reestablishes focus on the main window in my PC. When hovering on the taskbar icon I see the style picker thumbnail, but clicking on it just shows the disabled main window again.
The only solution at this time is to never maximize the main BIAB window so I can switch windows in case of an accidental style picker minimize, but that should not be like that.
This morning I had to terminate the BIAB windows with task manager again because of the same problem.
On my system, I am not able to minimize the BiaB main screen while the Style Picker is open.
I tried full screen views also, but could not replicate this.
Could you list the 'Steps to reproduce' so that I could try your exact workflow?
You mentioned the '...main window in my PC' Are you using multiple monitors?
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.
Hi VideoTrack, The steps to reproduce are really simple.
- Open band in a box, maximize the main window. (I refer here to the main BIAB application window. The Style picker also opens in a window as do the audio track, notation, Etc. In the style picker case, I would have made it a non minimizable dialog box, in developer terminology, or a regular window with the minimize icon hidden. As a developer I do it all the time.)
- Click the Style picker button. This opens the style picker. - Click on the "minimize" button on the style picker title bar.
From here, this locks band in a box, because in my computer, the style picker minimized window bar appears behind the main BIAB window. From here I have to invoke the task manager with ctrl-alt-del and close Band in a Box forcefully.
BTW, when talking about window I mean application windows, not hardware displays or screens.
But now that you mention it, I indeed use 32 inch monitor connected via hdmi to my Dell laptop. The laptop lid is closed at all times, so the large monitor is in fact the only monitor the computer sees. If I open the laptop lid, Windows enters in extended desktop mode, which means I have more desktop space, but even though is a 17 inch screen, is too small for my taste and basically never use it, never open the laptop lid, and it is hidden out of view in my desk, in a compartment, to prevent clutter.
Thanks for the steps. Unfortunately, I am not able to reproduce.
With BiaB Maximized, I open the Style Picker and then Minimize it. It completely disappears off screen. When I click anywhere on the main BiaB window, it immediately appears in the lower LH corner as a minimized window icon, and I can expand it again (see attachment).
I suspect that this is related to your laptop and use of second monitor. I suspect that the Style Picker minimized state is displayed in the lower LH corner of your laptop screen. Can you try opening the laptop to see if that is where it is located?
My understanding is that the O/S decides on the location where to present minimized screens.
I'm definitely interested to know your findings.
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.
Another interesting item that caught my attention:
Quote:
The laptop lid is closed at all times, so the large monitor is in fact the only monitor the computer sees ... never open the laptop lid, and it is hidden out of view in my desk, in a compartment, to prevent clutter.
Presumably you open the laptop at some stage to turn it on, or can that be done remotely?
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.
VideoTrack, Regarding the power cycle of my laptop, since the damn windows 10 takes years to boot up, check virus, Etc, is really annoying to wait for 10-15 minutes from power up to really ready to use. So I always leave it on. It sleeps after some time without activity, and I wake it with the keyboard. From time to time I have to take it from the compartment and open the lid but is maybe once a month. Is a 17in touch Dell inspiron 5000 iCore7 2.5ghz, with 16Gb ram and 2tb disk,so I would expect it to be faster on boot, but is not. Once it starts is super fast, though.
Could you consider taking it from the compartment to check the results of my earlier post? (Separately, Windows 10 never takes more than 30-40 seconds to start on any of my systems. I suspect your long start time issue is not entirely Windows 10.)
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.
I placed the laptop along with the external monitor, in extended monitor mode, so the computer has double screen space. In this condition, any application when maximized uses the full monitor where it was maximized. In the first test, I used BIAB in the external monitor. Second test was running BIAB from the laptop monitor. Both cases above are in extended monitor mode. The third test was with the external monitor totally disconnected, using only the laptop monitor. Results were the same in any of the three cases. I had to force shutdown BIAB in all cases because of the style picker minimized disappearing behind the main window deadlocking the application.
Then I noticed that there were some of the yellow alert notes in the style picker because I haven´t indexed the style database. It seems that after rebuilding the style database, when clicking on the main window, the minimized style picker window immediately appeared as expected, working normally. If this finding is correct, it means that the style picker screen is not responding correctly if style rebuilding is not detected as complete. It is a bug in any case, because the style picker window should not be allowed to be minimized, specially if it allow a deadlock in the program. So, probably for reproducing this, some styles have to be installed and run the test without rebuilding the styles database. I would ask the developers to remove completely the minimize icon in the style picker window. It is the total solution.
If BIAB is developed in Delphi as it seems is a simple matter of setting: StylePickerForm.BorderIcons := {biSystemMenu,biMaximize]; // to get rid of the minimized icon or a similar approach in any other windows based development language.
I took some screen shots where you can see the style picker minimized visible if the main window is not maximized. Then another screenshot with the style picker window minimized (with maximized main window) deadlocked, failing to respond. You can see the thumbnail showing the style picker when hovering the mouse over the taskbar icon, but the complete application is in a deadlock state.
DeBlu RE you said. " is really annoying to wait for 10-15 minutes from power up to really ready to use".
with the greatest respect, and i'm truly just trying to help. if win 10 boots so slow for you , something is definitely "off" with your system. i would suggest it be checked by a qualified pc tech. and if your system doesnt use ssd, consider installing one. lots are under 100 buks. here are my worst case timeings // stats. (NOTE. MY STUDIO PC NEVER SEES THE NET. i use an 80 buk amazon tablet for the net .)
my worst case stats timings. (i'm win 10, a humble intel i5 cpu at 2.6ghz, and ssd, a refurb. i'm ultrapak 2020.) 1. my system boots from totally cold to win 10 in 9 secs or less.very snappy system. 2. boot into biab - 5 secs. (my songs typical gen time all rt's 5/6 secs also. but sometimes less.) if midi of course much faster. instantaneous in stylepicker auditioning styles. (very snappy auditioining RT styles with example songs.) 3.. boot into realband - bout 7 secs. (note RB reports i can do 191 traks. please read my RB wishlist entry re request to pg to exapand this usefull test.) NOTE. PLEASE IN REALBAND ACTION>> TEST AUDIO PERFORMANCE HOW MANY TRAKS ARE REPORTED ON YOUR SYSTEM ?. 4.. if i boot into reaper daw. believe it or not. no matter how complex the song. bout 3 secs. all traks waveforms displayed. very very fast/immediate. reports latency of 6 ms. i could get it lower. but i dont bother. i have DM on steinberg ur interface. (currently testing out new audient evo interface.) 4. clicking on general win apps icons in desktop. nearly instantaneous eg control panel, this pc etc etc. PLEASE TELL ME IF YOU HAVE LONG LAG BY COMPARISON WHEN YOU CLIK ON WIN ICONS IN DESKTOP..
merry xmas. nerdymuso.lol
Last edited by justanoldmuso; 12/22/2001:18 PM.
my songs....mixed for good earbuds...(fyi..my vocs on all songs..) https://soundcloud.com/alfsongs (90 songs created useing bb/rb) (lots of tips of mine in pg tips forum.)
I'll ask the developers to consider changing the border icons. (As I mentioned earlier, I could not reproduce the same symptoms on my system.) In the meantime, Pipeline's solution would be a great workaround for the issue you are experiencing.
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.
justanoldmuso, Sure I could disable all the bootup checks (malware, spyware, virus, disk integrity, backup sync, Etc) but I prefer to wait so those tasks are only done on boot or when I start them manually, and not when am working.
Once it starts, all my timings you mention are similar to yours. Certainly I can work with a zillion tracks on reaper and Realband.
Regarding the power cycle of my laptop, since the damn windows 10 takes years to boot up, check virus, Etc, is really annoying to wait for 10-15 minutes from power up to really ready to use.
Check Windows Task Manager > Performance > Disk. I suspect you will find a very high Disk I/O Active Time being used.
Consider replacing the hard drive with a solid-state drive. Your laptop will probably love you for it. No waiting...
This is typical Disk I/O Active Time on my drives (I generally use 2 Tb SSD's)
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.
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