Originally Posted By: AudioTrack
Quote:
At that point, I noticed BIAB was telling me to upgrade. I figured "Why not?" maybe it'll fix this issue.

Tell us more about where/when this message appeared, and exactly what actions you took. E.g. did you already have an upgrade patch available, or did it download a new upgrade from the PG Music website, etc? Can you provide the exact name of the upgrade file that you used?


Sure, thank you for your answer.

As I mentioned in my post, I was already struggling with some sound issues. In the process, I went to "MENU >>> HELP" and while there I saw the "Check for Update" (or whatever is there).
I then saw a window that told me there was indeed an update for my BIAB 2020 and asked me if I wanted to download it and install it.
I said "Yes" and I proceeded with that.
I should note that a month or so ago, I updated my BIAB 2020 on my desktop, without any issues, so I wasn't paying that much attention to the process.
I had purchased and installed BIAB 2020 back in... 2020 and I installed it on both my computers on the same day.
A month ago I updated my Desktop copy without any issues, so I proceeded with the prompts without reading every word (as I should have done, I know better) but I'd like to think that if it said "Update you BIAB 2017" I would have noticed. I was distracted, but I wasn't hallucinating.

When the update was done, it gave me a prompt to "Launch BIAB". If you put a gun to my head I couldn't tell you if it said "Launch BIAB 2017" or 2020. I think the Splash screen was either "generic" BIAB without a date or said "BIAB 2020".
I just clicked finished and BIAB started.

Except that upon starting, the splash screen said "BIAB 2017" and immediately I got a notice prompting me to enter the key code because my trial period had expired.
I went to get the key code (I use an online/offline password manager called "Roboform" where I keep all this info) and I entered it.
It said the code was invalid.
In tried launching it again, but I couldn't.
I tried to use a different BIAB code I have, but I couldn't tell you if it was for 2020, 2017 or even older (I think over the years I purchased 2009, 2012, 2014 and 2017).

I searched for my 2017 BIAB code, but I couldn't find it. If I recall, I bought 2017 for my daughter's computer as she still lived with me back then, so the code is likely in her computer.

At the end, I just gave up, I opened BIAB on my desktop and checked that everything was OK. And it was. My desktop copy is BIAB 2020 and It is updated to the very latest version.

In fact, ast this point this issue has become academic as I just purchased the 2022 version of BIAB and I am installing it on my desktop as I am writing this.
Very likely I'll uninstall everything from my Laptop and start with a fresh installation, if it lets me.
If not (and I think this happened to me back in 2007 or so) I'll just move the C:\bb folder over to my laptop and install 2022 over it. It should work. At least it used to.

For the record, I have been using BIAB since the early 1990's. I run my first copy on a 512K Mac Plus that I upgraded to a whopping 1MB of RAM with a 1MB hard drive the size of a toaster oven.

I mention that because I am not a new user, but I never was very proficient at it, because all I ever needed BIAB for was practicing guitar. It's only more recently that I decided to attempt some songwriting, but I am struggling a bit to get decent sounds out of my BIAB.
In fact, I am still struggling with all the "realdrums" and "realband" features.

As far as I can tell, my BIAB 2020 (and 2022 now, specifically "Band-in-a-Box MegaPAK Upgrade 2022 for Windows (BUMS-I)") is carefully designed so that whatever "Style" I need for a given songis visible, plays the preview just fine, but when I apply it to my song all I get is MIDI sounds, occasionally with Realdrums in it, but rarely with all the instruments as they sound in the demo.

One of my upcoming questions on this forum is going to be about limiting my "Styles" view only to styles I own and with a way to tell the MIDI styles apart from the Realband/drums styles.
I don't have $500 to drop on BIAB at the moment, but I'd sure love to have a specific set of Styles I can use for my songwriting so that I don't have to spend an insane amount of time choosing a style.
I seem to be very unlucky with both BIAB and my DAW Based songwriting in general. I have had laptop logic board get fried just as I was mastering a song. I have has soundcards refuse to make any sound at all, only to work perfectly with other programs.

It may be time for me to watch a few hours of tutorials and see if I can come up with a workable system so the time between inspiration and a song's backing track is not hours but more around 15 minutes or so. I am really not that picky with my styles and I usually plan a song so I overdub guitar, bass and keyboards myself.
I am positive I am not using BIAB at its best, but that's a post for another day.

In any event, in regard to my failed update, I am just trying to understand what I did wrong so I don't make the same mistake again.
I will make sure that no trace of BIAB 2017 is anywhere on my laptop, if it ever was there, that way if it happens again I can troubleshoot it better.

Sorry for the long winded post. Hopefully, after installing 2022 I'll be able to use BIAB without any issues. With any luck I may even find a good sounding style for the song I am working on.

Cheers and thank you again.