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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 128
Apprentice
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OP
Apprentice
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 128 |
I have had a myriad of problems with my BIAB 2024 build 1109. You may remember from about a decade ago "The Blue Screen of Death" on Windows computers. I had the "Red Notes are missing or intermittent on playback." It is now working properly.
Perhaps in the repair process, some other, worse, problem was triggered. Now, on certain songs, BIAB freezes, crashes, stops. Sometimes as early as the first beat of the fourth bar - with two into bars. Sometimes further into the song. I don't have empirical data at this point, but it seems the same songs will crash BIAB every time while others will not. There seem to be more of the "good actors" than the "bad actors" at this point.
This is maddening and untenable. If anybody has experienced this, especially if you have found a cure, I surely would like some help. Please.
Natcheztoo
Jerry Krouse
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 2,149
Veteran
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Veteran
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 2,149 |
one fix that sometimes works with other programs is save the file under another name - so 'my song' becomes 'mysong1'.
not a BIAB fix but it may turn bad ones into good ones. it certainly works with microsoft office files. some of the time at least.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 128
Apprentice
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OP
Apprentice
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 128 |
Here is a new clue that I hope elicits some responses:
I was just working with a song and everything was working perfectly. I entered lyrics using note-based lyrics. When I finished, I hit SAVE and closed the song.
At that point I realized I did not like the title, renamed it and hit SAVE AS. That left me with two identical songs with two different titles. Before deleting one, I decided to ensure that it would play. When I hit PLAY, BIAB crashed immediately. I tried the other title and it crashed too. Does this "clue" help any?
I presume, and pray, that when and if this problem ever gets solved, that I will be able to play the song again. I would hate to reconstruct it from scratch.
Natcheztoo
Jerry Krouse
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 13,034
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Veteran
Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 13,034 |
I don't see you following protocol which says "as soon as BIAB is doing something it should not, then hit the RTFS button". Open BIAB, not the song files, and do just that. Then open song files.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 128
Apprentice
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OP
Apprentice
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 128 |
DrDan,
Thank you. Although I have been "using" BIAB since 2016, (upgrade in 2016, 2020, and 2024) I have just basically been recording my songs, putting in the meter, a suitable style, and saving them. I tell people that BIAB is a vast program and I know about five grains of sand compared to the beaches at Orange Beach, Alabama (pick your own beach!).
I do not know what the "RTFS button" is. I asked ChatPG. It doesn't know either. You mentioned that you do not see me, "...following protocol which says 'as soon as BIAB is doing something it should not, then hit the RTFS button." This is the first I heard about this protocol and ChatPG seems not t know anything about it either. There is so much about BIAB that I do not know and that is above my ken. But this program CRASHING is seriously threatening what I am trying to do. Namely: record my songs for safe keeping and having the ability to print them when I want. I have no aspirations (or ability) to do the high-level things that so many users seem to be able to do with ease.
If you would care to try and explain what you said, I would appreciate it.
Regards,
Jerry Krouse
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 13,034
Veteran
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Veteran
Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 13,034 |
![[Linked Image - Only viewable when logged in]](https://www.pgmusic.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=download&Number=27674&filename=RTFS.png) Good Luck Dan
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 128
Apprentice
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OP
Apprentice
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 128 |
DrDan,
Thanks. I have used RTFS before. I just didn't think of in terms of RTFS. I have already asked one of the techs at PGmusic about this, but he hasn't replied yet.
I have heard it is best to keep your mouth shut and let people think you are stupid rather than opening it and proving you are, but here goes: do you think this will do any damage to my songs, files, or will set anything back to "zero" that will require a lot of work to bet back to where it was?
Jerry
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Jun 2012
Posts: 21,126
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Veteran
Joined: Jun 2012
Posts: 21,126 |
...
: do you think this will do any damage to my songs, files, or will set anything back to "zero" that will require a lot of work to bet back to where it was? No, it won't change anything. it won't delete any of your work. There are two options in Return To Factory Settings: Most and All Choose the 'Most' option, as that doesn't change your MIDI drivers etc.
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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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 128
Apprentice
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OP
Apprentice
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 128 |
New news:
Andrew (A tech at PGmusic),
It is midnight here and this is just a quick partial reply. Well, the MME vs. the WAS turned out to be very interesting:
1) Changing it back to WAS appears to have completely eliminated BIAB crashing.
2) It also brought back the missing / intermittent RED NOTE problem.
Until we can get this all down to settled science, I am going to leave it set on WAS as the program crashing was much worse than not having the melody notes show in red.
More tomorrow.
Regards,
Jerry
Hi Jerry,
Sorry I couldn't get back to you sooner. First, if you can send me a song file that freezes the program, we can test it here.
On the topic of sound / Audio drivers. I changed your Audio Driver type from WAS to MME (this is in Options | MIDI/Audio Driver setup). You could change it back if you want, and see if that fixes the new problem with songs locking up. We only did that so that the orange informational message wouldn't appear.
If the Band-in-a-Box is much louder or softer than other sounds on your computer, check to see what audio device it's using. It may be using the same as you have set as your default in Windows sound settings, or it may be using a different device. You should familiarize yourself and make sense of the three areas listed below:
(1) Right-click on the volume icon in the task bar and click Volume Mixer. You can adjust the system volume here (Windows also lets you adjust the relative volumes of running applications) Click on the drop down arrow under "Device" on the left - this will show you the different output devices you can choose from on your system. (Screen shots are my Windows 10 system - yours will obviously be different)
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: May 2002
Posts: 7,923
PG Music Staff
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PG Music Staff
Joined: May 2002
Posts: 7,923 |
No, it won't change anything. it won't delete any of your work. There are two options in Return To Factory Settings:
Most and All
Choose the 'Most' option, as that doesn't change your MIDI drivers etc. Another thing you can do, which is good for troubleshooting, is to: 1. Close Band-in-a-Box. 2. Add a file called safemode.txt to the Preferences folder. (contents of the file doesn't matter) 3. Boot Band-in-a-Box, and you should see red text confirming that it is in "safe mode". This just means it is running at factory settings. You can do a test to see if the problem happens, and then you can close Band-in-a-Box and delete the file and you won't have made any changes to your settings.
Andrew
PG Music Inc.
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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.
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