BIAB 2016 - Initial Feedback (Installation) - 01/01/16 12:11 PM
I have installed BIAB 2016 and used it for half an hour before starting the work of installing all the realstyles (I went for the EverythingPak).
I'm sure I'll have some feedback on the program itself. However, following is some initial feedback only on the installation process.
I decided to use the "PG Music Download Manager" from within BIAB 2016. Doing so, I ran into the following snags that could be improved with a revision of the Download Manager:
1) "Download/Install" selected files - note that by the default all were selected except for "Loops Set 02" - which was marked as already installed. No problem yet there. I had "Install automatically when all downloads are finished".
Issue: after all downloads were finished, no installs began. This could have been due to insufficient disk space. I had the necessary disk space for the downloads - but probably not enough to install everything while keeping the downloaded files on the same disk. I'm inferring here since the problem was there was no messaging and no installing. If I have the install automatically checked - I would expect something more than the system going back to idle. An error message if that is appropriate or the installs to start.
2) I started to manually install the RealTracks one by one. Starting with the "Shots and holds 1-242" and then picking some others from the beginning and then starting backwards from the end (last RealTracks sets) until 15-20 were showing green "Installed". Once my disk space got to a low level, I decided to copy all of the install files (in the BB download for 2016 folder) to an external drive to free up the space. The download manager is built for this - as you can change the download folder. I also see this "download folder" as the "installation source" folder. I mirrored the download folder on an external drive with only the drive letter changing and folder root staying the same name. After changing the download folder all of the sets have cleared the "Installed" green status. I would hope it would preserve this - not a huge deal - room for improvement - but I expected pressing the "install" button would quickly "jump out" of the process if it found the RealTrack was already installed. I went to one of the last RealTracks because I knew all of those at the end on up were already installed. It sure took a long time to install (same time as if not installed) and also showed on the destination drive more and more disk space getting consumed. Seems like some improvement could be made.
3) When I had the "Download folder" the same disk drive as the destination ("install") folders, the "Disk Space Available" was helpful since it applied to both the download space and install space. However, when I changed the source drive ("Download folder") to a different external drive, I cared more about the destination drive's space since the source drive had already downloaded everything. Now I'm not expecting the software to be intuitive and read my mind - but I would suggest perhaps the space of the source and destination be displayed. Perhaps to the right of every folder in the "Install Settings" (since there may be multiple drives) and to the right of the folder under "Download Settings".
4) Given the install did not automatically start, I would prefer that there is a button added to force install of all packages not yet installed so I don't have to manually click each one. As a test, I just tried (now that I have plenty of space on the destination drive) to force the install by pressing the "Download/Install Selected files". All are selected except for the loops package - and all are already downloaded 100%. So I would expect this to reduce to the "install selected files" button. However, pressing it does not start the installs (keep in mind this was in the "idle" state so there were no installs occurring). There is no feedback at all from the button press.
Also note that the "Loops Set 02" which is marked as already installed shows "Not Downloaded" - but I would hope the match for "all downloaded" would mean only those that were checked and any items not checked would be "masked" from the logic which checks for "all downloaded".
5) Not necessarily an issue - but I noticed some folders created just have a text file (AlternateFolderNames.txt) which shows another folder which presumably has the data for an alternate name for the realtrack. What's the history of this (needing to call something my multiple names)? Just curious.
Due to the manual process of installing - it's going to take some time before I can see if the packages all landed correctly.
I'm sure I'll have some feedback on the program itself. However, following is some initial feedback only on the installation process.
I decided to use the "PG Music Download Manager" from within BIAB 2016. Doing so, I ran into the following snags that could be improved with a revision of the Download Manager:
1) "Download/Install" selected files - note that by the default all were selected except for "Loops Set 02" - which was marked as already installed. No problem yet there. I had "Install automatically when all downloads are finished".
Issue: after all downloads were finished, no installs began. This could have been due to insufficient disk space. I had the necessary disk space for the downloads - but probably not enough to install everything while keeping the downloaded files on the same disk. I'm inferring here since the problem was there was no messaging and no installing. If I have the install automatically checked - I would expect something more than the system going back to idle. An error message if that is appropriate or the installs to start.
2) I started to manually install the RealTracks one by one. Starting with the "Shots and holds 1-242" and then picking some others from the beginning and then starting backwards from the end (last RealTracks sets) until 15-20 were showing green "Installed". Once my disk space got to a low level, I decided to copy all of the install files (in the BB download for 2016 folder) to an external drive to free up the space. The download manager is built for this - as you can change the download folder. I also see this "download folder" as the "installation source" folder. I mirrored the download folder on an external drive with only the drive letter changing and folder root staying the same name. After changing the download folder all of the sets have cleared the "Installed" green status. I would hope it would preserve this - not a huge deal - room for improvement - but I expected pressing the "install" button would quickly "jump out" of the process if it found the RealTrack was already installed. I went to one of the last RealTracks because I knew all of those at the end on up were already installed. It sure took a long time to install (same time as if not installed) and also showed on the destination drive more and more disk space getting consumed. Seems like some improvement could be made.
3) When I had the "Download folder" the same disk drive as the destination ("install") folders, the "Disk Space Available" was helpful since it applied to both the download space and install space. However, when I changed the source drive ("Download folder") to a different external drive, I cared more about the destination drive's space since the source drive had already downloaded everything. Now I'm not expecting the software to be intuitive and read my mind - but I would suggest perhaps the space of the source and destination be displayed. Perhaps to the right of every folder in the "Install Settings" (since there may be multiple drives) and to the right of the folder under "Download Settings".
4) Given the install did not automatically start, I would prefer that there is a button added to force install of all packages not yet installed so I don't have to manually click each one. As a test, I just tried (now that I have plenty of space on the destination drive) to force the install by pressing the "Download/Install Selected files". All are selected except for the loops package - and all are already downloaded 100%. So I would expect this to reduce to the "install selected files" button. However, pressing it does not start the installs (keep in mind this was in the "idle" state so there were no installs occurring). There is no feedback at all from the button press.
Also note that the "Loops Set 02" which is marked as already installed shows "Not Downloaded" - but I would hope the match for "all downloaded" would mean only those that were checked and any items not checked would be "masked" from the logic which checks for "all downloaded".
5) Not necessarily an issue - but I noticed some folders created just have a text file (AlternateFolderNames.txt) which shows another folder which presumably has the data for an alternate name for the realtrack. What's the history of this (needing to call something my multiple names)? Just curious.
Due to the manual process of installing - it's going to take some time before I can see if the packages all landed correctly.