I am not sure, but I am thinking the update I applied yesterday may have adversely affected the 2017 BIAB program I have on my computer. When I play my songs, they continue playing and I have to use task manager to shut the program down.

Mouse clicks do not good to stop the song or make changes.

Also, the songs start of playing a little garbled, and seem to kind of clear up as they progress.

I just downloaded and added the updates yesterday, and since then, I have had this problem.

So is it my computer, the update, or some other factor? Any help will be appreciated. By the way, I am running windows 10.

The July BiaB update was for BiaB 2018 and NOT for BiaB 2017. Thus it wouldn't surprise me that you are having problems.

Right, what Mario said. The last update for 2017 was last December.

I would normally say to just reinstall the last good update (471) but in this case, I think calling Support would be wise.

As for the sound, the 2018 version selects a WAS driver. That might be the problem with the sound. Change it back to MME or ASIO to see if that helps.

Uh-oh!

I done messed up!!!

Noooooo!!!!!

Well, I tried the first bit of advice from support and I still have the same problem. The program gets garbled, slows down, the moving markers that delineate measures do not move from measure to measure as the song plays, then everything clears up intermittently. The troubleshooter in me can't help but attribute it to installing the update(s). I will battle on, but this is so typical of things lately. My glowing smile has turned into a quiet, sad smile for now. I am going to try and get the computer back to its previous state before I applied the updates.

I agree. Try to go to a Restore point before the update. If you can’t, then save (copy) any of your own songs and custom styles and reinstall BIAB 2017.

What exactly did Support say?

To avoid future problem like this one, PG music should check for compatibility before allow the update to go on

I may not have described my plight sufficiently, but they basically had me go in and do this:


If you have clicked on your Band-in-a-Box program shortcut or the
bbw.exe file and the program won't load, please try the following:

1. Open your Windows Task Manager (Control Alt Delete) and see if any
instances of Band-in-a-Box are running. If they are, force quite them by
clicking "end task"

2. Next, go into your c:\bb folder and delete the following two files:
Mysetup.dk and intrface.bbw.

3. Once that is done, find the bbw.exe file in the bb folder, right
click, and select "run as administrator". Then wait a few moments
without doing anything to see if the program launches.


Thanks for asking.

Duly noted, Sir.

I am close to having to buy a new computer, just for my music software toys.

Expensive toys...

Guitar Non Hero,

It sounds like you might have a slightly older computer and that track generation is slow.

On the song that you're getting a garbled sound...

1. right-click on the chordsheet

2. select Song Settings

3. now select "this song has playback problems, disable fast generation"

4. generate the song

It will take 30-40 seconds longer before playback begins but this might solve your problem. Does it help?

Regards,
Noel

I am trying it right now.

Well, those instructions are appropriate when you can't start BIAB. But your case is different. You overwrote the BBW.EXE file for BIAB 2017 with the one for BIAB 2018. So you are starting the wrong version of BIAB. I can't imagine how that could possibly work correctly. I think as a minimum you need to "put the old one back" in some way, and if that isn't possible, reinstall BIAB 2017. I fear many file locations were moved as well.

Perhaps a better option is to go ahead and purchase 2018 and install that. It will fix any problem.

This reply is to Mr. Noel96's suggestion about Song settings for generating a song.

I should have used the "quote" button.
--------------------------------------------------------
I tried it, and it did seem to help on my shorter song, but I still have the problem on my longer song.

The song gets garbled, drags at certain points, and no longer responds to mouse clicks.

Thanks for trying to help.

When I get time later on, I will go restore back to before the update and check back with you good folks.

Noel correctly described the solution for when the program is regenerating a song at the same time it is playing it. That would indeed result in a stuttering performance on a slower machine. But after the song is regenerated, it should be playing fine. If it isn't, something else is wrong. Once again, let me ask, what is your audio driver: WAS, MME or ASIO?

Now there is a good suggestion.

Hi,

It wouldn't have been possible to install a 2018 patch to a 2017 version, so that's not something we really need to be concerned about.

Guitar Non Hero, if you let us know what the specs of your computer are (processor model and speed, and amount of RAM specifically), and whether you're using an ASIO driver or MME, I'm sure we'll be able to find a solution for your playback issues.

Also, how many bars long is the chorus on that longer song, and how many choruses are there?

Thanks
Kent
PG Music

That’s a relief. It’s hard to reconcile that with what the OP said; we can only go by what we are told.

It has always shown to be MME. I tried switching to ASIO and it did not seem to help.

Right now, I am in the middle of going to a restore point before the updates.

Matt,
I thought I had typed in the following:

John G. 4:37:20 PM
Hello. I installed two updates on my Windows 10 computer, 2017 version BIAB. Now, the program opens up and I have no control. I have to close it out using task manager, and now matter what I click on, I get no response.

John G. 4:38:46 PM
bb2017 build 471 and a realtrack update that says realtracks july 2017 patch new were my installations.


It turns out I gave this info to the help person and not here in the forum.

It's hell getting old for some of us. But I appreciate all the help you cats have and are giving, and I will be more succinct with my problem description.

It's taking forever to get to this set point, but I will post my results the minute I get the results.

The specs are: HP 2000-2a22NR, AMD E1-1200, 15.6" Screen Display, Notebook With 4 GB Memory, 500GB Hard Drive, HDMI, Windows 7 Home Premium
HP

I bought it in 2013 (wow, how time flies). I am not sure about the processor speed, but the age lets you know it is no barnburner.

Ah, it’s becoming clearer now, thanks.

MME is the better choice for diagnosing problems.

Now we can get back to the real trouble. Good.

I have enjoyed the conversation, and in the process learned a few things (which is always good).

Background on my story, for the curious, is that I am a guy who is working on Jazz Guitar (among other genres), off and on for the last 10 years or so.

With Band-in-a-Box (and some increased free time) I am making, dare I say, astronomical progress on my improvising and comping.

The pleasing sounds the BIAB band software produces makes it easy to play along for long periods. And, by inputting mini-chord progressions with only 2 or 3 chords, I am able to practice and internalize the various shapes I am using. And by internalizing the shapes, I can then internalize the various intervals.

My progress has been so great, it has actually been a little scary. You know they say a battery puts out its highest output before it fully dissipates. (smile)

Oh, and I see that I need to use the quote button to keep order in the thread.

Well. Bad news for me.

I went back 6 days with my restore point and now I am getting an error message saying something like "BB does not play on windows or there is an error."

I tried opening old songs and new ones and still no go.

Also Google Chrome is not working so I have some extensive troubleshooting I need to do, but not time right now to do it.

I will get back with you folks once I get these problems sorted out at a later date. I can't let this stuff compromise what little music time I have.

For now, I will have to use the kid's computers when they are not on it doing school work.

Thanks again for getting me this far. I am learning a lot about different things.

Are you sure that nothing is running in the background like your anti-virus? Do you disable your Ethernet card when you are using BiaB? Are you positive that you do not have a virus or some malware?

If you are not sure about the virus run the following:
1-Ccleaner (not the reg cleaner part)

https://www.ccleaner.com/ccleaner

2-Root kill

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/download/rkill/

3-ADWcleaner

https://www.malwarebytes.com/adwcleaner/

4-anti-malwarebytes

https://www.malwarebytes.com/premium/

5-your anti-virus program

Note that all but your anti-virus are free programs.

Good luck.

From these symptoms I’m wondering about the health of the hard drive.

I’d like to make a suggestion: start a new thread. Give us all the info you have in the problem statement. Tell us all about your computer, the version and build of BIAB, and the history of what you’ve tried and the results. I know this will take effort, but I think it could help.

I wish I could say that I was sure, but I am not sure about possible infection from malware and virus.

I will say that I went ahead and went back a few days with my restore point, which did not fix the problem.

I have now upgraded to the latest BIAB and clicked on that box that allows for slower song generation and the problem appears to be fixed for the most part.

I am going to run a virus scan and malware scan at a later date when I have a little more time. For now, playback is great although the program drags a little with solos.

I am in agreement with another poster, that my old computer is going down. The wife spilled a little coffee on it a year ago, and it has been going downhill slowly with little problems.

For now, performance overall is acceptable until I get some more of that "mean green" to get a nice, new computer.

I took the day off from work to get through this issue and work on a few other "honey-dos."

The program is running well now, although it does drag a little when I include solos.

In fact, I started having this problem around the time I started including solos, so there may be some causality there.

My final fix was to just upgrade to the latest version of BIAB, as you wisely suggested.

I think you are right about the computer's health. It has shown other problems since the wife spilled a little coffee on it a year ago. The mouse sometimes sticks in the click position and a few buttons don't work. I have to connect an external keyboard to get full functionality.

Time to budget for a new computer, methinks.

By the way, you are right about the program not performing well when on my computer when for example, Norton Antivirus or Windows download is working in the background, but I am pretty sure that is not the case here.

And I also think its a great performance tip to disable the wifi so that nothing interferes with playback.

In the end, like I stated in the previous post, it is clear this computers days are starting to run out. Luckily, these days I should be able to get a solid laptop without it hurting too bad financially.

Hi Guitar Non Hero,

I'd say your playback issues were largely due to the processor being underpowered. The E1-1200 is dual core, but at only 1.4 GHz, so I'd expect it to struggle on longer songs that use a lot of RealTracks, even when working properly.

You're likely to have better luck if you use MIDI styles, or styles that don't have many RealTracks, and keep the number of choruses low.

Thanks
Kent
PG Music

You could verify what Kent is suggesting about your PC’s power by downloading Geekbench 4. Report your single-core score. If it’s not at least, say, 1,500 you will have difficulty.

Thanks for the tips and for confirming what I was starting to think about the nature of BIAB how song complexity can impact an old computer, should I say old and slow computer, like mine.

Thanks, Matt. I will check it out and let you know.

Score was 602 Single Core
and 938 Dual Core. Pretty bad

Thanks. I concur, that will not meet the minimum requirements. If you used only MIDI, though, it might work.

One last thought on this thread and that is I figured out a "work-around" that will do until I decide on which laptop to get.

Basically, I am using the Export Function to create a .wav file. I have the appropriate number of choruses and solos, and I play it on my CD player or Windows Media Player. Although there is a problem with live playback on my old, slow computer, the rendered version of the song is perfect, with no dragging or volume problems.

Also, when I record songs on my recording media, I just record the .wav file on one track and then solo over it using a different track.

3 years ago i asked myself the same question, also in regards of video editing. Bought an expensive 'refurbished' i7 Dell Precision, a beast for speed. But i soon missed a few USB ports, especially for realtime stuff, and USB (3.0) at times worked quirky to boot. Put extra RAM in it, and an extra 2TB harddrive inside in the spare bay, but f.i for Audiophile it would be almost full already. So bought me the parts and built an ASUS desktop system after doing some reading. My wife likes the laptop, very stable, and occasionaly i use it for audio location recordings only, no BIAB etc. If you only do BIAB a laptop might be a good thing, the PG sent WD my passport drives seem to be OK enough for the job. Graphics can be important in a laptop for GUI demanding plugins, and also quite a bit of internal RAM. Laptop advice from my ICT pro son in law; steer away from the Microsoft surface; he's got a top model one for location work and f.i. graphics are quite below standard. He doesn't like HP for some reason, but seems to think the higher grade i7, maybe i5 intel based Dells or ASUS's are a better choices. Go for a model with proper specs and successful seller; if you need some part later for repairs it's the same as with cars .. you stand better chances at a scrap yard. My experience; had an AMD based laptop, after 3 years a total loss burn out. No AMD for me. PS a tip: if you go into a shop, steer away from models that seem to run really hot, the ventilator output airflow is a good indicator; Luck, F

I just bought a Dell laptop 2 weeks ago. I put BIAB and RB on it. My intent was to have something I could sit out on the porch to play along with.

It is great for that.

For anything needing real power, I will stick with my desktop. I do see a real difference.

...Deb

Thank you for sharing your experience. Picking the laptop best suited for my needs is definitely a process.

I had good luck with 2 refurbished computers (got many years out of them until they just became obsolete).

I can foresee me doing the following with the next laptop:

1) Band in the Box
2) Recording Using Ableton Live or some other program ( I know I will need more than 4GB RAM)
3) Using EZ Drummer/Superior Drummer programs
4) Playing music (so decent speakers can help keep me from having to use an external one)
5) Playing Music courses (such as from True Fire)
6) Storing and Editing Videos using special effects
7) Drawing graphics for books

So the bottom line is that if I want to be able to do all of these things, I will have to spend more money that I initially wanted to. Or I will have to scale back on a few. My music activities are the most important right now, and I could get by on $400.00. I am looking a lot at the Newegg website and educating myself.

Thanks for the tip on that "Surface" computer and also about how some laptops still have inadequate cooling and can get too hot. I thought they were pass that issue by now.

I'd say either deal with a local repairman on a quality occasion, or save up a little more dough. maybe some experts here can advice you further ... F

I am going with option 2.

I missed your post. Sorry.

After comparing Desktop prices to Laptops, I am starting to agree. My challenge is that I travel with my job, and I like having my projects there with me to tweak during my free time in my hotel room.

So I might be doomed to have to spend that little extra to accomodate my indulgences. You know what they say about men and their toys...

Well I got a refurbished laptop. 2.6 GHz speed, 16 Gb RAM, and 500 Gb Hardrive. I am working on installing BIAB in it.

Finally, I will be able to enjoy the sweet sounds of BIAB without any dragging due to having an outdated, inadequate laptop.

FYI, I started a separate thread on how to go about installing BIAB since I have the 2012 Megapak, and rights to 2017 and 2018 upgrades.