Can't export song from .SGU format

Frank Freniere · Post by **Frank Freniere** » 7 Apr 2022 9:48 am

I finished a song in 2017 BIAB saved it as an .SGU file, then went back to export it as a .mp4. I got this error message:

Access violation at address 00908097 in module 'bbw.exe'. Read of address 000000A0

I don't use BIAB all that often but I think I save these .SGU files in a folder named "BIAB Tracks" and then I go back to save them or export in WAV form. The folder then shows the song in both Band-In-A-Box Song format and WAVE Audio File format.

How do I fix this and am I doing something wrong?

Jim Fogle · Post by **Jim Fogle** » 7 Apr 2022 4:37 pm

Hi Frank,

What steps do you take to export your song file? For example do you use the menu at the top of the screen or the export module?

MP4 and WAV are different types of audio files. Which audio file do you want to export?

admin · Post by **b0b** » 7 Apr 2022 5:22 pm

MP4 is usually used for video. Did you mean to say MP3?

Frank Freniere · Post by **Frank Freniere** » 8 Apr 2022 6:36 am

Guys -

I'm running BIAB for Windows
Version 2017 (471) Activated

So I started from scratch for the nth time: Selected Campfire3, Fingerpicked and Strummed from Stylepicker (which has no drum-click intro: annoying). 1 chorus, 45 bars, 80bpm, named the song.

This time, I went straight to the .WAV icon/Export Song as Audio/Export as .wav. Got the same error message, which hangs up BIAB, so I have to use Task Manager to get out of the program.

Which of course erases all my work and I'm back again at square 1.

Maybe the Campfire Style is corrupted? Which sucks because its a handy arrangement.

Haven't heard back from PG Music support.

Thoughts?

admin · Post by **b0b** » 8 Apr 2022 9:06 am

Does the style use RealTracks? If so, maybe it can't find the RealTracks files.

Norman Evans · Post by **Norman Evans** » 8 Apr 2022 12:04 pm

Have you tried going to Options and return to factory settings?

Michael Stephens · Post by **Michael Stephens** » 9 Apr 2022 2:15 am

I have found the folks at PG Music (who sell BIAB) to be very helpful if you contact them to discuss.

Ian Worley · Post by **Ian Worley** » 9 Apr 2022 10:50 am

The error message is a Windows memory access error, not a BIAB error. The .SGU or .STY files themselves are not likely the culprit. What version of Windows are you running? Did the process or set of steps that is generating the error work correctly in the past, and if yes, have you installed new programs or Windows updates recently? Memory access violations are generally caused by two programs trying to write to the same memory address. A new program or update might have reserved the memory space that BIAB is trying to access, causing the violation error. Sometimes it's a module of Windows itself using the conflicting address.

It might be worthwhile install an earlier build version of BIAB to see if that helps. The previous build version is 470, they're all here: https://www.pgmusic.com/support_windowsupdates.htm. Just run it as an update, it won't alter any customization.

You can also try altering the "compatibility" settings for the main BIAB executable "bbw.exe" noted in the error message to emulate an earlier version of Windows, that file will be in the main bb/ directory. Right click on the file, select "Properties" at the bottom of the pop-up menu, select the "Compatibility" tab, check the "run this program in compatibility mode" box and select an earlier version from the drop down. If that doesn't help just go back and uncheck the box to restore it to normal.

I had a vaguely similar issue with a previous version of BIAB (2014) that would generate a memory access violation error like this, though it was not related to file export. It was caused by the ASIO sound driver for my aging M-Audio interface. When I switched the preferred audio driver inside BIAB to the default Windows MME sound driver, the issue was cured.

Good luck, I hope you get it sorted.

Frank Freniere · Post by **Frank Freniere** » 9 Apr 2022 4:28 pm

Thanks, Ian et al.

I wouldn’t be at all surprised if the problem lies with Windows, not BIAB. In fact my laptop has started to act balky on me in just the last 2 weeks.

I’m going to call BIAB Monday to see if we can resolve or at least identify where the problem is.

Frank Freniere · Post by **Frank Freniere** » 11 Apr 2022 1:51 pm

Coda: worked with a helpful tech at www.pgmusic.com to reinstall the software, which I kept on an external drive. Problem solved - for now anyway.

Jim Fogle · Post by **Jim Fogle** » 13 Apr 2022 9:47 am

Frank, I'm glad to read you got it working. The PG Music folks are generally very knowledgeable and helpful. What did you do with their assistance that was different in your first install? Your report may help another forum member in the future.

Frank Freniere · Post by **Frank Freniere** » 15 Apr 2022 3:35 am

Jim -

The tech walked me through a couple of checks, we deleted a couple of files in bb directory and hit reinstall. I think I just needed a person to walk me through the steps - computers are kind of a black box for me.

Plus, the manual is written by programmers for other programmers.

admin · Post by **b0b** » 15 Apr 2022 8:24 am

Frank Freniere wrote:Plus, the manual is written by programmers for other programmers.

In 2001, I worked with some other programmers to develop a "Print From The Web" solution for Avery Dennison (the label company). We thought we had a pretty good design, so corporate arranged a focus group of customers - office managers, mostly. Not one of them was able to follow the workflow to completion and print a label. At that point, they decided to hire a "human factors" person to basically redesign the user interface from the ground up.

Programmers are not good at user interface design or documentation of same.

Frank Freniere · Post by **Frank Freniere** » 15 Apr 2022 10:10 am

Cool story, b0b - BIAB ought to use some human factors people, too.

There is a bunch of YouTube tutorials out there but they are not organized or indexed like a manual would be. Their Users Support Forum is helpful but there’s probably a market for a “BIAB For Dummies” book.

Jim Fogle · Post by **Jim Fogle** » 17 Apr 2022 6:37 am

Frank,

If you, or any other Band-in-a-Box user, want a very organized Band-in-a-ox video tutorial series, check out Groove 3's "Band-in-a-Box: Getting Started" tutorials. https://www.groove3.com/tutorials/Band- ... ng-Started

I purchased the series and keep the videos on my computer to use as a quick reference guide.