[CLOSED] Cakewalk 2024.02 Early Access

[GreenLight]

On 2/17/2024 at 3:11 PM, Noel Borthwick said:

I think we've all learned that lifetime messaging can be ambiguous right? 😉

////

I don't think anyone expected that cbb would be indefinitely free forever.  In the future there may be a free version (with some limitations) however.

This is an interesting aspect that you bring up, Noel.

But to be fair, the tables were somewhat reversed when CbB was introduced: many users expressed a lot of concern about the "free" product on these (and other) forums. They wondered how on earth that was possible, and what the catch was.

(And to be a bit philosophical, what really was the catch? Is it the discussion of an expiring CbB that we're seeing now?)

16 hours ago, Noel Borthwick said:

It was never implied that Cbb would be indefinitely made available only that it would be kept active during the transition period to Sonar. Its not going to be affected in the short term.

It wasn't maybe explicitly stated, but from my memory I would say that it was heavily implied, several times. Maybe not intentionally? Or maybe we users read stuff you didn't say into what you said?

Anyway, as you mentioned in another reply, a permanent CbB version for those who aren't interested or maybe invested in following along the new Sonar path would definitely "feel good in the belly".

That said, I myself am looking forward to the new Sonar!

[Greg Wynn]

Been a user since 2000 !  I’m stoked for the new version and resurrecting the Sonar name !

[Ronny.G]

Many thanks to the bakers for this 2024.02  early update!

Many improvements (restore offline activation for all users) and fixes for offline users (like me), so thanks again for take care of these problems.

Please in future continue to support offline users as it was before so problems like the popup screen will remain things of the past...

Thanks again

EDIT UPDATE:  Here we go again...another problem if you are offline. Really I don't know what to think...

Everytime I start CbB I don't have anymore the nag screen with coundown however I have now a new different popup screen:

"Cannot Reach Internet

The requested service requires an Internet connection. Please check your Internet connection, or firewall settings, and try again."

I have to click "OK" everytime. Then CbB work as always and stay in activated status.

To me it seems again related to something about Sign In or Refresh Activation.

Please report if you have also this new popup screen after this early update.

Edited February 19 by Ronny.G

[kitekrazy]

Seems like it was removed.

[TheSteven]

2 hours ago, kitekrazy said:

Seems like it was removed.

If the download was removed, it's back now.
I initially tried installing from the Product Center forgetting that early access versions don't show on it.

 

Edited February 19 by TheSteven

[Jim Fogle]

Two files I downloaded in the past seem to be missing from the Cakewalk Product Center 1.0.0.048 Add-ons file list; CakewalkDemoProjectsSetup_1.0.0.8.exe and CakewalkHelp_Documentation_1.0.0.21.exe.

Will I have to update my licensed version of Melodyne Essentials after running Melodyne5Setup_1.0.0.7.exe?  My install is presently up-to-date at v5.3.018?

[Noel Borthwick]

23 hours ago, Ronny.G said:

Many thanks to the bakers for this 2024.02  early update!

Many improvements (restore offline activation for all users) and fixes for offline users (like me), so thanks again for take care of these problems.

Please in future continue to support offline users as it was before so problems like the popup screen will remain things of the past...

Thanks again

EDIT UPDATE:  Here we go again...another problem if you are offline. Really I don't know what to think...

Everytime I start CbB I don't have anymore the nag screen with coundown however I have now a new different popup screen:

"Cannot Reach Internet

The requested service requires an Internet connection. Please check your Internet connection, or firewall settings, and try again."

I have to click "OK" everytime. Then CbB work as always and stay in activated status.

To me it seems again related to something about Sign In or Refresh Activation.

Please report if you have also this new popup screen after this early update.

@Ronny.G Was the offline activation process successful and are you actually running the latest EA version of Cbb on the offline machine? Please post a screenshot or video showing the issue.
Edit: We think we know why you ran into this. Your version of Cbb has likely never been signed in ever. This was an unexpected workflow. Will look into it and see if we can handle this through product center. Offline use in apps like this takes a lot of extra handling to make it work properly.

[Jonathan Sasor]

14 hours ago, Jim Fogle said:

Two files I downloaded in the past seem to be missing from the Cakewalk Product Center 1.0.0.048 Add-ons file list; CakewalkDemoProjectsSetup_1.0.0.8.exe and CakewalkHelp_Documentation_1.0.0.21.exe.

Will I have to update my licensed version of Melodyne Essentials after running Melodyne5Setup_1.0.0.7.exe?  My install is presently up-to-date at v5.3.018?

The Melodyne installer is just a wrapper for the stock one from Celemony, so if you're already running Melodyne, there's no need to update there.

Product Center might not see some existing installs if they haven't been done with the very latest installer versions. There haven't been any binary changes to any of the add-ons for CbB, but the installers were updated a little while back in anticipation of Product Center. 

[jfrommichigan]

On 2/17/2024 at 1:04 PM, Colin Nicholls said:

Because you asked: the ability to theme CbB is a very strong reason why I am still using it today. I have two themes I use and neither of them are Tungsten or Mercury

Same here!!

I spend more time messing around with themes every day than I do playing/practicing. I don't really record much, I use CbB mainly as a hub/backup band for jamming alone at my desk. (including real instruments and a lot of VSTi)

- I look at theming as a hobby, but if I'm being honest with myself... it's near 'addiction' status. 

[flangad]

On 2/17/2024 at 3:15 PM, Noel Borthwick said:

What activation issue?

In my experience, if you cannot sign in at all using the standard web based auth then that is caused by some system side incompatibility with traffic being blocked from the browser to the app.

For such cases there is an alternate sign in mechanism using password flow that uses an in-app sign in process.

support request nb 1456443, i had many exchange with cakewalk support team, and no solution is working . very strange situation.

Edited February 21 by flangad

[Jonathan Sasor]

Please note that the installer link has been updated to build 29.02.0.093. This new build includes an improved experience for offline activation as well as some additional improvements for analytics. Please grab the latest. Thanks!

[OutrageProductions]

6 minutes ago, Jonathan Sasor said:

Please note that the installer link has been updated to build 29.02.0.093. This new build includes an improved experience for offline activation as well as some additional improvements for analytics. Please grab the latest. Thanks!

Is this still the EA or now considered the Release version?

[Noel Borthwick]

Its still EA but barring any issues it will likely get publicly released tomorrow.
There are quite a few fixes to app startup, offline activation and product center so give it a try.
Additionally the login screen now shows a confirmation instead of going into BandLab.

[Noel Borthwick]

4 hours ago, flangad said:

support request nb 1456443, i had many exchange with cakewalk support team, and no solution is working . very strange situation.

Did you try the solution to use Password based activation? What OS are you running?
Set BLLoginFlow to 0 in the registry and retry sign in using your bandlab user id and password. 
If you are still stuck after trying that send me a message and I can try and troubleshoot it with you. If that doesn't work something more fundamental on your system is preventing sign in from working. Also try on a different PC if you have one since that may help you eliminate the problem.

[flangad]

yes, i've ever try this (Password based activation), no success. My OS is windows 10 (full updated) on a DAW dedicated computer, only Microsoft security applications (defender antivirus and windows firewall), I've also try to desactivate them, non success. No problem on another PC in the same network, but this is not my DAW PC/configuration. Everything i try, i got "Error code 1 : invalid grant, try later" in cakewalk. Everything was fine before the last officialy released update.

Edited February 22 by flangad

[Noel Borthwick]

6 hours ago, flangad said:

yes, i've ever try this (Password based activation), no success. My OS is windows 10 (full updated) on a DAW dedicated computer, only Microsoft security applications (defender antivirus and windows firewall), I've also try to desactivate them, non success. No problem on another PC in the same network, but this is not my DAW PC/configuration. Everything i try, i got "Error code 1 : invalid grant, try later" in cakewalk. Everything was fine before the last officialy released update.

@flangad I sent you a PM. Please respond and we can follow up. Also please try the latest build we posted yesterday since there is a change to some tokens.

[Ronny.G]

On 2/20/2024 at 2:15 PM, Noel Borthwick said:

@Ronny.G Was the offline activation process successful and are you actually running the latest EA version of Cbb on the offline machine? Please post a screenshot or video showing the issue.
Edit: We think we know why you ran into this. Your version of Cbb has likely never been signed in ever. This was an unexpected workflow. Will look into it and see if we can handle this through product center. Offline use in apps like this takes a lot of extra handling to make it work properly.

Yes, the offline activation of the latest 2023.09 CbB  was successful (I used a beta version of the now released product center tool). I installed the EA 2024.02 update and the activation was still present. I suppose the problem is not the activation since CbB  even with the EA 2024.02 never lost the activation status.

But you are right, for sure my version of CbB has never been signed in ever, as it was installed on an offline pc (always offline) and activated using the offline activation process. I will try asap the updated 29.02.0.093 installer to report if it can fix the problem.

Many thanks for your interest on this offline problem.

UPDATE: Problem solved starting from 29.09.0.093 update. Thanks!

Edited February 23 by Ronny.G
Problem solved starting from 29.09.0.093 update

[Jonathan Sasor]

Hi Folks,

Please note that the installer has been updated to 29.09.0.096. This build features an improved sign in workflow. Thanks!

[Starship Krupa]

On 2/17/2024 at 6:11 AM, Noel Borthwick said:

The bigger question to me is why anyone serious about using our products want to use an old unsupported product, when a much better (and affordable) version is made available.

Rhetorical question, probably, but I think I can at least speculate.

Pricing: users don't know what is meant by "affordable." Affordable relative to what? Will there be a subscription option? If so, how will the cost of updates be handled for people who choose a perpetual license over the subscription? All of these questions are still up in the air.

The "much better" is well earned, but pricing and licensing is still a mystery, and we know that it's still being worked out and you can't make any guarantees. Everyone has to trust that you're industry veterans and smart cookies who know where Sonar fits in the marketplace and what you should charge for it.

Another element might be residual uncertainty about investing time and effort into a freeware DAW. Cakewalk by BandLab has been too good to be true for 6 years now. Many adopters wondering what the catch was, maybe thinking aha, here's where they get us.

Lastly, the people who use CbB LOVE CbB. Maybe they're not as sure they'll love Sonar as much.🥰

[Noel Borthwick]

3 hours ago, Ronny.G said:

Yes, the offline activation of the latest 2023.09 CbB  was successful (I used a beta version of the now released product center tool). I installed the EA 2024.02 update and the activation was still present. I suppose the problem is not the activation since CbB  even with the EA 2024.02 never lost the activation status.

But you are right, for sure my version of CbB has never been signed in ever, as it was installed on an offline pc (always offline) and activated using the offline activation process. I will try asap the updated 29.02.0.093 installer to report if it can fix the problem.

Many thanks for your interest on this offline problem.

Your issue has been resolved in the latest update.