Cakewalk does not open

[brb]

Just like the title, the Cakewalk program does not launch. I see the opening message (with the cakewalk logo and the current version), but after that, nothing happens. It seems like it does not launch at all so that I do not even see any error message.

I tried to open the program as admin, open a cwd file instead of the app itself, open via bandlap and reinstall, but nothing amongst them has worked.

Since it has been more than three months that I had not opened this program, it is quite hard to deduce the reason why it's not launching... This is very weird because I have not had any major change in my computer in the last few months.

My computer uses Window 10 and my cakewalk is up to date as I reinstalled it.

Could you please help me solving this problem? 

[scook]

If the program hangs on the splash screen 

it may trying to discover the audio drivers available to the DAW

If you are using ASIO driver mode, you may want to verify there is at most one manufacturer supplied driver for each audio interface and no generic drivers are referenced in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\ASIO

If you are using a Realtek audio chip do NOT use ASIO driver mode, the driver is not suitable for DAW use.

 

It could be a problem with the MS redistributable libraries, here is an installer to fix this

 

Finally, if the problem is not ASIO driver or MS lib related, you will likely need to forward a dump to support for diagnosis. Here is information about how to proceed

 

[brb]

3 hours ago, scook said:

It could be a problem with the MS redistributable libraries, here is an installer to fix this

Thank you for your detailed reply.

I directly went to MS redistributable lib problem as I do not use ASIO driver. I installed the redist setup and the installation went successfully, but it did not solve the problem. I guess this was not related...

3 hours ago, scook said:

 

 

Instead, I found the instruction about clean install in the link you provided, so I just decided to reinstall CbB once again.

I followed this instruction:

https://help.cakewalk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360034066393-Clean-Install-Cakewalk-by-BandLab

I had reinstalled CbB before uploading this question, but it was indeed not the clean install. Some remaining damaged files may have had caused this issue...

So, after two reinstallations, the app is finally working!

Thank you very much for your help!

[Promidi]

You say it’s been three months, so I am assuming you have power cycled your PC

Install all patches that Windows updates offers you

Have you tried uninstalling and reinstalling your hardware drivers (Not just for your Audio interface). Do this using manufacturer's websites rather than Windows updates. While you’re at it, you might as well check you are using the latest versions.

Go to %appdata%\Cakewalk\Cakewalk Core and rename your AUD.INI file.  Then try restarting CbB

Uninstall and reinstall CbB.

Others will likely have other solutions.

[msmcleod]

Try holding down SHIFT when opening Cakewalk - this will force Cakewalk to re-initialize it's config files.  It may be that they've been corrupted.
 

[brb]

On 1/30/2023 at 11:40 AM, msmcleod said:

Try holding down SHIFT when opening Cakewalk - this will force Cakewalk to re-initialize it's config files.  It may be that they've been corrupted.
 

Thank you for your reply. Unfortunately, SHIFT opening did not work. When I see the task manager, it seems like Cakewalk does not launch at all, even though it still shows me the Cakewalk by Bandlab logo.

[brb]

On 1/30/2023 at 2:48 AM, Promidi said:

You say it’s been three months, so I am assuming you have power cycled your PC

Install all patches that Windows updates offers you

Have you tried uninstalling and reinstalling your hardware drivers (Not just for your Audio interface). Do this using manufacturer's websites rather than Windows updates. While you’re at it, you might as well check you are using the latest versions.

Go to %appdata%\Cakewalk\Cakewalk Core and rename your AUD.INI file.  Then try restarting CbB

Uninstall and reinstall CbB.

Others will likely have other solutions.

First of all, thank you for your suggestions.

I installed all patches from Windows, which did not solve my problem.

I went to Cakewalk Core file but I do not see the AUD.INI file... I am attatching the existing files just in case.

Additionally, do you mean by the hardware drivers the audio drivers (Reatek)? I do not use an Audio interface.

Finally, I have already tried to uninstall and reinstall CbB via Bandlap app, but I will retry this if the problem does not solve with other methods.

[Promidi]

3 hours ago, brb said:

I went to Cakewalk Core file but I do not see the AUD.INI file... I am attatching the existing files just in case.

 

Did you go here "%appdata%\Cakewalk\Cakewalk Core".  AUD.INI is definitely there..   Your file list did not show me the folder path

Note: the %appdata% should parse as your windows profile user folder (which actual path is different for each user)

By hardware drivers I mean all drivers - including your Realtek. Also, for your Realtek don't use their ASIO drivers - they have issues (see other threads)

Edited January 31, 2023 by Promidi

[brb]

On 1/31/2023 at 8:09 PM, Promidi said:

Did you go here "%appdata%\Cakewalk\Cakewalk Core".  AUD.INI is definitely there.. 

Sorry for being late first of all. I am having quite a lot of work these days... but I will try my best to solve this problem as CbB for me is really important.

So, I just found out that there are two folders, Cakewalk Core and Cakewalk_Core, and the AUD file only exists in the Cakewalk_Core folder. However, I am not sure if this is the same as AUD.INI file. Also there are a few more files in the Cakewalk_Core folder.

I had tried to rename the Cakewalk Core folder to see if it solves the problem (I saw this suggestion in other question in this forum) and then reinstalled the CbB, so this might be the reason. But it seems still strange that the recent core folder lacks some files.

Otherwise, I will try reinstalling hard drivers and CbB.

[scook]

On 1/30/2023 at 4:40 AM, msmcleod said:

Try holding down SHIFT when opening Cakewalk - this will force Cakewalk to re-initialize it's config files.  It may be that they've been corrupted.
 

Unless this has recently changed,

• holding down the SHIFT key while start the DAW restores files missing from the user directory (aka partial personalization)
• holding down the CTRL key while starting the DAW copies with overwrite user directory files and resets a couple of registry entries (aka full personalization)

[brb]

6 minutes ago, scook said:

Unless this has recently changed,

• holding down the SHIFT key while start the DAW restores files missing from the user directory (aka partial personalization)
• holding down the CTRL key while starting the DAW copies with overwrite user directory files and resets a couple of registry entries (aka full personalization)

Thank you for your reply.

I have tried both methods and they seem to work fine, as I can see the personalization message (attatched image 1, 2). However, after showing me the logo (3rd image), the app does not want to launch.

[sjoens]

For me the normal cause of this is CbB hanging in Backgroud Processes after closing it. It has done this without ever loading a project. The quick way I've gotten to reopen it is to log off Windows and log back in.

99% of all other fixes never work for me.

[Promidi]

Start run   taskkill /IM Cakewalk.exe /F

[Starship Krupa]

On 2/5/2023 at 10:24 AM, brb said:

the AUD file only exists in the Cakewalk_Core folder. However, I am not sure if this is the same as AUD.INI file

It looks like you have your folder options set to "hide extensions for known file types." Windows "knows" .INI files, so it's hiding the extension.

I always run with that option turned off.