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Hardware Drivers and
Cakewalk
What's a driver?
Your computer has a lot of different devices inside it: sound cards, MIDI
interfaces, video cards, hard disk controllers, modems, etc. Each one
of those hardware devices is run by a piece of software called a driver,
without which all those devices are just expensive plastic paperweights.
The driver communicates between the hardware device and the operating
system, letting the software on the computer work with that device. If
for some reason the driver isn't working properly, communication between
the hardware and the software can become erratic or fail completely.
What does this have to
do with Cakewalk?
Cakewalk depends upon the drivers of your sound card to function properly
at all times in order to record and play back audio and/or MIDI data,
letting you record and play your songs. When a driver becomes corrupt
or fails, Cakewalk will no longer be able to communicate properly with
the sound card or MIDI interface, and work on your project may come to
a halt.
Symptoms of driver trouble
Sometimes the signs of driver problems aren't as obvious as a sudden
inability to record or play back audio or MIDI. The symptoms you experience
may be less dramatic, but can still have a negative effect on your ability
to work with Cakewalk. Here's a list of some symptoms that may indicate
driver trouble:
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Stuck, delayed, or random
MIDI notes during recording and/or play back.
-
Audio or MIDI data drifting
out of time with other tracks in the file.
-
Cakewalk pops out of Record
mode in the middle of recording.
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Cakewalk pops out of Play
mode in the middle of play back.
What can I do?
If a problem does arise, you may be able to resolve it by simply reinstalling
the drivers currently in use. However, in order to ensure Cakewalk functions
as well as it possibly can, we recommend you update your hardware drivers
as new versions become available, particularly for your sound card and/or
MIDI interface. In general, hardware manufacturers regularly release new
versions of their drivers and make them available to be downloaded from
the web. These updated drivers often contain fixes for problems with the
previous version, or new features that can enhance the performance of
your hardware. Click here for a list of
links to various hardware manufacturers.
After you've reinstalled or
updated drivers, you need to have Cakewalk analyze those new drivers so
it can configure itself properly. Here's how:
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Open Cakewalk, and choose
Options | Audio | General.
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Press the Wave Profiler
button.
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Click 'Yes' in the dialog
that appears.
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When the Wave Profiler
has finished, you can continue working.
Note: Hardware manufacturers
often make Beta versions of drivers available for download. Keep in mind
that Beta drivers are by definition incomplete, and installing them may
or may not result in erratic device behavior in Cakewalk and other programs.
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