1) Why do I get a "DirectX" error when installing.

2) I can't see my audio/MIDI hardware in Cakewalk.

3) How do I eliminate Dropouts?

4) I can’t hear anything and/or MIDI Mapper won’t stay selected.

5) I can't record Audio; I just get a flat line/silence.

6) Cakewalk will not open or it freezes when clicking the icon for it.

7) I get an echo when recording audio.

8) There are no Instrument Definitions for my external keyboard or synth.

9) The waveforms on all of my audio clips are gone.

10) Why am I getting clicks and pops?

11) How do I record my MIDI down to Audio tracks?

12) Why are my audio tracks recording down to new audio tracks?

13) Why am I getting stuck notes?

1) Why do I get a "DirectX" error when installing. It's like it is caught in a loop.
The older Cakewalk installer will not work correctly with DX 9 installed. Please download the DirectX Fix.

If the utility does not run properly please follow these instructions: Click the Windows Start button and select Run. At the prompt type REGEDIT and click OK. Click the + sign next to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, then click the one next to Software, then Microsoft, then DirectX. Now right-click on VERSION in the right hand Window, choose Modify. Change the Value Data to 4.08.01.0810 click OK and close the registry. You should now be able to install Cakewalk. In order to change Windows back to DX9, go through the same steps and type in 4.09.00.0900 for the Value.

2) I can't see my audio/MIDI hardware in Cakewalk.

• By default Home Studio 2002 shows only the audio cards on your system that have WDM drivers installed. Follow the steps to enable Home Studio 2002 to access all of the audio drivers on your system.

  • Start Home Studio 2002, click Options | Audio | Advanced Tab and select "Always Use MME." Close Home Studio 2002 and restart. You should now see all MME audio devices.
  • Enabling this option will force the WDM driver to go through the slower MME interface. If you use only WDM driver devices, leave this option unchecked for optimum performance (lower latency).
    
• Home Studio 2002's AUD.INI file may have become corrupted. 

  Easy Fix - Close Home Studio 2002 and delete the AUD.INI file from the Home Studio 2002 folder. After restarting Home Studio 2002 you may need to point the app to your WaveData folder. (Options | Audio | Advanced Tab | Data Directory field)

  
  Advanced Fix - Close Home Studio 2002. Open Home Studio 2002's AUD.INI file in Notepad. Delete everything listed beneath the line PictureDir=C:\Cakewalk Projects\Picture Cache 
  Save the file and restart Home Studio 2002.

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3) How do I eliminate Dropouts?

If SONAR suddenly stops producing audio during recording or playback followed by the appearance of a red dropout indicator light, you've very likely experienced a dropout. Sometimes instead of a dropout, you may experience a stutter during playback (a small section of audio repeats itself once or twice before normal playback resumes). Or, you may occasionally experience a glitch or pop during audio playback (a brief interruption or clicking noise is heard, but audio playback then continues normally from that point).

Eliminating Dropouts:

1. Complete all the steps listed in the SONAR Help file under the category Dropouts and Other Audio Problems.
2. There may be a bad setting in the AUD.INI file. Try one of the following methods: Easy Method - Close SONAR and delete the AUD.INI file from the SONAR folder. After restarting SONAR you may need to point the app to your WaveData folder. (Options | Audio | Advanced Tab | Data Directory field) Advanced Method - Close SONAR. Open SONAR's AUD.INI file in Notepad. Delete everything listed beneath the line PictureDir=C:\Cakewalk Projects\Picture Cache Save the file and restart SONAR.
3. Go to Options | Audio | General and move the Latency slider toward the Safe setting.
4. Click on the Advanced tab and set the I/O Buffer Size to 256.
5. Open a file that has this problem and run the Tools | Compact Audio Data command.
6. Make sure nothing else is running while SONAR is open. Choose Start | Run and type MSCONFIG. Click OK, then click on the Startup tab at the upper right of the window that opens. Uncheck all items listed, click OK, then restart your computer. You can always recheck those items again at a later time.
7. If, and only if, you have an UltraDMA hard drive, make sure it's in DMA mode. Go to Control Panel | System | Device Manager and click the plus next to Disk Drives. Double click on your hard drive, click Settings, and make sure the DMA box is checked. If it is not, check it, restart, and make sure it stays checked.

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• To hear MIDI playback:

To hear MIDI playback, you will always need a MIDI instrument like a keyboard or built-in synthesizer to select under Options | MIDI devices. If you don't have a synth showing up under Options | MIDI devices, or if you only see "Microsoft MIDI mapper," then you have 2 options:

a) Go to Options | Audio | Advanced. Put a check in the box that says "Always Use MME Interface" (or change the Driver Mode to MME-32bit) then press OK. Restart the program and let the Wave Profiler Test your hardware. Go back to Options | MIDI devices. You should now see "Microsoft GS Wavetable S/W synth" under outputs. Select this new device and click OK.

b) If your soundcard supports WDM drivers, you should use a DXI or Virtual Instrument as your synth. Go to View | Synth Rack and add one of the synths from the list (click the + sign in the upper left). Make sure you check "MIDI Source", "First Synth Audio Output" and "Synth Property Page" from the Synth Options window that pops up. Once that particular synth is in view, press F1 for specific documentation on that synth (if available). For detailed instructions, see the tutorial called "Using SoftSynths" under Help | Help Topics. These tutorials will be very helpful to you.

c) If you don't have a Synth Rack in your version, but have DXi capability, go to Insert | Audio Track. In the audio track, right-click in the FX field. Choose DXI, then choose one of the synths from the list. Now set the Output and Channel of each of your MIDI tracks that same synth, which will now show up as a valid output..

• To Hear Audio Playback:

First click Options | Audio and then click the general tab. If "Playback Timing Master" is set to "None", click the down arrow and choose a driver. If no drivers are available, go to the drivers tab and make sure you have drivers highlighted or checked under both inputs and outputs. After doing this you may need to restart the program and check the "Playback Timing Master" again. If you are using an audio interface that connects via USB, Firewire, or has a breakout box, you will need to connect speakers or headphones to your interface’s outputs.

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5) I can't record Audio; I just get a flat line/silence.

Go to Start | Programs | Accessories | Entertainment | Volume Control.
The Windows Mixer controls the volume levels of your sound card inputs, and it also can mute any input or output.

To open the Windows Mixer, click the Open Windows Mixer button at the bottom of this dialog.
The Windows Mixer looks like this:

When you open the Windows Mixer it may be labeled Play Control or Recording Control. We want to see the Recording Controls.

To view the Recording Controls:

1. Click the Options menu and select Properties.
2. The Properties dialog appears.
3. In the Adjust Volume For section of the Properties dialog, select the Recording radio button.
4. In the Show the Following Volume Controls section, the Line-in and Microphone options should be checked. If they are not, check them.
5. Click OK.
6. The Recording Controls now appear in the Windows Mixer.
7. Check the Select box under the input you wish to use, typically Line-in or microphone.

(Note: your sound card may have its own mixer. If so, use that instead)

Here is a tutorial on setting up for audio recording:   
Audio Recording Tutorial
It applies directly to SONAR LE, but will work for many other Cakewalk programs.

The following video applies directly to SONAR Home Studio 6, but will also work for many other Cakewalk programs.Basic Recording Setup

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Playback problems (Clicks, pops, skipping, timing errors) can be caused by several things:

• Hard Drive Speed - If you are running more audio tracks then your hard drive can handle, then you will get drop out. There is a direct correlation between number of tracks in Cakewalk and the speed of your drive (Uncached Transfer rate, not RPM). Try defragmenting the drive (Start > Settings > Program Files > Accessories > System Tools > Disk Defragmenter) or raising the numbers of buffers in the Playback Queue (Options > Audio > General).
  
• Virus Scanners, Crash Guard, etc - Programs running in the background, especially virus scanners and crash guards, are constantly accessing system resources. Therefore, this extra strain during playback can cause dropout. These programs are running in the background if they have an icon appear in the Windows Task Bar (next to the clock). Generally, right clicking on the icon gives you the option to exit or disable. I'd recommend that you go to Start > Run and type MSCONFIG. Then choose 'Selective Startup' and uncheck 'Load Startup Group'. If you have any real time monitoring software running like Spy Doctor or Zone Alarm, please try the steps on this page.
  
• Conflicting Audio Drivers - Devices like other sound cards, voice modems, video capture cards, etc can load audio drivers which interferer w/Cakewalk's ability to playback audio to the main sound card. Go to Start | Settings | Control Panel | Multimedia | Devices (Advanced in Win 95), and click the plus sign next to Audio Devices. If there are any devices listed there such as Voice Modem, Serial Wave Device, or Game Compatible Device, you will want to disable them. To do this, highlight the entry and then press the Properties button. Choose 'Do not use Audio for this device', click OK, then restart the machine.
  
• Make sure Options > Audio > General has Read/Write Caching turned OFF.
  
• Lastly, try updating your sound card drivers. These can often be found on the manufacturer's website.