The all-new "HELP! I have an Audacity problem" thread

Eduard Rochester · December 16th, 2019, 7:08 pm

For info, I have tried opening the Terminal app and inputting the proper code, but this workaround didn't work for me. Apple simply won't run 32 bit apps anymore (if you run Catalina)--at least not on my Mac. The last time Apple did a major software update, some other software I depended on stopped working. That software company advised that they wouldn't update their code for an additional 4 or 5 months. The only way to regain that functionality was to revert back to the previous Mac OS. I did because this software was so critical to me. Unfortunately, once I reverted, I had to reload all my old apps again. That took the best part of a day to complete. So, unless someone has a better solution, this might be your only way to regain Audacity functionality until they decide to rewrite it as a 64 bit app.

Post by **philchenevert** » December 24th, 2019, 6:39 pm

Hi everyone. (Windows 10 - Audacity 2.3.0 on a PC) I am having a problem with Audacity, specifically, editing. The cursor thing (Selection Tool that looks like an I beam) has begun misbehaving. Normally I click in the track and drag to select what I want to mess with. But now, when editing and trying to highlight a section by dragging, it jumps around, loses the section, sometimes just selects the whole track and starts back at the beginning. I sweare it is snickering at me. Very confusing and frustrating. I call this the "Jumpy Cursor" thing. It just started a few days ago but is stopping me in my tracks from editing.
I have tried saving the file to eliminate overrun memory. I have closed the track and opened it again. I have closed Audacity and opened it again. But it keeps jumping around and losing the 'selection' area. Any ideas?? Empathy would be nice too.

Here I am, working on Christmas Eve and getting laughed at by Audacity. I get no respect.

KevinS · Post by **KevinS** » December 24th, 2019, 6:52 pm

Boy, I don't know. A complete shot in the dark would be to look at the snap-to tool setting.

Post by **TriciaG** » December 24th, 2019, 7:20 pm

What kind of mouse do you have? If it's wireless, have you tried changing the battery?

silverquill · Post by **silverquill** » December 24th, 2019, 8:55 pm

I've got the jittery cursor thing going on, but not specifically with Audacity. In fact, it behaves better there than in my browser. So, I wonder if this is truly an Audacity problem or something haywire with the cursor settings or some such conflict.

Post by **ToddHW** » December 25th, 2019, 5:51 am

TriciaG wrote: ↑December 24th, 2019, 7:20 pm What kind of mouse do you have? If it's wireless, have you tried changing the battery?

TriciaG may be right about this. I had exactly the described behavior from Audacity and other programs a few months ago and changing my mouse batteries fixed it. Yes, even though my battery tester said that the mouse batteries were okay. And then a month ago I was getting similar behavior with keyboard control-C or V or X commands, and changing my keyboard batteries (even older than the mouse batteries) solved it too.

Thanks, Todd

Post by **philchenevert** » December 25th, 2019, 8:52 am

KevinS wrote: ↑December 24th, 2019, 6:52 pm Boy, I don't know. A complete shot in the dark would be to look at the snap-to tool setting.

Good suggestion Kevin. I checked and it isn't that.

Post by **philchenevert** » December 25th, 2019, 1:02 pm

Battery! Great suggest ion. Will try now and get back to you.

Post by **philchenevert** » December 26th, 2019, 7:09 am

A new battery in my wireless mouse does seem to significantly reduce the jumping cursor. So it is not an Audacity problem at all. Thanks everyone. Our knowledge pool of helpful people once again vanquishes ignorance and problems!

Post by **mightyfelix** » December 26th, 2019, 6:19 pm

philchenevert wrote: ↑December 26th, 2019, 7:09 am A new battery in my wireless mouse does seem to significantly reduce the jumping cursor. So it is not an Audacity problem at all. Thanks everyone. Our knowledge pool of helpful people once again vanquishes ignorance and problems!

FractalPariah · Post by **FractalPariah** » January 3rd, 2020, 9:16 pm

I'm encountering a slight difference in the background hum with my Audacity recordings from a few hours ago and the recordings I'm making now. It's probably small enough a difference to ignore but I wondered if there might be a ready explanation because maybe this is a common issue.

tovarisch · Post by **tovarisch** » January 4th, 2020, 6:44 am

Has anything changed about your setup from "a few hours ago"? Has the audio driver been changed in some OS update? Did you install a new version of Audacity? If it has not and you didn't, then the cause is not in Audacity. If you did change something, what was it? Can you roll it back and see if the noise level returns to the previous value?

It may be a common issue, although I cannot claim familiarity with any evidence of that. From what I've seen and heard, the background noise is usually caused by the environment and its inhabitants. I hope you find the cause.

YouTube · Post by **Darvinia** » January 4th, 2020, 12:16 pm

Was your furnace running during one session and not the other? Your fridge? Those are my two culprits for variance in background noise if I forget to turn them off.

AdamBielka · Post by **AdamBielka** » January 8th, 2020, 2:44 pm

I notice some people when posting pictures of audacity have red lines at 0.5 levels, to let them know their volume is in the right zone. How do I set those red lines to appear in my Audcacity screens? It would be helpful on an interface level.

Post by **TriciaG** » January 8th, 2020, 2:46 pm

The horizontal lines? They're added to the picture; there's no way to make them show in Audacity.