Can't record tracks with Garageband

[Dante]

For the last week, I've been laying down tracks for a friend of mine. He sends me a scratch track (with keys playing the guitar part) and I lay down the guitar part for him to add later.

I'm using Garageband to lay down all the tracks...at least I was, until a couple days ago. Although nothing has changed, I get no love when I try to record a track. It's strange, I can hear my guitar in my headphones, and the track turns red when I'm recording (like it should), but the final product is a few very faint blips of sound....

I tried different inputs on my DAW, different cables, a different I/O device (my modeler instead of the DAW) but still got the same result. I figured it was not a hardware issue, because all sorts of configurations resulted in the same outcome....

So, it's gotta be software

After a few searches online I found how to reset (or delete) the Garageband prefs. After a quick restart, I'm back in business! That was a fun experience (not). Here's the process, in case anybody else runs into this problem.

How to reset your Garageband prefs:

• Close GarageBand
• Open Terminal
• Copy and paste the following command into Terminal:
  
  • Code Select Expand
    defaults delete com.apple.garageband10
  • If you've updated from a previous version of GarageBand, also paste this command:
    
    • Code Select Expand
      defaults delete com.apple.garageband
• Press Return
• Restart your computer

Resetting GarageBand preferences will remove any custom settings you've made, but it won't affect your project files, presets, or patches. 

I tried the second code, but I didn't need it (apparently).

[rnolan]

Hey Dante, wow, that's a trap for young players...  But you wonder what happened to corrupt the preferences in the first place.  Software is a many splendid thing, it's become so complicated no one understands it any more.