The Bandlab Assistant keeps telling me a "new version is available!" I click UPDATE. "Downloading..." appears, but no progress indicator or anything else to discern how the download is going. It will stay this way for a few hours then go back to "New version available!" with an UPDATE button again. I click UPDATE once again, and the whole process repeats. Very frustrating. Why is Bandlab Assistant necessary for installing CbB? Why not just give us download links and avoid all these extra hoops to jump through?

Bandlab assistant is necessary as it authenticates you as a registered member of Bandlab which is the requirement for being able to use Cakewalk. It's just like CC, Waves Central or Native Access etc.
 
Have you tried rebooting your system? I have heard about a few people having difficulties with downloads and updates. I've never had any problems my self.

Make sure version 3.1.0 of BA is running. If not, update it before updating CbB. If BA fails to update, uninstall it and get the current version from https://www.bandlab.com/download/assistant/windows
 

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35mm
 
I can understand the need for authentication if Cakewalk was still a paid app. But now that they're offering it for free, why the need?
 

scook
 
Thanks for the direct link, I appreciate it. When Band Assistant opens it also says an update is available but clicking "update now" just clears the message and nothing further happens (that I'm aware of). I'll try your link. Thanks.
 
UPDATE: I wanted to uninstall BA first before installing 3.10. and I discovered there were 2 versions of BA installed, 3.6 and 3.8
I uninstalled both and 3.10 installed without issue and now shows download progress for the CbB update. I'll update further once the download is complete. Thanks again for the direct link.
 
UPDATE 2: Once the download was finished it went right back to "New version available!/UPDATE" without automatically offering to install or an option to do it manually. I had to hunt down the downloaded file and click it to initiate the install.