I upgraded the Cubase 4 installation on my MacBook Pro from 4.0.3 to 4.1, yesterday evening, and discovered that I was no longer able to import and export MP3 files. The symptoms included:

• Error: Medium type not supported or invalid medium! when trying to import MP3 files;
• Missing export preferences for MPEG 1 Layer 3 File format in the Export Audio Mixdown window; and,
• Unexpected Error when trying to export MP3 files.

I checked the Cubase.net forums and saw that many other people had the same problem. Still, many had a seemless and error-free upgrade. A few workarounds and possible solutions have been shared in the forums with mixed results.

I submitted a ticket to Cubase support today and Lindsay was amazingly helpful and responsive with this Mac-specific fix that worked right away!

• Close all Steinberg applications
• Go to Mac HD–>users–>you–>library–>preferences–>
• Move all Cubase 4 and Cubase SX folders to the system Desktop
• Reopen Cubase 4
• It may take a while for Cubase to rebuild the preferences folder

While it may have been inconvenient and scary for a few hours, Cubase is worth these exciting moments. Of course, if I had lost data it might be a whole different story.

Thanks a million Lindsay and Steinberg!