Some of my MIDI sequences begin with the first measure set as 1/4 time signature (1 beat).  This measure is where all the cc and patch settings are placed.
 
When I change that measure to 4/4, SONAR doesn't shift everything to accommodate the change.  The countdown ticks are now part of measure 1 instead of starting at measure 2 where they should be.
 
What am I doing wrong?

Not to be snarky, but what you are doing wrong is assuming that changing the measure to 4/4 will insert 3 beats to that bar. That is not how SONAR works.
 
You'll need to get creative by inserting 3 1/4 bars *before* bar 2.

Thanks, bapu.  I don't consider it snarky... it's an answer. :)
 
I find it odd, though, that SONAR doesn't work that way, for two reasons:
1. The measure was once a 4/4, and I changed it to 1/4 a few months ago.
2. It seems to be a fairly logical concept that if you change a 1/4 measure to 4/4, then 3 beats should be added to it.  Not sure of what the cooks were thinking by not making it that way.
 
In any case, looks like I'm stuck with having three extra 1-beat measures until logic prevails. :-p
 
 

jyoung60
It seems to be a fairly logical concept that if you change a 1/4 measure to 4/4, then 3 beats should be added to it.  Not sure of what the cooks were thinking by not making it that way.

What they were thinking is that it's more often the case that don't want your music to move around when you change time signatures; you just want the M:B:T grid to shift around the tracks. I run into that scenario quite often when recording without a click, and then changing the time signature(s) after the fact to match an improvisation and snapping the timeline to the improv.
 
Also, I'm guessing that you expected/wanted the new beats to be added after the setup beat, but if that first beat/bar contained 'pickup' notes leading into the first full measure, you'd want new empty beats to be added before the pickup notes.
 
What might seem 'logical' in one scenario might not work out so well in another.