charlyg
I am sufficiently whelmed. Neither under or over......

I agree.  The update schedule is Just Right, IMO
 

I've found in life when doing tasks of any sort using the right tool for the right job makes is so much easier and better.  Granted many tools need to be learned but if they're not in you're tool box you'll never get the chance.
 
I mostly upgrade soon as I can. Like others if I'm in the middle of something serious I hold off a bit.

I'm not a very happy camper with Sonar these days and I started out way, way back. SPro is just too unstable for me. It has never just started and run well for me. Even stuff that I thought I'd figured out (like drum-maps) either don't work (and I spend hours figuring out what's wrong and reporting back to the forums) or are 'new' and I end up RTFM instead of tickling ivories. This time I discovered the Jamica updates which the new "Local Docs Installer' simply just disabled being able to launch the Help File, nice. No help file at all anymore. This isn't a particularly fancy installation either. The installers don't work!
 
I also had to sort out why the XLN AddDrums2 no longer recognized my computer. That doesn't update from C3 but from XLN, had a bunch of updates for itself and the installer though C3 was green. Apparently, the switch to W10 requires re-registration and updates to the C: drv. No, this is OK, if I'm not getting surprised all the time. But, I can't just throw hours figuring out what works and doesn't. No HELP FILE is deal breaker for me!!!
 
Plus, SPro is and most of CW products are tied to the C: drive. This is incredibly awkward for me now since I have separate SSD's (and their BU SSD's) for W10 and W8.1. Updates are not trivial and I'm not sure that C3 is helping at all. I far prefer an update system that I can update and learn in parallel with a nice stable functioning SPro so I can do comparisons and decide if I have time to play, record, debug or learn this morning. This morning it's debug, again.
For instance, while checking the 'Fail to launch help.' error, the Sonar Start Scrn pop'ed up and couldn't be closed. I had to reboot after the task manager terminated a hung Sonar (I have no idea what it was unhappy about and hung doing) since the Start Screen was up and not closing. A quick check this morning suggests that this may not be very repeatable, but required a Re-Boot, thanks . Talk about a work breaker. Please keep your disruptions to yourself.
 
I just don't have these issues with BiaB or FLS. Granted they do slightly different things, but I don't dread their updates and can schedule them as I want, depending on time constraints. Very few prog's I have are 'locked' to the C: drv and exist on other drives with ALL their settings and config info and data.
 
I'm hoping for improvements, but things are really un-wieldy currently for me. I'f far prefer to see better QA and fewer features with less bugs. I'm tired of being a software tester for CW.
 

^^^ My guess would be hardware related, not to mention the  "I am tired" part. You are making things harder on purpose.  I have been around since the DOS versions, and just now I am about half way to where I need to be to do things easily. It was on and off during my working days, but now I have the time.
 
 I have my pgms on an SSD drive(along with the OS) as they open much faster. I have since moved my project data back to C as well. Sonar is flying and VERY stable.
 
Usually those who bark loudest, bark before the facts are all in.

charlyg
Usually those who bark loudest, bark before the facts are all in.

or, "a squeeky wheel gets oiled"?

But that's not really what this forum is for.... It is not the official CW complaint center...

5MilesHigh
I'm not a very happy camper with Sonar these days and I started out way, way back. SPro is just too unstable for me. It has never just started and run well for me. Even stuff that I thought I'd figured out (like drum-maps) either don't work (and I spend hours figuring out what's wrong and reporting back to the forums) or are 'new' and I end up RTFM instead of tickling ivories. This time I discovered the Jamica updates which the new "Local Docs Installer' simply just disabled being able to launch the Help File, nice. No help file at all anymore. This isn't a particularly fancy installation either. The installers don't work!
 
I also had to sort out why the XLN AddDrums2 no longer recognized my computer. That doesn't update from C3 but from XLN, had a bunch of updates for itself and the installer though C3 was green. Apparently, the switch to W10 requires re-registration and updates to the C: drv. No, this is OK, if I'm not getting surprised all the time. But, I can't just throw hours figuring out what works and doesn't. No HELP FILE is deal breaker for me!!!
 
Plus, SPro is and most of CW products are tied to the C: drive. This is incredibly awkward for me now since I have separate SSD's (and their BU SSD's) for W10 and W8.1. Updates are not trivial and I'm not sure that C3 is helping at all. I far prefer an update system that I can update and learn in parallel with a nice stable functioning SPro so I can do comparisons and decide if I have time to play, record, debug or learn this morning. This morning it's debug, again.
For instance, while checking the 'Fail to launch help.' error, the Sonar Start Scrn pop'ed up and couldn't be closed. I had to reboot after the task manager terminated a hung Sonar (I have no idea what it was unhappy about and hung doing) since the Start Screen was up and not closing. A quick check this morning suggests that this may not be very repeatable, but required a Re-Boot, thanks . Talk about a work breaker. Please keep your disruptions to yourself.
 
I just don't have these issues with BiaB or FLS. Granted they do slightly different things, but I don't dread their updates and can schedule them as I want, depending on time constraints. Very few prog's I have are 'locked' to the C: drv and exist on other drives with ALL their settings and config info and data.
 
I'm hoping for improvements, but things are really un-wieldy currently for me. I'f far prefer to see better QA and fewer features with less bugs. I'm tired of being a software tester for CW.
 

You need to contact CW support and figure out what the problem is. This is a peer to peer forum. We help as much as we can but your issues seem deep and unusual.

charlyg
^^^ My guess would be hardware related, not to mention the  "I am tired" part. You are making things harder on purpose.  I have been around since the DOS versions, and just now I am about half way to where I need to be to do things easily. It was on and off during my working days, but now I have the time.
 
 I have my pgms on an SSD drive(along with the OS) as they open much faster. I have since moved my project data back to C as well. Sonar is flying and VERY stable.
 
Usually those who bark loudest, bark before the facts are all in.

With respect if he wants to put his stuff somewhere else on a hard drive that's his business. Having applications on one drive and data on other drives is an extremely common scenario in DAW's. In fact I would go as far to say it's a good idea in any scenario (but sure if you have SSD's take advantage of them why not).

I've managed to do it myself with the annoying expection of Dim Pro and Rapture PROGS (and no I'm not using symbolic links). Having a knowledge of registry hacking is a good idea although of course not everybody wants to touch it. Also Sonar does allow you to move a number of folder paths in preferences. I agree some improvements need to be made here.

Also XLN products not being recognised is nothing to do with Sonar.

From a music context:
 
Things that overwhelm me - tools that can't keep up with changes in the way I practice, write, record and perform. I'm overwhelmed not because of the tool, but in spite of the tool so to speak. 
 
Things that underwhelm me - tool updates that are more like 'lipstick on a pig' - simple visual changes.
 
Things that don't overwhelm me - tool changes that are intuitive, and fit the direction that I can accept,  from the company that makes them for me.  
 
SO - from that context:  No, Sonar Platinum monthly updates do not overwhelm me or the other 'whelm' for that matter.  Maybe I'm just lucky or maybe I bought into a good long term personal vision that I thought Twelve Tone would give me.  Great Audio, MIDI - and a simple tool that I spend more time writing and recording with, than setup and engineering.  Your mileage may vary.  
 
Best Regards,
 
Lance 

5MilesHigh
 No help file at all anymore. This isn't a particularly fancy installation either.
 
No HELP FILE is deal breaker for me!!!
 

Gonna ignore all the other stuff in your post because it's just WAY too all over the place... but I will say that a) if these were common problems this forum would be a ablaze with complaints and b) you should probably contact support for much of it (you paid for support along with your purchase so you are entitled to it and should use it).
 
What I will address though is your Help doc problem. If you are pressing F1 to access it then check to see that the resulting help doc isn't hidden behind something. I thought for ages the Sonar help docs simply did not work on my system until someone (scook actually... as usual) pointed out that perhaps the help file windows were opening BEHIND the Sonar window (thus invisible). If this is the case then you should see an icon in your Windows Task Bar or maybe extra tab on your Sonar Taskbar icon (I forget how it manifests itself but I could reveal the Help file via the Taskbar).
 
It is possible though that if you have some strange custom multi drive configuration that Sonar is searching for the help files in some standard location and you have those files stored elsewhere... so Sonar is not calling it up because it doesn't know where it is. Support could help you track it down.
 
Also what I do generally is just keep the documentation on my laptop (which is a separate system from my DAW) in PDF format. This was because I was not able to access the F1 help files for so many years (or so I thought as I noted above). It's much better that way anyway but if your DAW is your only system you could still have the latest PDF manual(s) on your DAW and use a PDF reader to access them instead of through Sonar.
 
Of course there is also the generally more up to date online documentation that is easily accessible through a google search (which I also do quite often).
 
So plenty of ways to get at the info. Also I'm not sure I've seen you post many questions here about these problems you are having. I know it's time consuming having to post threads and hunt around for info but seriously just asking the forum what's up with something can produce some rather timely input on where to start looking when you run into trouble. I do it quite frequently if a precursory hunt for info on my own isn't really producing anything useful.
 
That's the thing about ultra complex programs like Sonar. You kind of have to access any and all resources available to get the most out of it. No user is an island and fortunately there is a pretty good (probably the best out there) support system from P2P stuff, documentation, third party tuts and Cake support themselves.
 
Good luck.