Is my problem the same as yours? 
 
My synth was off so the drum map lost the output port and defaulted to another.  Now I cannot get it back even if I delete the drum map and reload.  Drum map manager does not allow a global output port change as far as I can tell (a serious fault in my opinion).  Rebuilding the drum map will take hours - it is huge.
 
I think Sonar is seriously flawed in how it handles midi devices disappearing and reappearing.  Sonar only allows one global preset as far as I can tell - which stinks because what I have online can change from one session to another.

Yup been banging on about it for years. This monstracity need replacing! (Used the M word to get more traffic ;) ).

Do this

1) Get rid of it from preferences and give it a dockable form. That way we will at least be able to audition changes on the fly.

2) Redesign the UI to be more like AD2 maps.

The only hard work development wise would be designing a slick UI. Most of the back end code already exists of course. It's a fairly simple job in the grand scheme of things.

This is meat and potatoes functionality ! :) Right now the meat is missing giving us a rather disappointing meal..

(Okay maybe remove the exclamation mark next time).

andyhamm
Is my problem the same as yours? 
 
My synth was off so the drum map lost the output port and defaulted to another.  Now I cannot get it back even if I delete the drum map and reload.  Drum map manager does not allow a global output port change as far as I can tell (a serious fault in my opinion).  Rebuilding the drum map will take hours - it is huge.
 
I think Sonar is seriously flawed in how it handles midi devices disappearing and reappearing.  Sonar only allows one global preset as far as I can tell - which stinks because what I have online can change from one session to another.

You can select all the rows with shift down arrow. When you select the drop down hold down crtl (or it is alt or both can't remember).

And stand one one leg.

It's ctrl

Thanks for clarifying...
 
Also if the leg you stand on doesn't work... please use the other leg.

The work around that I figured out was the following:
Take a certain softsynth (SampleTank 3), as opposed to many different synths, like I used to do, and make maps for each "section" of drums.  For instance ST3 - Kicks, ST3 - Snares, ST3 - Toms, ST3 - Cymbals, etc.  This way if it disappears for whatever reason, which it will, when you need to use it again, you obviously know how to map it because the channel output #'s remain the same.  Also, what's cool about using this approach is you can use a LOT more samples for each "section".  So, here's an example.
 
In ST3 I set it up where I assign ALL 16 chs to my favorite drum kits, and that, more than likely, will give you more than enough samples for each "section". Then, create the maps and use whatever channels you need to assign to whatever, and however many samples you need for kicks, snares, toms, cymbals, etc.  Now, the only drawback is if you use the Sonar Step Sequencer then you'll only be able to use one section at a time; so essentially, you CAN'T use Sonar's Step Sequencer.  However, I DO believe that SampleTank has it's own step sequencer, as do quite a few other software synths.
 
So, until the developers at Sonar decide to AT LEAST take this OUT of the Preferences, and do MANY other updates, I'm afraid this is what we're stuck with.
 
BaDumpBump...PSSHH!
KC
 

 
 
Thanks for the insight of how you configure drums.  I'm just getting into this so my mind was focused on one method - which is using my Motif - it has quite a good selection of drum kits.
 
What I did reluctantly was to turn off all midi output ports except the motif, and the drum map jumped back to the Motif port.  Then turned back on the midi output ports hoping nothing got messed up - like control surfaces.
 
I sure wish Cakewalk would focus on getting existing features working correctly before they add in more.  This is surely the most consistently buggy software I have ever used and I've been using this since Sonar 7, when I once had hair.
 
(I get the impression Sonar is written in Basic.) 

andyhamm
 

I sure wish Cakewalk would focus on getting existing features working correctly before they add in more.  This is surely the most consistently buggy software I have ever used and I've been using this since Sonar 7, when I once had hair.

Amen Inc the hair bit.

The Drum Map Manager has always fought me at every turn. Is there a way to sort the columns? I have one map where the note numbers are so out of whack it will be quicker for me to create an entirely new drum map rather than drag the rows around until they are sorted to my liking. 

No, you have to drag them one at a time to their desired position