I am running Sonar Pro on Win7. It has been working beautifully until I let my grandkids have a 'play' with my midi keyboard. As kids will, they pushed every button on the keyboard. That's not usually a problem. But, now, when I load a VST instrument, no instruments are loaded with it. For example, when loading Real Guitar, a message on the interface says 'guitars not found'. I have rescanned all VST's but still no luck. If I load a project created prior to the kids intervention, I can still get sounds out of the VST's in that project. If starting a new project and loading the same VSTs, no sound! Sonar still receives midi signals as I can see the meters rise and fall when playing the VST. Also, when playing a General Midi instrument, the output sound works as it should. I am stumped and would appreciate any advice (except advice about not letting grandchildren loose on a midi keyboard!)  

Hi. I do not think that your MIDI keyboard should have anything to do with your vst's presets (but I could be wrong). Maybe there is some way to reset your MIDI keyboard to factory default? It could maybe be something like that.
It is always very helpful to include your specs in your signature. (CPU, RAM, audio / MIDI interface, etc.)
Best of luck.
 

Thanks Ken. Yes, I tried the reset of the keyboard and also struggle to see a relationship between the keyboard and VSTi's. I uninstalled Real Guitar and re-installed it but the same problem arises - no sounds. Sounds do happen in that VSTi if I load an old project that used the VSTi. I can even use the keyboard to record extra chords into the existing track. But, if trying to add another iteration of Real Guitar - no sounds! I'm lost with this one!

It sounds like a routing issue. Do you see your MIDI keyboard under MIDI devices, in Preferences (P)?
How is your MIDI keyboard connected? Do you have the latest drivers for it?

Ruckman65
.... I have rescanned all VST's but still no luck...

Did you reset plugs first before the rescan?  It's been known to make a difference.

Thank you Ken and JonD. Midi devices shows the keyboard correctly. The keyboard is attached via midi cable to the Audiophile card. As I say, with an old project, Sonar recognizes the keyboard and still allows recording into previously loaded VSTi's. So, the keyboard works and the VSTi's obviously still work in old projects. JonD, I did do the reset first followed by the rescan but still no luck.

At a loss for anything I can think of I toss out this.. MIDI channel? 
DO you use omni? of channel 1. They might have reset the keyboard to send on a different channel? 
 
But you saying the VST shows there's no instrument loaded at all? and none are available from the load instument menu? Did you ever creat a custom pre set? 
 

Hello Johnny V. Good suggestion. I have my keyboard transmitting on Channel 1 but have tried all 16 channels with no success. The only VSTi that shows no instrument loaded is Real Guitar. Something like Nexus shows all the presets and seems to change them when selected but still no sounds. 

What happens if you load an old project, and try to add a new VST instrument?  If it plays back okay, then that would suggest your problem is the template for new projects  (Normal, or whatever you use) is corrupted.
 
Also, try deleting aud.ini and let it get recreated.

Could there be a corrupt file in your Real Guitar (download)? Maybe try to download again?
Do you have the latest drivers for your audio interface?