Hey All!
 
After reading and commenting myself on this thread: http://forum.cakewalk.com/sonar-platinum-support-for-VS700c-m3159094.aspx , I felt pretty confident that I would not encounter any issues between Platinum and the VS-700 hardware.  As long as it functioned as well as it did in X3, I would be happy.
 
However, in my projects (even the older ones opened in Platinum), I've noticed that not all the transport buttons are working.  This is basic to me and I would desperately like to fix this.  Does anyone else have this issue?
 
Here are the buttons that DO work: All three big buttons on the bottom row work.  The STOP, PLAY, and RECORD buttons work fine.  The middle buttons on the top work as well.  The SKIP FWD and SKIP BCK buttons work fine.
 
The buttons that DON'T work are the two buttons on each end of the top row of transport buttons:  The JUMP TO BEGINNING, and JUMP TO END buttons are dead.
 
I use those buttons often, and to not have them working is a bummer.  I have deleted and re-added the Mackie Control options but it still isn't helping.
 
Do these buttons work for everyone else?  If so, could you share your control surface settings with me, please?
 
Thanks a million.

quick question: are you using just the vs-700c (in mackie mode?) or the vs-700 set???

FreeFlyBertl
quick question: are you using just the vs-700c (in mackie mode?) or the vs-700 set???

I've got the set (the control surface and the rack unit).

The console buttons you are talking about (Home and End) are working fine for me.
I am using the v700 set.
 

working fine here as well ... no issues ...
 
are you using "VS-700" as Controller/Surface plus correct MIDI IN/OUT ports in "Preferences/Control Surfaces" ??? sometimes these settings get messed up e.g. when having multiple MIDI devices and one is off when Sonar starts ...
 
BTW, all the VS-700 sends are standard MIDI messages which you can listen in with MIDI tools ... so you can check (a) the vs-700 really sends this (mine sends Note On $91 33 0 and Note On $91 34 0 when pressing the buttons you mentioned) and (b) whether something else (custom mapping?) picks up these message and tries to do something else with it ...

Thank you guys for your replies.
 
FreeFlyBertl, I grabbed a free Midi tester online called Midi OX and confirmed that all the transport buttons as well as everything else is working.  I didn't see anything on there relating to $91 33 0 or $91 34 0 but I assume that since I haven't ever remapped or touched anything, and that since it was working just fine in X3, then the fact that I'm getting confirmation on Midi OX means everything is good.
 
I checked and double checked my Preferences settings.  The ins and outs are definitely going to the VS-700.  It is confirmed by the fact that I have track names displaying and that I can play, stop, record, and use the jog wheel just fine.  It is these darned Jump buttons that are killing me.
 
So called Cakewalk support.  They were helpful as possible, considering the VS700 System is no longer even supported.  I was told to try the ACT controller setup which means I have the choice of setting up all the buttons manually.  That sounds painfully tedious.  But Josh at Cakewalk kindly sent me instructions on how to go about doing this.  For anyone interested, here is what the email said:
 
Instructions for configuring VS700 with ACT MIDI Controller

Solutions:

1. Setting up your control surface

Open up your preferences by going to Edit>Preferences (or simply press P).

Go to MIDI|Control Surfaces.

Click on the "New" button in the upper-right corner; it looks like a yellow star.

In the Controller/Surface menu, choose ACT MIDI Controller.

In the Input and Output ports, choose the appropriate input and output ports for your device, and click OK. (Some keyboard controllers have multiple ports for the keys and the control surface portion of the controller, so it may be neccessary to consult your device's user manual for information on which port to use.

If the appropriate ports for your device are not available, click on MIDI Devices... and check any boxes related to your MIDI controller, and click OK.

Once your settings are set as desired, click Apply and then Close the preferences menu. 
2. Configuring your controller to work as an ACT MIDI Controller: Assigning the sliders and knobs on the controller to parameters in SONAR

Locate the ACT module in Cakewalk's Control Bar. If you don't see this, right-click in the Control Bar to see a list of the selected modules. In some cases, the ACT module is checked, but tagged "(Offscreen)." In this case, click it to uncheck it, and then bring up the menu again and re-select it to bring it into the Control Bar.

To bring up the ACT MIDI Controller interface, click on the Controller/Surface Properties button circled in red. 

Before creating a custom map, check the Presets menu for your controller. If you see your controller listed, you can select it, and SONAR will map everything automatically. You can then customize this to your liking. If you don't see your controller listed, please proceed with the following steps.

SONAR will automatically assign your knobs and sliders to your current tracks. For example, if you have six tracks, buses, etc., your first six sliders and knobs will correspond with the volume and pan settings automatically. If you don't have any tracks in your project at this point, these fields will be blank.

If you wish to change the knobs and sliders that correspond with each track, simply click in one of the green fields and you will see "MIDI Learn..." appear. Move the knob or slider you would like to correspond with the parameter you've chosen. This controller will now be assigned to the chosen parameter. Repeat for any parameter you'd like to modify.

If you wish to change the parameter that is controlled by the knob or slider, for instance the send or volume pan for a specific track, that can be specified in the Options tab. 3. Assigning the buttons and pads on your Control Surface to control various parameters

First you'll want to assign a Shift button on your keyboard to utilize two-button control. You can do this by clicking the "Shift Learn" button at the bottom-right of the ACT MIDI Controller interface, and then pressing a button on your keyboard that you would like to act as the dedicated "Shift" key. 

Then, switch to the Options tab in the ACT MIDI Controller interface.

You'll see three types of controller types here: Rotaries, Sliders, and Buttons. You can reassign the functions of each button on each bank using these menus. This also gives you the option of customizing the parameters assigned to each slider and knob on your controller, as mentioned above.

Now, switch back to the Controllers tab. The rows beginning with Shift B1 and Pad C23 are paired. The "Shift B" row assigns two-button controls, and the "B" row assigns single-button controls. To assign a button to each of these pairs, click in the "B" row. You'll now see "MIDI Learn..." in the paired fields.

Press a button (or move a slider/knob) to correspond with these two fields. Repeat for each Shift B/Pad C pair that you would like to assign. 

Now, you can control these functions separately. The buttons in the "Shift B" row will respond when you press the corresponding button while holding the button you have assigned to control the Shift function. The function in the "B" row will be performed when you press the corresponding button without holding Shift.4. (Optional) If you wish to further customize your ACT settings, there are four independent banks available for knobs, sliders, and buttons. You can select these banks and follow the steps above to continue customizing to your liking. If you utilize multiple banks, it can be helpful to assign button functions for selecting the "next bank" or "previous bank" for each type of controller via the Options tab.
 
5. Finally, as a rule of thumb for anything on which you spend any amount of your valuable time, always remember to SAVE! In the Presets field, type in the desired name of your preset and click the floppy disk icon to save your preset.
 
For additional help, or more detailed information, press the F1 key on your keyboard while in the ACT MIDI Controller interface to bring up the offline help. 

"VS-700" is the only complete Control Surface plug-in available for SONAR. "ACT MIDI" is second simplest Control Surface plug-in in SONAR. Hmm...

Beeej21
I was told to try the ACT controller setup which means I have the choice of setting up all the buttons manually.  That sounds painfully tedious. 

I think this is ridiculous advice. There's no way you can even get close to all the features the vs-700 offers trying to set it up as an ACT controller.
 
I would continue troubleshooting and if necessary do some re-installs etc because it's confirmed to be working on several of our systems (so it's not Sonar's fault) ...
 
One thing you could try relatively quickly (though I have never done myself) is to install the driver for the USB VS-700C and hook it up directly instead of going through the VS-700R and run that in mackie mode (or what ever that option offers)
 
 

Hey FreeFlyBertl,
 
Thank you very much for the feedback again.  After completely giving up on the idea of trying to manually do the whole ACT thingie, I tried to re-install the drivers as you suggested.  No cigar.  I was feeling pretty bummed.  Because between the time I posted this thread and this afternoon, I found more and more things NOT working on the console that really bummed me out more (mute and solo buttons, smooth inner jog wheel, etc etc).
 
I finally called Cakewalk support again, and this time I spoke with Phil, who has been extremely helpful in the past.  He's borderline genius.  Almost instantly he figured out that there might be a missing .DLL file called the VS700.dll which resides in a folder path: Vstplugins\Shared Components\Shared Surfaces (for most it is on the C:/Programs directory, but for me it would be a separate drive [the S:\ drive for me]).  I checked and IT WAS NOT THERE!  He then asked me if I had installed Platinum on top of X3, which was exactly what I did.  That wasn't the issue, it is fine to install on top of another.  But when I went to uninstall X3 soon thereafter, the uninstall process actually deleted the .dll file from the location for whatever reason (might've been my mistake even)!!

Phil, sent me the setup.exe file which re-installs the VS700 drivers AND the .dll file.  I also found the updated .dll file on my backup server.  This easy, quick process added the .dll file back into the directory.  I launched Platinum and went to preferences to delete the old control surface instance and replaced with the new one.  This time I didn't even need to use Mackie Universal because the VS700 is listed in the dropdown selection box!!  Apply, save, and wallah... I am back in business.  The Control Surface is at full functionality once again!!
 
Whew.. I am so thankful and relieved.

Glad to hear it's working now :-)
 
BTW, this is an interesting case of what can happen in the upgrade path and it's good to have that documented here in the forum.