There seems to be evidence that plugin manager in different versions of Sonar installed on the same computer are somehow connected. However the 32-bit and 64-bit versions seem to work separately from one another. Does your problem apply to both 32-bit and 64-bit?

Kev999
There seems to be evidence that plugin manager in different versions of Sonar installed on the same computer are somehow connected. However the 32-bit and 64-bit versions seem to work separately from one another. Does your problem apply to both 32-bit and 64-bit?

yes Kev. both 32 and 64
 
thanks Chuck

timidi
Question: In the utilities folder is pluginmanager.exe. Can anyone run this without opening Sonar?
I mean, where it works as intended. Mine runs but has no abilities beyond that.

I run it (Sonar 8.5.3 32-bit) using this:
 
"C:\Program Files (x86)\Cakewalk\Shared Utilities\PluginManager.exe" /VSTInventoryRegKey "Software\Cakewalk Music Software\SONAR Producer\Cakewalk VST"


I can also run it (Platinum 32-bit) using this:
 
"C:\Program Files (x86)\Cakewalk\Shared Utilities\PluginManager.exe" /VSTInventoryRegKey "Software\Cakewalk Music Software\SONAR\Cakewalk VST"
 
HTH,
Tom

timidi

Kev999
There seems to be evidence that plugin manager in different versions of Sonar installed on the same computer are somehow connected. However the 32-bit and 64-bit versions seem to work separately from one another. Does your problem apply to both 32-bit and 64-bit?

yes Kev. both 32 and 64

 
I once had a problem with the 64-bit version of plugin manager in Sonar 7. In my case, installing a trial copy of X2 cured the problem. But I don't believe that your problem is related to mine so I won't go into any more detail here.

In your case, if possible, I would probably try installing an earlier version of Platinum for either 32-bit or 64-bit, not both, and see if there is any difference in the two.

i remember that with 8.5 we had to have 8.0 installed.
 
could that be your problem that Sonar 8 isn't installed.
 
another point.
 
if you are reinstalling.
 
always install the oldest program first.
 
Install 8 first then Platinum.

Actually, Plugin Manager is nothing but an editor for files with the extension PGL, which are text files in XML format. When you start it from inside Sonar, it should default to the Plug-in Menu Layouts folder for that particular Sonar version. However, you can use the open and save buttons to edit and create a PGL file no matter where it is located.
 
What exactly is your problem? Does Plugin Manager not show your Sonar 8.5 layouts when you start it from Sonar 8.5? Then, you may need to locate the Plug-in Menu Layout folder for Sonar 8.5 manually when you open/save PGL files. Or will Sonar 8.5 not show the plugin layouts inside Sonar that you created with Plugin Manager and saved to the Plug-in Layout Menu folder of Sonar 8.5? Then, the format for the PGL files may have changed.

I have Sonar producer 8 installed, but not 8.5.  The plug in manager comes up for both 32 and 64bit.

This is an edit of the OP.
It appears there is some confusion as to what I'm talking about so I thought I'd clarify:
Actually, The Plugin Manager works. However, any presets changed or created in The Plugin Manager are not available within Sonar 8.53.
In Other Words, If I create a new PM preset and add say 10 plugs to it, save the preset, close (or not close) Sonar 8.53, Open Sonar, select the preset in Track or console view, Try to insert a plug in, there are no plugins available. (I will add that old directx plugs do appear just not VST.)
 
PM presets (and plugs) created before the splat install are still available (track/folder views) but can not be edited/changed. 
 
Very frustrating.

So, I rolled back splat to 2016.07 (22.7.0.41).
On an initial glance, seems to have fixed my plug-manager problems.
But, now I'm a year behind. hmm.
 
I just guessed on that version being that the next version mentioned "update plugin browser" or something.

timidi
...The Plugin Manager works. However, any presets changed or created in The Plugin Manager are not available within Sonar 8.53.
In Other Words, If I create a new PM preset and add say 10 plugs to it, save the preset, close (or not close) Sonar 8.53, Open Sonar, select the preset in Track or console view, Try to insert a plug in, there are no plugins available. (I will add that old directx plugs do appear just not VST.)

 
When you say "presets", do you mean Plugin Layouts? If so, then check the Folder Location settings. You can make the Plugin Layouts folder the same for both versions of Sonar if that is what you are trying to achieve.