hi everyone, last week I asked the same question. i'm trying to use automation (volume). when I turn on WRITE then move the slider to do what I want it "prints" which means I see the envelope, however, on playback nothing changes.
the last time I asked this one suggestion was to toggle READ off and on then it worked. i'm on another project trying to do the same thing.
Bristol Jonesey asked if the control moves after I write the automation? it does not move. then he (you) said something about a routing problem. I haven't a clue what that means.
like I said before this is the first no, second time I ever had this problem.
I would appreciate any thoughts on this.
thanks
jp 

Hi jp
 
Just to be clear on the basics, the best way to set write enable is to right click the volume fader and make sure "Automation Write Enable" has a check mark next to it.
The W icon in the Track inspector will turn "half red", as shown below.
 

 
You then PLAY your project and move the fader whilst it's playing - this will WRITE your envelope to the track.
 
when you've finished this automation pass, stop the transport and disable Write Automation.
 
The best way to show this is to enable the Automation Lanes on the track by clicking this button:
 

 
 
 
Automation Read Enable should be enabled by default. When it is enabled the R  icon will be as displayed in the first image. Starting the transport will cause the fader to move whenever it encounters your automation moves

You nailed it Jonesey ( Place "Thumbs up" icon here)

Thank you Mr Jones

For a while now I've seen projects with working volume automation have the volume automation just stop working.  The automation curve is there, but the mixer stops moving. Early on in the project it was working then something happens and it never moves.  I've not been able to work out exactly what causes SONAR to get into this mode, but once it happens saving the project and exiting and restarting SONAR and reloading it every time has fixed it.  With no additional changes.
 
Forum searches show this "disconnected" automation problem has existed for a long time.
See this post here from 2010:
http://forum.cakewalk.com/Problem-with-Volume-Envelope-just-quotNot-Workingquot-m2081561.aspx
 
The last few releases this has happened more often to me.  But it seems nearly random and can't be reproduced.  It's maddening but without a clear repeatable recipe I doubt anything can be done about it.
 
In my recent cases I'm never recording the volume automation, it's always hand-placed/edited control points.  But I'm sure the problem is possible both with recorded automation and specific nodes.

hey jonesey, that did the trick. i have often wondered why SOMETIMES the write or even the input echo would be half red or in input echo half blue.
can you tell me why that is, please?
thank you and everyone else who have helped me.

Yeah, it you simply click the W it will turn solid red. This is because you have armed every single automatable parameter - a half red W indicates at least one parameter is not armed.

thanks jonesey