Platinum and VS700C not working correctly **SOLVED**

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.

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).

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 ...

"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...

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.

Beeej21,
Could you please post a link to the setup file or send it to me? It seems that I have the same problem after reinstalling sonar platinum after a disk crash. I'll send you and PM just in case.
 
Tore

For anyone else who might face this same problem, here is the link that I was sent by Cakewalk Support which allowed me to download the executable file that located the control surfaces folder and then installed the correct DLL file which was missing.

You have to be sure to delete any control surfaces loaded in the preferences, then restart Sonar Platinum, and after running the EXE file, you will find in your control surfaces options the VS700 listed.
 
Please note that this is not the latest updated DLL file.  There was a replacement DLL file that came out later which I happened to find on my server.  In the meantime, the EXE file did resolve the problem effectively.
 
 

Problem/Questions:

VS 700 Control Surface plugin installer

Solutions:

Note: Per previous instructions, the VS 700 Control Surface plugin installer can be found here: http://www.cakewalk.com/Support/Knowledge-Base/2007013201/V-Studio-700-Control-Surface-Plug-in-version-1-2-update#
 

I don't understand why it took out from Platinum ??? I hope cakewalk fix the problem.

There has always been a risk associated with removing older versions of SONAR after installing a newer version. The uninstall process may remove components which have not changed between versions because, to the uninstaller, these component belongs to the version being removed. The installers used through X3 issued a warning about this on the first screen of the install process.

Beeej21
 there are also a few plus points in installing on top of an older version, which I have found to be worth it, like the importing of project file directories, and VST locations (because I always change these parameters due to my hard drive setups), amongst other minor things.

Importing a previous version config is convenient but not recommend by Cakewalk. I rely mostly on default directories redirected at the OS level with junctions created with mklink.
 
Leaving prior versions installed have other advantages such as the ability to open projects in the version which created the project, access to plug-ins not in the new version and comparing behavior between versions while on a bug hunt. Ignoring the recent tutorial projects added to Cakewalk Content, a typical SONAR installation consumes around 200MB of disk. The rest of the disk space used is shared between all the version of SONAR installed.

scook
Importing a previous version config is convenient but not recommend by Cakewalk. I rely mostly on default directories redirected at the OS level with junctions created with mklink.

While I can see the benefits of sticking with Cakewalk recommendations, in my case, it simply wouldn't work because I just have far too many project files and VST plugins and sound fx (on separate physical hard drives) that I must maintain apart from my OS HDD.  To add to the necessary complication, each drive is backed up to a local server for redundant safety, including the OS, the VST, and project file drives.  It is a well-oiled machine, my studio in those terms.  So that convenience factor has always played well to my advantage.  My OS HDD is very streamlined with only program files and related files.  It's a major hassle, for me at least, reconfiguring things the way I need them without installing on top of the old version.  This is why I have always chosen this path less traveled.  But like I mentioned, for the most part, it has worked splendidly well in the past.  To each his/her own, I suppose.  So long as we all are being productive and efficient and spending less time in the bug hunt you mentioned.

REZA
Beeej21 do have this symptom that the master fader doesn't move when you load a new or old project?

Hi REZA,
 
I don't have that issue on my end.