I am working in Sonar 8, and the PiWarp plugin has vanished since last night. Cakewalk plugin manager does still point to the file. Nothing has changed there.

I tried: 
regsvr32 "C:\Program Files\Piwarp-dll\Piwarp.dll"  

but I get the message: 
The module regsvr32 "C:\Program Files\Piwarp-dll\Piwarp.dll" was loaded but the entry- 

point DllRegisterServer was not found. 

Make sure that regsvr32 "C:\Program Files\Piwarp-dll\Piwarp.dll" is a valid DLL or OCX  

file and then try again 



I was editing in Sonar 8, and the problem seems to have emerged since installing Sonar X2, though I cannot be certain about this.

Despite uninstalling X2 (I've since reinstalled) Sonar 8 stubbornly refuses to "see" PiWarp, despite pointing to the correct installation folder.

I need to sort this urgently, as the plugin is used in practically every scene of a sc-fi audio drama I am producing, which as ever, has a deadline.  

I should also add that the plugin is still showing and working in both Sony Vegas and Sony Sound Forge, and I can add it as a plugin in Vienna Ensemble Pro, even when it is working under Sonar.

Thanks in advance,

Alistair

Did you run a VST Scan?

Hi Dave,

thanks for replying,
yes, I have run a scan, being careful to make sure the plugin path was correct.

What is frustrating is that apart from the plugin not working, nothing else in terms of what software is being scanned, has changed.

I've tried uninstalling Piwarp, deleting any references to it in the registry, and reinstalling.
In fact, as I ran one scan, which seemed to run slower than normal, so I could read what was being scanned at the time, I saw the Piwarp name come up. Success, or so I thought. No change. The plugin is still not seen, but is seen by Vegas and Sound Forge.

I tried uninstalling, re-installing to a different directory, and pointing all three programmes to the new location. Vegas and Sound Forge see the new location and register the plugin, Sonar does not.

I'm at a loss. The majority of the scenes have this plugin running over many sound effects and backgrounds.

Thanks in advance for any advice or help you may offer.

Regards,

Alistair

p.s. The audio drama is Blake's 7, featuring the cast from the original late 70's TV series, if you're interested.

Try to set up a custom plug list - either synths or effects depending on how you have it setup- then manually add the plug to the list and save it. There are a couple of plugins I seem to have to do this for. Once saved it should be available in the regular cake default plug list as well.

Hi Brando,

Thanks for replying. What is a custom list? How would I set one up? I don't see anything In the "Manage VST and instrument plug-ins" pane relating to custom plug ins?

Do you mean a custom directory that I create and add plugins to?
If so, I've done something like that already. Plugins I add to it are seen, but the Piwarp still refuses to show up.

I've tried finding another plugin that does something similar, but no frequency shifter I've found quite has the character of Piwarp.

Thanks again

Alistair, just try this for me if you get a minute. I believe though you have uninstalled X2, the plugin manager has updated and remains in Sonar 8 and is the plugin manager from X2. Go to your options, then VST in sonar preferences. Select "Reset all plugs" check the box that says scan failed plugs and then do another scan. See if it shows up after that.

The new plugin manager that was given to us in X2 requires us to do this as stated in the install notes. This usually fixes problems like this 95% of the time. Let me know if it works. Good luck.

-Danny

Hi Danny,

I received this message from Prosoniq, which, together with your reply, I think goes some way to explaining what is happening.

"PiWarp was based on the (now obsolete) VST 2.1 SDK by Steinberg. Most host developers have abandoned support for this SDK and require 2.4 or 3.0 as the minimum version. This is most likely the reason why a recent version of Sonar would not be able to see it. I'm afraid there is no way to fix this other than to downgrade your version of Sonar, or use a host application that can still handle v2.1 VST plug-ins."


I had tried resetting all plugins in Sonar X2 before re-scanning, but still no success. I had noticed that the plugin manager for X2 seemed also to be used by Sonar 8

So I tried uninstalling and then reinstalling Sonar 8. After a new scan... Success. Sonar 8 (and X2) once again see the PiWarp plugin, to my immense relief. 

Something to do with the differing VST versions that 8 and X2 scan for?

I'm happy now that all my plugins are seen, but I would be interested in an explanation as to why X2's manager  does not see the PiWarp plugin.

I hope this may help others who have also seen plugins mysteriously vanish since upgrading to X2 (a problem which didn't occur with X1).

Thanks to everyone who replied.

Regards,
Alistair

Hi Alistair,

Thanks for the reply. It sounds like you're in a similar situation to what I'm in. The issue is, you and I are in love with old, outdated versions of things that are no longer supported in some of the newer software. Unfortunately, that will always be the nature of the beast as we can't expect developers to keep on supporting these old, obsolete things because you and me still use them. LOL! I'd like it to be that way if it were possible, but it's just not in the cards.

For this reason, we will always be forced to either have less options or be using older versions of software to be able to use our older versions of plugs or software. There's just no way around it other than the extreme case....which I'm finding more truthful each day.

I do a lot of beta testing for quite a few companies. What I'm finding out is, when they improve something, they often times break something else or improve something so much, nothing older is compatible. The only true fix for this stuff in my opinion, is to retire a pc with each version of an OS and just build a new one. LOL! I know...it sounds stupid, but it's really the only way to have the best of all worlds.

What works in old Sonar that doesn't work in new Sonar....what drivers and hardware work in Win 7 but don't work in Win 8....what stuff works in XP yet tanks in Win 7 and costs you money or you simply don't use that thing. These are the things I'm seeing more and more. So, I now have a pc for everything just about. LOL!

When I used Windows 98 SE, Sonar 2.2 was the best I could use on it. I have that pc and that version of Sonar and all my DX plugs active on it to this day.

When I moved to Windows XP, Sonar 5, 8, and 8.5 were my weapons of choice. I still have them all installed to this day.

Here with Win 7, Sonar 8.5, X1 and X2 are my weapons of choice. Some of my older DX plugs no longer work from Sonar 8.5 to present. I know it sounds nuts to even consider a DX plug in these times, but some of them just worked so well for me, I didn't want to part with them. Some still work in X1/2 and I use them. But I'm finding that with each upgrade or update of something, we lose something of old and I've grown to accept it as much as it annoys me.

I had an awesome camera set-up here in my studio using 3 web-cams. My band and I used to shoot videos from here and the video cams I used (old Intels) were incredible. They worked until Windows 7 came out. I was quite let down when I plugged them in and they weren't even recognized. So I had to buy a new cam and only bought one instead of having the triple set-up I had. The new one I bought was more money than 2 of the Intels I had used before....so I was forced to buy a new cam.

When I bought a new pc, they stopped using legacy for midi and audio type stuff....so I had to buy a new MOTU midi rig because my old one was legacy. This new one, though awesome....has never worked as well as my old faithful. So as you can see, we sort of get forced into change even when we hate it. Or sometimes we're forced to use work-arounds that also hinder performance or may stop us from enjoying other aspects of something. It's just the nature of the beast and one that I really hate. :(

Anyway, I'm glad you got your issue sorted. I hope that things continue to work well for you. If in the event you have any issues with plugs in X2, it's probably the plugin manager as the one that comes with X2 was made for it as well as the pro channel modules. If you get any crashes at all from PC modules, that's most likely where it's stemming from as I believe that plugin manager was updated because of that. I'll hope for the best for you....good luck. :)

-Danny