Advisory: Windows 8.3 file name generation and missing prochannel modules

IMPORTANT: If you found this thread be advised that as of SONAR X3 this information here is somewhat out of date. SONAR implemented a more robust scheme for VST plugin identification that is no longer dependent on short file names. (See the end of this thread for more details) So any files saved in current versions of SONAR will no longer have this issue. However projects from old versions of SONAR may still rely on 8.3 file names and come up with missing plugins if the file system doesn't support 8.3 file names. 

EDIT: Please follow this more exhaustive KB article for a resolution if you have this problem rather than the details in this thread:
http://www.cakewalk.com/Support/kb/reader.aspx/2007013293

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There are a few users running into cases where some of the prochannel modules do not appear in the menus after install. 

Some symptoms are:
- Console Channel emulator is not listed as being available although it is indeed installed 
- Loading demo projects or templates come up with missing console emulator modules

- Prochannel strip can appear blank

If you are running into any of these symptoms the chances are very high that you have disabled 8.3 filename generation on your hard drive. You may have either done this manually or you ran some "optimization" tool that did this for you. 
SONAR's VST inventory still relies on 8.3 file name generation to be active. If not you will get name collisions for plugins and all sorts of weird symptoms. To solve this problem you will need to revert this change and rescan all your plugins. Once you do this it should resolve these issues. Here is a link to a MS article that describes this tweak if you want to check if your system has this issue.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/121007
To check open a command prompt as an administrator. (Start | run | cmd then right click and choose run as administrator)
at the command prompt type:

fsutil.exe 8dot3name query C:

On a good system this should display:

The volume state for Disable8dot3 is 0 (8dot3 name creation is enabled).
The registry state of NtfsDisable8dot3NameCreation is 2, the default (Volume level setting).
Based on the above two settings, 8dot3 name creation is enabled on C:.




You should repeat this with all drive letters that you have your VST plugins stored on.

Ultimately we will try and move away from this dependency but it involves backwards compatibility issues with projects so we can't completely sever this tie.

When you run the fsutil command the out specifies 2 as the default, if that's any help.

Thanks Noel.

Great catch.

best regards,
mike

The moral of the story is don't tweak your system unless you really know what you are doing or you can cause more harm than good!

 
Roger that!
 
The point is if you are making tweaks at least be aware of the consequences of the ones you have made otherwise it can be really difficult working out which tweak is causing which issue.
 
Some recommend turning off 8.3 filenaming as a performance tweak but for the little if anything gained it's not worth a light.  Fortunately I have some things that probably pre-date Sonar's requirement for backward capability so I need it anyway.

Noel

I've changed my 8.3 file names setting to zero, i.e. when I run fsutil.exe 8dot3name query C: all looks as it should above.  I restarted my PC, opened X2 and rescanned plugins.
 
But nothing has changed.  I still only get 'Console Emulator Bus' in the list of modules to insert in the pro channel, and I still get the same errors when opening a new project template.  What else do I need to do?
 
John

pwal


this thread should be a sticky, as the 8.3/SFN functionality is an unstated system requirement

+1.  Vital.

Yes turning the option back on only affects NEW files. Existing files on that drive would not have 8.3 names. So deleting and copying them back forces them to regenerate.
I think there may be a command to force windows to regenerate the 8.3 names but I don't recall how. 

Anyway glad you are back to normal. If you had lots of plugins It should sort out various other potential problems as well. Just make sure that all your existing projects load properly with no missing plugins now.  You should investigate how that option got turned off in the first place if you didn't do that manually, since Windows doesn't do that by default. Perhaps you ran some disk optimization software or some tweaks that changed this state. If you find what did it please post an update so others can avoid doing that. There was another user "rasure" that had identical symptoms so he most likely has the same issue. If you see this thread you should apply the same steps.

Yep that has to be it. They "optimized" it alright, just not for SONAR or any Cakewalk application :) Frankly Windows 7 doesn't really need any tweaking for it to work out of the box with most hardware configurations. 
With software optimization the golden rule is to optimize when you have a measurable problem, rather than implement a solution in search of a hypothetical problem. 

Hey Everyone,

It looks like Noel and the rest of you have done a good job troubleshooting this.

With some help from Noel and Keith (thanks guys), I threw up a KB article that should hopefully help with anyone who runs into this behavior in the future.

A little while back I ran through this process very specifically on my own system (first breaking it intentionally and then repairing it)... multiple times. Do take care when going through the steps. It's not as scary as it seems, but if you miss a step (specifically the CUT/COPY/PASTE part of it) it won't work properly.

I hope this helps anyone who runs into it in the future. It's tagged in our Knowledge Base and of course can be accessed via this link at any time: http://www.cakewalk.com/Support/kb/reader.aspx/2007013293

Best regards,

type cmd into the search bar, when it shows up in the list then right click and choose run as administrator. From the dos box run the fsutil command.

Thanks Ryan,  that was quick!  Many thanks indeed.
 
Ok, I've done all that and I think I'm now all set.  My Cmd listing looks right now - it looked like the first picture before... 
(Again, can someone make this topic sticky please?)
 
John

synkrotron

we all have to work through the gotcha stages. Next thing you'll discover is that whenever you install anything, just make it a habit to right-click on the installer and choose "run as administrator". Save you some grief down the road

Any reason why this isn't sticky anymore?  I know there's now an excellent Knowledge Base article but that's only visible if you happen to go there hunting for a solution.

i'm genuinely curious as to how this pans out, SFNs are definitely being phased out in win8 by ms and judging by the workaround the sonar dependency goes all the way back to the original fxpansion vst-adapter which suffered the same issue - is sonar still using that same code for VSTs? see http://forum.cakewalk.com/tm.aspx?m=561734&mpage=1 or http://forum.cakewalk.com/tm.aspx?m=62456&mpage=1 for example, same issue...

BTW regarding stickiness: Not actually sure who stickied it. I changed it simply for the reason that we HAVE a Knowledge Base. It's sole purpose IS for important topics like this. I would encourage people to rely on visiting it from time to time and not just checking out the latest stickies. If we stickied everything (articles and/or conversations) we thought were important for customers to be aware of... then this would be an entire forum of stickies. It might even start to look like a knowledge base after a while... and not a forum :) You ever work with someone who puts sticky notes up about EVERYTHING? It eventually becomes a moot point since they all seem to linger and nothing really gets done... not to mention it becomes harder to find what you're looking for. While I do think this is an important topic... in my many years of working tech support its come up fewer times than I can count on one hand.