Unable to Save AU Plugin Presets—SOLVED

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Rick Cornish
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Unable to Save AU Plugin Presets—SOLVED

Post by Rick Cornish »

Hi gang.....
I just discovered I am unable to save presets on my AU plugins.
MAS plugins work fine.
Waves plugs (which have a separate load/save toolbar) seem to work OK.
It's the "Save Preset as..." command in the DP "shell" that holds AU plugins, that's giving me an error chime and nothing else.

Anyone else seeing this? Any ideas on how to work around?

Thanks.
Last edited by Rick Cornish on Fri Nov 10, 2017 10:14 am, edited 3 times in total.
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Gravity Jim
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Re: Unable to Save Presets

Post by Gravity Jim »

Rick, I'm sorry to say I can't help, other than to say that I am not seeing that behavior here. DP is saving plug-in presets even in my most oddball plugs... Scuffham Amps, ReLab LX480, etc.
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Re: Unable to Save Presets

Post by Rick Cornish »

Thanks, Jim.

BTW: Tested and v9.13 is doing the same thing.
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DP 11 on M2 Mac Studio (64mB mem. + 2tB int. SSD + two 2tB ext. SSDs, and Mac OS Sonoma). VIs from MOTU, Spectrasonics, NI, UVI, 8dio, Soniccouture, East West, Spitfire, Heavyocity, Vir2, and more; plus Waves 14, Brainworx, iZotope, Wavesfactory, Oeksound, Final Mix, JST, SPL, PSP, UVI, Valhalla DSP, and other FX plugs, Roland A-88, Apogee Quartet, iCON Platform Nano, Genelec 1032a and Westlake BBSM4 monitors, Gibson HR Fusion III. rickcornish.net
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cuttime
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Re: Unable to Save Presets

Post by cuttime »

Not seeing that here, either. Perhaps you should check the write privileges of the preset folder?
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Re: Unable to Save Presets

Post by mikehalloran »

Have you tried 9.51 yet?
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Re: Unable to Save Presets

Post by Rick Cornish »

mikehalloran wrote:Have you tried 9.51 yet?

Nope.... until I saw your message, Mike, I hadn’t heard of any upgrades after 9.5. I will definitely look into it tomorrow.
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Re: Unable to Save Presets

Post by stubbsonic »

It could be a permissions issue. If DP tries to write to a folder in the Library, it can sometimes hit a snag.

I was just doing a little gig and had one incident where a plugin wouldn't save a preset, but the plugin had it's own preset system, which did work.
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Re: Unable to Save Presets

Post by Shooshie »

I'd place my bets on what others have said: permissions in the folder hierarchy where those are stored.
Or corrupted prefs or something along those lines. Its not DP. I would be dead in the water without my user presets, and they're all working fine.

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Re: Unable to Save Presets

Post by ccrane »

If not a permissions issue, it could be a folder location issue, i.e., user Library vs system Library, as there are Audio and Preset folders in both locations and DP may be looking at the wrong folder.

If you were able to previously save your presets, this may not apply, but still may be worth checking if changing permissions does not work.

Solution: If unable to save a preset and additionally, "Reveal presets in Finder" does nothing, than usually a new preset folder must be manually made in one of the Library/Audio/presets folders. This requires making a Manufacturer folder (ex. FabFilter) inside the Presets folder, and then nested inside the Manufacturer folder, another folder with the plug-in name (ex. FF Pro-L).
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Re: Unable to Save Presets

Post by James Steele »

Hmmm... I've had this issue frequently. I would just try to save presets from the plug-in's UI. Any time I try to save a preset from then menu on the DP window enclosing the plug, I'd have issues. I need to look into this when I have time.
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Rick Cornish
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Unable to Save AU Plugin Presets

Post by Rick Cornish »

Quick update for you: I just got this back from user support at Plugin Alliance…
There are a number of plugins (some of which we sell) that use their own built-in preset system. For those types of plugins, the ability to save custom presets does not depend on the functionality of the DAW being used. However, in the case of Brainworx plugins, it does depend on the functionality of the DAW, because Brainworx plugins do not use a built-in preset system.

I've unfortunately been unable to determine DP9 supports saving custom presets with third-party plugins. I definitely recommend contacting MOTU support about it. Please make sure to mention that the plugins you're using don't have their own preset manager.
I have tested dozens of AU plugins. The ones that have their own built-in preset managers (like Waves) work as expected. I was unable to find an AU plugin that DIDN'T have a built-in preset manager which was able to save a preset in DP. (All these list presets in DP's shell). Most just give me a system beep when I try to save. Only one (SoftTube's free "Saturation Knob") allowed me to save and specify a name, but then popped up a system error from File I/O stating "Access denied. Insufficient access privileges for the operation. (-5000)" I did re-check privileges for all folders in the file tree and all show my user account with full read/write privileges.

I have opened a TechLink at MOTU.com.

(edited the subject to be more descriptive)
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Re: Unable to Save AU Plugin Presets

Post by bleach30 »

Oh thank goodness it isn't just me!

Yes I have this issue as well however, for me, on my Mac at home I can't save MOTU presets but third party works and at my studio I can't save ANY presets.

At home this started with version 9. Previous version (8.XX) saved all presets just fine. At the studio it was a brand new iMac with a fresh install of 9 and NO presets can be saved (other than those that use own system) and that includes the latest release.

I've gone through the plugin folders and checked read/write permissions and all are fine and trashed pref.

irritating
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Re: Unable to Save AU Plugin Presets

Post by Rick Cornish »

bleach30 wrote:Oh thank goodness it isn't just me!

Yes I have this issue as well however, for me, on my Mac at home I can't save MOTU presets but third party works and at my studio I can't save ANY presets.

At home this started with version 9. Previous version (8.XX) saved all presets just fine. At the studio it was a brand new iMac with a fresh install of 9 and NO presets can be saved (other than those that use own system) and that includes the latest release.

I've gone through the plugin folders and checked read/write permissions and all are fine and trashed pref.

irritating
So your problem is the OPPOSITE of mine?

For me, I have no problem saving user presets for MAS plug-ins. It’s the third-party AU plugs—those that don’t have a built-in preset manager (like Waves)—where I cannot save user presets.

Methinks that would be a different issue.
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Re: Unable to Save AU Plugin Presets

Post by buzzsmith »

I'm about 50/50 successful trying to save Spectrasonics user presets. I even open the preset folder for Stylus, for instance) to see if the preset gets correctly saved.

If it shows a size of 6KB, then I know that it was not saved.

It's hit or miss.

So, I (tediously) mark each Stylus, Trilian or Omnisphere track with the exact routing to the sound that I need.

Many times, especially with Trilian, the preset name shows but it wasn't loaded. If I choose that exact same preset from the preset menu, the preset will load correctly.

More research needed...

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Rick Cornish
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Re: Unable to Save AU Plugin Presets

Post by Rick Cornish »

buzzsmith wrote:I'm about 50/50 successful trying to save Spectrasonics user presets. I even open the preset folder for Stylus, for instance) to see if the preset gets correctly saved.

If it shows a size of 6KB, then I know that it was not saved.

It's hit or miss.

So, I (tediously) mark each Stylus, Trilian or Omnisphere track with the exact routing to the sound that I need.

Many times, especially with Trilian, the preset name shows but it wasn't loaded. If I choose that exact same preset from the preset menu, the preset will load correctly.

More research needed...

Buzzy


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For VIs (like Stylus), I always use the built-in preset manager and have never had a problem. The issue I'm reporting is with 3rd party AU effects plugins like those from SoundToys or PlugIn Alliance that reply on saving user patches via DP's "shell."
Rick Cornish

DP 11 on M2 Mac Studio (64mB mem. + 2tB int. SSD + two 2tB ext. SSDs, and Mac OS Sonoma). VIs from MOTU, Spectrasonics, NI, UVI, 8dio, Soniccouture, East West, Spitfire, Heavyocity, Vir2, and more; plus Waves 14, Brainworx, iZotope, Wavesfactory, Oeksound, Final Mix, JST, SPL, PSP, UVI, Valhalla DSP, and other FX plugs, Roland A-88, Apogee Quartet, iCON Platform Nano, Genelec 1032a and Westlake BBSM4 monitors, Gibson HR Fusion III. rickcornish.net
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