Useful Utility: UAD Plugin Cleaner - Hides UAD plugs you don't own.

[James Steele]

UPDATE... further down in the thread you'll see that any concerns I had with this app have been worked out and 1.0.2.3 beta is working like a charm! Highly recommended!

[James Steele]

I have confirmed for myself that this utility moves just the unowned UAD VST and AAX plugins to the backup location described. Unowned AUs are deleted... unless you are using a UA audio interface. Not necessarily a big deal, but it does mean that should you decide you want to demo a powered plug, you'll have to run the full installer from Universal Audio. That probably isn't a big deal to most of us, myself included, so I'm going to use this utility... but just wanted this to be known.

My original post about UAD Plugin Cleaner follows:

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Yep... so it's a PITA when the UA installer installs a crap ton of plugs you don't own and you have to either let them clutter up your plug-in selector, or remove them manually. DP users DO have the option to simply de-select the UA plugs they don't own in the Audio Plug-ins prefs, but that doesn't always work.

Turns out there's a utility that will do this for you called UAD Plugin Cleaner. I found it on the UAD Forums in this thread:

https://uadforum.com/community/index.ph ... ole.51705/

You might want to check that out as the link the developer provides (the user RogueM on the UAD Forums) is a direct download link to the latest version. That link is here:

http://tiny.cc/uadplugincleaner

(3/2/23: If the above link downloads a version earlier than 1.0.2.3, do not use. As of today, 1.0.2.3 is in beta and fixes some issues... it works great. Hold off till 1.0.2.3 or later is available.)

I sussed out a lot of this already and ran it and it does indeed work, but what you should do is a couple of things. When you download it, and run it, it will open a disc image with a Read Me file and the UAD Plugin Cleaner app. Make a folder named "UAD Plugin Cleaner" inside your Applications folder and then put these two files inside it. It will make sense later.

Now to use this app, run the UAD Meter & Control Panel. Open the Control Panel and click the "System Info" button near the top. Then at the bottom of that window click the "Save Detailed System Profile" and then save the "UADSystemProfile.txt" file to your Desktop. The UAD Meter & Control Panel app will ask you if you want to open it. Say no. Then move it into the UAD Plugin Cleaner folder, so it's in the same folder as the app. Now run the app, and it will backup up the UAD plugs that you don't own to a different part of your hard drive. I checked and they get move into <hard drive>/Users/Shared/Universal Audio/ There are folders beneath that for version inside that VST and AAX format. NOTE: AUs are deleted... unless you are using a UA audio interface.

If you get an security error running the app for the first time, dismiss the dialog and right click the app and choose "Open" and then you should get a dialog that will let you run it.

Any time you install new UAD software, you can just run repeat the process and it will move them where they need to go for all formats.

You can also restore to how it was before. It was a little odd and I didn't understand it at first, but all you need to do is make a blank text file and name it "UADSystemDefault.txt" and put it in that same folder where the app is, and it will move the backed up plug-in files back to the proper locations. It does however seem to re-enable the UAD Control Panel in the Log-in Items?

Again, there is a READ ME that comes with it the explains most of this pretty well.

[James Steele]

So I had a bit more discussion with the developer of this utility. Our conversation is over at the UAD Forum near the tail end of this thread:

https://uadforum.com/community/index.ph ... ole.51705/

It turns out that the guy who created this is an Apollo user and so he designed it from that perspective. Consequently, it appears that he built some sort of "test" into the app to figure out if the user was using Audio Units. The test seems to be to check for the presence of a component called "Console Recall.component" in the Components folder. If that isn't present, the app assumes you're not using the AU versions of the UAD plugins and UAD AUs are not backed up.

Of course, the problem is that for those of us who are using UAD-2 PCIe cards or UAD-2 Satellites but NOT using a UA audio interface, we have not installed the Apollo software and that component will not be in our Components folder. Thus, again, you get that behavior. The developer is working on a version that will work around this issue. Obviously, if you don't have a UA interface, most of us do NOT want to install the Apollo software that we don't need and have any unneeded system extensions, etc. on our Macs.

So for now... this does work fine, but if you're using AUs, the unauthorized plugs will get deleted so if you want to demo a plug you haven't bought, you'll need to run the official UA installer again.

[RogueM]

Happy to see some love for 'UAD PlugIn Cleaner' spread around, thank you James!

I have now removed the trigger for 'Console Recall' in the beta branch, which was a hangover from the early days I was not aware still existed... that change will eventually roll into the stable branch.

In the meantime, if someone wishes to 'fake' the system, rather than switching to the 'beta' branch, they can create a folder (not file!) named 'Console Recall.component' in /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components.

That said I would strongly encourage people to use the beta branch, what I introduce there is always through the means of 'opt-in features' (see 'Read Me' included with software), so you can't typically stumble on experimental code gremlins unless you want to (i.e enable that code).

[James Steele]

Thanks for your help with this! Much appreciated. I did an experiment with this first beta, 1.0.2.1. The AUs aren't being removed from the Components folder after the backup. I took a chance and ran version 1.0.1 immediately afterward and it did delete the unauthorized AUs as it always did, and the backup that was created by running 1.0.2.1 beta was still intact.

I could try the trick with naming the folder "Console Recall.component" but I''m good for now.

Again... thanks for the effort. I guess there are still some of us using UAD DSP without an Apollo.

[James Steele]

Happy to see some love for 'UAD PlugIn Cleaner' spread around, thank you James!

Glad to! it's extremely useful and very cool of you to make it available to the community. The time it saves after each install of a new UAD version is tremendous. I used to do this manually and it was a pain!

[James Steele]

Wow! Happy to report here that RogueM made a new 1.0.2.2 beta version and I just tested it and it ran like a champ!

I reinstalled all the UAD plugs with the UA installer and deleted the contents of the backup directory and the prefs for UAD PlugIn Cleaner and rebooted just to be sure I was starting from zero.

I then installed the beta into it's own folder in the Applications folder. As I described earlier I saved the "UADSystemProfile.txt" file (don't rename this file!) from the UAD Control Panel and placed it in the same folder as the UAD PlugIn Cleaner app and then ran the app. The first thing it did is backup all the installed plugs (VST, AAX, and AU), then went back and using the info in the "UADSystemProfile.txt" it removed all the unauthorized plugs from the VST, AAX and Components folders.

Exciting!! Thank you, RogueM!!

[primeevolutionary]

Thank you, James and RogueM!

The only thing I wasn't able to find was the link to 1.0.2.2. Every link I've seen takes me to 1.0.2.0

[James Steele]

Thank you, James and RogueM!

The only thing I wasn't able to find was the link to 1.0.2.2. Every link I've seen takes me to 1.0.2.0

He gave the link to a Google Drive area where the beta versions are on the UAD forum. It's in his post here:
https://uadforum.com/community/index.ph ... ost-451330

You can try the link, but I think while it's beta, you may need to message him over at the UAD forum and give him your email to get access. I think it was largely for him to gauge interest in it. He won't spam you. . If you do get in, make sure to download UAD_PlugIn_Cleaner_1022-beta.dmg. There's an earlier 1021 version which you don't want.

[RogueM]

there is an (even better?) 1.0.2.3 now, but yes, I do all my coding in the beta branch, which is through vetted access, to put a hurdle of sorts in the way and avoid users jumping in without at the very least glancing at the Read Me file. Plus indeed, easier accounting of unique users, to decide when, by that yardstick, it is 'safe' to roll into the stable branch.

... but I tend not to be too wreckless with betas either, and the nature of the thing is that the absolute worst case is that one would need to run the UAD software installer again, which I (and UA for that matter) recommend as primary method to get out of trouble, big or small, anyhow (I only provide a 'reset mode' for my own benefit of testing, if I'm honest).

Enjoy!

[James Steele]

I just ran a test with 1.0.2.3b. Of course prior to running it, I delete contents of backup folder, delete app prefs, then reinstall UAD2 plugs from the UA installer and reboot.

New version worked great! I love that it preserves the UAD Meter prefs file so Ventura users can use the new toggle to control whether it launches or not in System Settings... > General > Login Items ! This awesome! Great work!

[primeevolutionary]

Thank you, RogueM and James!

[bjornln]

Hi guys,

Thanks RougeM & James. This seems to be a real time saver. I think it is a great idea.
@RougeM Is there anything else we can do to help out (short of testing the beta version as James seems to have covered already) ?

/B

[James Steele]

Hi guys,

Thanks RougeM & James. This seems to be a real time saver. I think it is a great idea.
@RougeM Is there anything else we can do to help out (short of testing the beta version as James seems to have covered already) ?

/B

He may not be getting email notifications of this thread. Long story, but some ISPs are blocking emails from this board and it's a HUGE PITA for me to deal with to try and fix.

There's a thread here at the UA Forum:
https://uadforum.com/community/index.ph ... ost-451330

He gives a link to a directory for the beta versions in that post. The last one was 1.0.2.3 and the one that worked great. If you use the existing link in his signature at the UA Forum you'll get 1.0.0.0 which was problematic. I do not know why he hasn't promoted the beta to a release yet. If you want the beta you'll need to message him at the UA Forum and give him your email address so he can grant you access to the beta area. I wouldn't try PM'ing him here, again, because he may not receive email notification of the message.

[Gravity Jim]

All the links seem to take me to a download called 1.0.2.0. Not the 1.0.2.3 recommended. The installer for 1.0.2.0 won't run on my Mac. Does this software have a website?