[solved] Help Wanted: Issue about activation and missing components

[BLumia]

Hi,

I used to be a SONAR Steam user and I'm sorry to hear that Gibson announced the end of active development of Cakewalk branded products which included SONAR. Since I have been using SONAR for a long time so I wish I can get a fully functional copy of SONAR's lastest version, so I bought SONAR at Nov 24 (ps. SONAR removed the buy button at Nov 25).

After buying SONAR Platinum from steam store, I received an update of SONAR, after the installation I opened SONAR as usual, the activation dialog popped up and I entered my e-mail, but after a few minutes SONAR show a dialog and telling me SONAR can not connect the activation server.

I'm sure about there are no issue with my firewall (I can activate my SONAR Steam version before I bought SONAR Platinum, and I use it for a long time with no activation problem), I also tried uninstall SONAR and re-install it, I still can not activate my SONAR Platinum product. I found there is no "Offline Activation" option, what should I do to activate my product?

Another issue is, I found my SONAR Platinum missed a lot of plugins/components that Platinum version SHOULD have. like Roland Groove Synth, DropZone, Dimension LE (Pro), Rapture LE (Full), Cyclone, th3, Breverb and Rematric. I didn't get even a SONAR Theme Editor! I don't know what should I do to get the all missing plugins/components, I wish I can use these stuff to work with my SONAR.

current situation is that, I upgrade my SONAR from Steam version to Platinum and now I found it missed plugins/components and I can't even activate my product. Since I am fimilar to SONAR so I still wish to solve the problem than request a refund. I submited an issue via cakewalk.com but I got no response. What should I do? I can provide more detail if needed.

Anyone can help?

[update] Activation problem solved, and th3 is also there! Thanks opjose! but still missing some components, details below.

[opjose]

Try a clean installation of Sonar by first Uninstalling it completely.

Then reboot your computer, exit Steam and start Steam again by right clicking and selecting "run as administrator".

Download Sonar again, and once it completes launch it to run the installer.

Once the installer completes, Sonar should start up and you should see the REGISTRATION dialog.

The ACTIVATION dialog will not appear after the last update was pushed out after Cakewalk's demise. Now Activation is automatic and handled by Steam.

I did all of the above on two new computer with no prior Steam nor Sonar installation a couple of days ago in response to a post here, to verify that this all works.

The rest of the missing plugins are easy to resolve once you have Sonar running in non-demo mode.

[BLumia]

Thank you opjose!

I tried uninstall by right click SONAR in my steam library and click the "Uninstall.." option, is that the right way to do a completely uninstallation? If it is, I did it twice but still can't activate my SONAR. I will clean my registry and try again tonight and check if I still can not activate my SONAR.

But the problem is, I checked the installation folder of SONAR and I really didn't find the plugins, they are not in the vst folder or SONAR's installation folder. I compared with my friend's installation folder, he got the files but I didn't. That really make me comfuse.

For some details, after I bought SONAR Platinum, there were only two new DLC added to my original SONAR software's DLC list(they are BigFish sample library and a SONAR Platinum 2018 session pass). Cakewalk L-Phase Series Plug-ins also added to my software list(a standalone software, not a DLC), no other stuff.

AFAIK SONAR Platinum Steam at least contains a component named "SONAR Theme Editor" which is also delivered as a standalone software, I can't find it in my steam library at all. That's why I think I missed something rather than it caused by a failed activation. You can go to My Library / Game List and use the filter to take a look, I don't know but is that I really missed something?

[opjose]

Yes you can uninstall Sonar via the right click and Uninstall option.

Then you need to reboot, look for any remnants of Sonar and delete those too. Sometimes a registry cleanup is required. Seth had notes about this in his posts.

Also sometimes removing C++ Visual Studio is needed too. See the recent "Sonar Crashing [SOLVED]" thread in the other forum where someone else had a similiar problem and we solved it.

But most importantly, once everything is cleaned up, You MUST run Steam as administrator by exiting Steam and right clicking on it, then selecting "run as administrator".

Then downloading and re-installing Sonar with Steam launched this way.

Doing so gives sufficient permission to the installer to place libraries, make registry entries, and launch dialogs that sometimes do not appear under normal user accounts or even accounts with administrator privilages.

Once you have Sonar properly installed the rest can be addressed.

[BLumia]

Thanks a lot opjose! After a clean uninstallation and I finally activate my SONAR Platinum.

But I found I still missing those plugins. There are some details I can provide:

My Steam Library showing the softwares I have, and the DLCs I got:
http://tinypic.com/r/keuip5/9

Screenshot of SONAR Platinum is running. Shows SONAR is missing some instrument plugins and There are no "Theme Editor" in the Utilities menu:
http://tinypic.com/r/2irq97n/9

Also here is the whole file list where I install SONAR "E:\<Somewhere>\steamapps\common\Cakewalk":
https://pastebin.com/jdRSQTyn

So it seems SONAR is actually missing some plugins. How can I get the missing plugins? Thanks again!

[opjose]

The theme editor no longer appears as a separate item nor in Sonar itself.

However, it is there.

If you click on "Play" or "Launch" you will see a dialog that offers to run Sonar, Sonar x86, Melodyne, etc. and the theme editor.

---

In the list of DLC's in Steam, scroll all the way down to the bottom. There is an entry for "Legacy X3 plugins".

Enable that too and wait for the 298MB download to finish.

Also enable/install the L-Phase and Loop Manager plugins.

Go to the Steam Sound Center DLC listing and make sure everything that appears as DLC is also installed there.

---

BTW: Please add [SOLVED] to the title of the first post so that people who have similiar problems can see that there is a solution in this thread.

It would have been nice to keep the "unable to activate" heading.

[BLumia]

Originally posted by opjose:

If you click on "Play" or "Launch" you will see a dialog that offers to run Sonar, Sonar x86, Melodyne, etc. and the theme editor.

I can't find it.. After I clicked "Launch" , I can see this dialog: http://tinypic.com/r/6yyu1i/9 . Still nothing about the theme editor. btw could you tell me the location of theme editor on your disk? I posted a full list of all files under Cakewalk folder after my clean install (https://pastebin.com/jdRSQTyn), is that different to your "Cakewalk" folder?

Originally posted by opjose:

In the list of DLC's in Steam, scroll all the way down to the bottom. There is an entry for "Legacy X3 plugins".

I can't find it either, here is all DLCs displayed in SONAR's DLC list:

- SONAR - Big Fish Audio Loop Library (this added after my SONAR Platinum purchase)
- SONAR - Platinum 2018 Session Pass (this added after my SONAR Platinum purchase)
- SONAR - Cakewalk Session Drummer 3
- SONAR - Cakewalk Studio Instruments
- SONAR - Cakewalk Z3TA+ 1.5
- SONAR - Celemoney Melodyne 4 Essential Demo
- SONAR - Extended Loop Content
- SONAR - LANDR
- SONAR - Mp3 Activator
- SONAR - Overload TH2
- SONAR - Overload TH3 Cakewalk Edition (TH3 is there, also in my SONAR's plugin list)
- SONAR - STEAM Edition 2016 Season Pass
- SONAR - STEAM Edition Help
- SONAR - STEAM Edition Plugins
- SONAR - STEAM Edition Tutorials

I checked the install checkbox so all the DLCs in this list is installed, but still can't find the plugins. Is that DLC list any different to yours?

Originally posted by opjose:

It would have been nice to keep the "unable to activate" heading.

Oh sorry I'll change it back now.

[opjose]

Right click on Sonar in your Library and select Properites.

A new window will pop up.

Look for the "Betas" tab.

Click on the Betas tab and there is a pull down that permits you to select the 10.2017 Beta download.

Use that.

A download should start.

That should restore the theme editor and update your DLC.

[BLumia]

Nothing changed after I switch to 10.2017 Beta, also no download started. I also tryed switch to 09.2017 Beta, after download done I ran SONAR once, and then switch to 10.2017 Beta, wait for download and start SONAR, still no theme editor and the DLC list is not changed either.

[edit] I can find BREVERB 2_32.dll and BREVERB 2_64.dll at "E:\<somewhere>\Steam\steamapps\common\Cakewalk\<x64\>Shared Utilities\Internal", but it seems is a ProChannel component, not a vst one. other plugins.. I can't find the .dll file at all :(

I also tryed add the "E:\<somewhere>\Steam\steamapps\common\Cakewalk\" to VST scan folders and do a rescan but no new plugins shown in my plugin list.

[opjose]

Right, those were moved to Pro-Channel.

Do you see them there?

I wonder if your installation is getting screwed up because Sonar is not handling the language localization properly during installation?

It might be worth it to try switching to English temporarily, then verifying the files as Administrator and launching Sonar again still as Administrator.

If this corrects the Theme editor startup issue, you can then switch back to normal.

[BLumia]

I tryed once again but still missing these stuff..

I don't think it is a localization problem since my friend which bought SONAR Platinum before also use the same localization, he got these stuff but I didn't. BREVERB have a standalone plugin version and also a ProChannel one, but I can only find the ProChannel one.

I still think maybe I am missing some DLCs, coulld you list your SONAR's all DLC so I can check if there is actually missing something or it caused by a installation issue. If I am really missing some DLCs, reinstall SONAR may not solve my problem imo.

[opjose]

Here is my list of DLC's but I don't think this will help you as it contains purchased items and things that go pretty far back.

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1219774708&fileuploadsuccess=1

[opjose]

BTW:

I just noticed that I DO have the theme editor in Sonar x64 under utilities.

Which version are you running?

[BLumia]

Both SONAR and SONAR x64 doesn't contains a "Theme Editor" options under the utilities menu. I notice that there is a SONAR Theme Editor in your DLC list but I don't have one. As for the plugins, there is also a DLC named "SONAR - Platinum Plugins" I also don't have. I think that's what I am missing.

The reason why I think I am missing something is, when I bought my SONAR Platinum, there are two options in the shop / purchase page, one is "Buy SONAR Platinum 2018 - Season Pass", another is "SONAR Platinum 2018 - Upgrade from Steam Edition/Professional". There was no description about the difference between those two, so I randomly choose the first one and purchased it. Is that a mistake made by Cakewalk or someone else?

[opjose]

That explains it.

The Upgrade is required to get you all of the Platinum features.

The Season Pass is what permits you to get the updates throughout the year, but of course is of no value now that development has stopped.

You actually needed the upgrade to get all of the plugins that come with Platinum.

[BLumia]

That doesn't make sense, the two option are with the same price if I remember correctly, I also got the unlock key / license of SONAR Platinum, maybe I still should contact the online marketing manager to solve this problem, but that seems not possible for now... I bought it only wish to get the full feature of SONAR but... sigh.

Anyway, thank you Opjose! I'll mark this thread as solved, I'll still do an attempt to contact Cakewalk, I hope I can get a response.