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RESONON

Fix Plugin Problems

Find the message or the symptom, then work through the fix. Quoted blocks are what resonon prints. How scanning works and how to find what is installed: Use a Plugin.

A plugin is not found

Section titled “A plugin is not found”

The error ends with a tip that says what the plugin database knows.

Tip: the plugin database was last updated 3 days ago. If you installed this plugin since, run plugin_scan() to pick it up.

  1. Run plugin_scan(), or RESONON: Rescan Plugins. Resonon also sweeps the plugin folders in the background every time it starts, so this is only needed for a plugin installed during a session.

Tip: the plugin database is up to date, so this plugin does not appear to be installed. Check the name, or run plugin_scan() after installing it.

  1. Check the name against resonon plugin list.
  2. Check that the plugin is in a plugin folder: the standard folders for your OS, CLAP_PATH and VST3_PATH, or a folder you added with resonon config plugins add "/path/to/plugins" (Plugin folders). Run reload_preferences() after adding a folder, and the plugins in it are found without a restart.
  3. resonon plugin scan lists every folder it sweeps, and marks the ones that do not exist.
  4. resonon plugin list also lists bundles that were skipped: one that crashed or hung while loading is set aside, and is never found by name. See the next two sections.

A plugin was skipped after a crash

Section titled “A plugin was skipped after a crash”

plugin ’/…/Foo.vst3’ crashed the scan worker while loading

The bundle crashed the separate process that opens plugins during a scan, so it was set aside.

  1. Update or reinstall the plugin. The next sweep tries a bundle again once it changes on disk.
  2. To try the same build again — the crash may have been the machine’s, not the plugin’s — use the Retry Foo.vst3 quick fix on the underlined call, or run plugin_rescan('/…/Foo.vst3'), or resonon plugin rescan '/…/Foo.vst3' in a terminal.
  3. To see every skipped bundle and retry some of them, run RESONON: Retry Skipped Plugins… and tick the ones you want.
  4. To open every bundle again, run plugin_scan(force: true), RESONON: Rescan Plugins (Full) or resonon plugin scan --force. This is a full scan, and takes as long.

A plugin did not finish loading in time

Section titled “A plugin did not finish loading in time”

plugin ’/…/Foo.vst3’ did not finish loading within 30s — the plugin appears to hang on load

The bundle went quiet rather than crashing. A slow network volume, a busy machine or a virus scanner opening the file for the first time all look the same.

  1. Usually, do nothing. The next sweep tries it again; only three timeouts in a row set it aside, and the message says which attempt this was.
  2. To try it now, use the Retry Foo.vst3 quick fix, or run plugin_rescan('/…/Foo.vst3').
  3. The 30 seconds count only time resonon was running, so suspending or sleeping the machine does not cause it.
  4. After three timeouts it is treated like a crash: see the section above.

A plugin is listed, but will not load

Section titled “A plugin is listed, but will not load”
  1. Read the reason in the error. A bundle that will not open reports what the system said, with the paths the loader tried — usually enough to name a missing library.
  2. Reinstall the plugin, in case the file is damaged.
  3. Check the vendor’s notes for libraries the plugin needs.

A plugin is built for another architecture

Section titled “A plugin is built for another architecture”

built for x86_64, but resonon is arm64 — a plugin cannot be loaded across architectures

A VST3 or CLAP plugin loads into resonon’s own process, and no system bridges that across architectures. Install a build of the plugin for resonon’s architecture. A DAW may open the same plugin as an Audio Unit, which macOS can run in a separate process; VST3 and CLAP have no such bridge.

A plugin has no GUI

Section titled “A plugin has no GUI”

plugin does not support the CLAP GUI extension

Not every plugin has a GUI, and the plugins that come with resonon have none.

  1. List its parameters with .parameters(), once it is on a track with .set_effects() or .set_instrument().
  2. Set them with .set_parameter(name, value).
  3. For a third-party plugin that should have a GUI, update it.

The plugin database is empty

Section titled “The plugin database is empty”

No plugins in the database. It is normally built automatically in the background; run resonon plugin scan to build it now.

  1. Run resonon plugin scan, or plugin_scan() in a session.
  2. If it stays empty, check that automatic scanning is on: the VSCode setting resonon.plugins.autoScan, the --plugin-auto-scan flag and the RESONON_PLUGIN_AUTO_SCAN variable (Environment Variables).
  3. After an upgrade, the database is rebuilt from nothing; it fills as the first sweep finishes.
Section titled “Related”