VSTs won't load on second computer

[jptillman]

I'm moving my music software from my current laptop to an older laptop and I'm finding certain VSTs won't load in LMMS.

My OS on both computers is Windows 11. LMMS version on both computers is 1.2.2, obtained via the official site download.

An example: I can load the DSK Brass VST on both PCs, but Decent Sampler will only load on my current PC, not on the older one. The VST Folder on both is the default "c:\Program Files\VstPlugins" folder.

My main problem is that it just quietly fails, with no error messages, prompts, or visible logs anywhere, so I have no indication of what even is going wrong. Is there a way to troubleshoot this? If it's a RAM problem, for example, just knowing that would help me know where to go next.

[musikbear]

First off, Welcome to the Forum jptillman!
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I'm moving my music software :::
The VST Folder on both is the default "c:\Program Files\VstPlugins" folder.

default "c:\Program Files\
OUtsh!!
That is very wrong!
c:\Program Files\ is a protected library that is only meant for usage by Windows.OS!
You should never place any userfiles inside c:\Program Files\ !
This is not only in respect to LMMS, but to every and all userfiles for all programs. simply regard c:\Program Files\ as an area where you never do anything!
It is Only windows that are meant to use c:\Program Files\ the only action you as administrator should make is to press the install-button of any software. Windows takes care of the rest!

All LMMS userfiles are meant to be in your USER-directory
This also makes it easy to make security backups of your own LMMS files.

Unfortunately you have made an other mistake:

VST Folder on both is the default :: VstPlugins" folder

That is not the correct folder for VST-instruments
The folder VstPlugins is only meant to be used for VST-effects, loaded on FX-tabs.
If you have VST-instruments inside VstPlugins, they will appear in the list of FX-inserts, and that is very confusing. It also bloat that list and make token-search loose its usefulness.

All VST-instruments should be placed in
C:\Users\<name>\Documents\lmms\samples\VSTinstruments
These are rather bad and crippling mistakes, because you will have a ton of issues if you need to migrate to a different pc -exactly those you now do have!
There are no easy fix.
If i was in your situation i would make sure i had 100% backups of all userfiles, including those you placed in program-files, and then i would remove everything LMMS installed from my new PC.
after you have made sure nothing related to LMMS exists in your registry (search it), i would make a complete default re-installation of LMMS -and i would actually choose 1.3-Alpha
Not N O T 1.3Nightly Do N O T do that!!!
Default install and then you manually need to copy each relevant file from you backups into
C:\Users\<name>\Documents\lmms\<folders>
Eg you existing project from your backups you copy to
C:\Users\<name>\Documents\lmms\projects
Your existing Samples from your backups you copy to
C:\Users\<name>\Documents\lmms\Samples
aso.
So...
That will then fix it and you are good to go..
Sadly No
You will still have issues with soundfonts, because soundfonts need to have a complete path inside the project-file, and that path will be wrong!
This is where it becomes cumbersome difficult and has needs for reading and writing knowledge in XML, because you need to manually edit soundfont-paths in all projects where you have used SF2.
..and unfortunately -You can only edit MMP project.
MMPZ cant be edited! You will need to resave those as MMP
You can use notepad for the edits.
We can help you with advice and even make you some code you need
Let us know if you need help.

[jptillman]

Hi. Thanks for the advice. I'm not sure you fully understood the situation, however.

default "c:\Program Files\
OUtsh!!
That is very wrong!
c:\Program Files\ is a protected library that is only meant for usage by Windows.OS!
You should never place any userfiles inside c:\Program Files\ !

Who said anything about user files? When I install Decent Sampler (using the provided installer application), it places the 64 bit DLL in the "c:\Program Files\VstPlugins" directory. That's not my doing.

Plus, that is literally the default folder that appears when I click the Folder icon in Vestige, a setting I did not configure.

I'm also quite aware that Program Files isn't a great place for this kind of stuff (I happen to be a software developer but I can't make this thing run, so perhaps I should reconsider), but having seen the other poor design decisions inherent in LMMS (as evidenced by others who are experiencing migration problems), I was not necessarily expecting great choices. The lack of logging/debugging options is also quite disappointing.

Where you seem to have misunderstood is where I pointed out that my current computer is already running this VST successfully from its installed location in c:\program files. The new computer does not. The fact that I manually copied the DSK Brass VST into that folder and it's the one that works also undermines your argument that it matters.

VST Folder on both is the default :: VstPlugins" folder
That is not the correct folder for VST-instruments
The folder VstPlugins is only meant to be used for VST-effects, loaded on FX-tabs.
If you have VST-instruments inside VstPlugins, they will appear in the list of FX-inserts, and that is very confusing. It also bloat that list and make token-search loose its usefulness.

I'll keep this in mind, but, again, I didn't put Decent Sampler there, and it's working fine on my other computer.

All VST-instruments should be placed in
C:\Users\<name>\Documents\lmms\samples\VSTinstruments
These are rather bad and crippling mistakes, because you will have a ton of issues if you need to migrate to a different pc -exactly those you now do have!

Who said anything about migrating? I'm just trying to get the software to run. I'm not moving any projects files. Just trying to get a basic LMMS set up with some VSTs. This is what is not working.

And, VSTinstruments? That folder didn't exist after setting up LMMS and is not documented in the manual. Who would know this is some magic folder where your stuff will work? Sounds fishy to me, esp. when the manual says you can just drag and drop a VST DLL from the sidebar and it will work.

There are no easy fix.
If i was in your situation i would make sure i had 100% backups of all userfiles, including those you placed in program-files, and then i would remove everything LMMS installed from my new PC.

As implied before about design decisions, I'm getting a really bad feeling here if one must go futzing around the in the registry and filesystem just to get this thing uninstalled properly. Considering this is a stock installation, I'm pretty surprised this would be the recommendation out of the gate.

after you have made sure nothing related to LMMS exists in your registry (search it), i would make a complete default re-installation of LMMS -and i would actually choose 1.3-Alpha

Alpha quality? You might, but, sorry, I wouldn't.

This PC has literally nothing installed on it but Windows 11. Something is wrong with LMMS and I can't tell what it is from any output it provides. I'm very suspicious of a claim the files are in the wrong place or that I need an upgrade to an alpha version, for the above reasons.

All that said, I did exactly as you prescribed, including the registry clean-out and the alpha version. Same result, as expected. The DSK Brass VST loads instantly. Decent Sampler still does not.

Do you have any other ideas?

PS - Although my tone above might be a bit snippy in places, I am very appreciative that you are attempting to assist. I'm aware that you're likely volunteering your time and you deserve a serious thanks for that. Thank you!

[jptillman]

I wanted to post a follow-up that I've resolved my issue and it had nothing to do with file locations. It turns out that Decent Sampler requires the "Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable" to be installed. Somehow my new Win11 installation didn't have that. After installing it, Decent Sampler started loading in the DAW.

For others who stumble across this:

More info and the download can be found here:

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/cpp/w ... 9-and-2022

Also, I use Quilcom SIM-BP also (bagpipes simulator) and it requires the Visual Studio 2013 version of the redistributable. Just in case it helps someone else along the way.

[musikbear]

I've resolved my issue

Thats great!
just a comment for the misunderstandings.
It was because you wrote

I'm moving my music software from my current laptop to an older laptop

That i saw this as a migration situation.

You will have all VST-instruments in the FX-tab if the VST-instruments are placed in folder VSTPlugins, that why we recommend a folder in Samples.
Samples is serialized. Because of that you can have VST-instruments in separate folders and include artworks and setop-files -etc.
Correct there is no folder VSTInstruments in Samples. You need to make it yourself.
In respect to installing / manually placing files in Program-files: Those relative few VST2 i have, came without an installer. They are just single dll's or zip-files, with no installer.
(though Synth1 is installed, but not in Program-files).

Why i recommend LMMS1.3-Alpha is because it is more stable that 1.2.2 and have features missing in 1.2.2 -Notably Ghost-notes
If you are on windows 1.3-alpha is best choice.

[GraceLind]

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[musikbear]

I was having a similar case, and your suggestion helped me a lot, thank you so much for your help.

Good to hear
Besides that, since you are new in Forum
Welcome GraceLind !
Here are all important links:
http://lmms.io/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=4740
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If you like to introduce yourself, to the community, go here:
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[MrMysterious]

Hi, so I am also having issues with VSTs loading, but it looks like everyone in this thread is using Windows. I am currently running the LMMS appimage on Linux Mint 21.2 and I have been using WineHQ-staging for a few years to load VSts in VeSTige. I noticed maybe 6 months ago WineHQ-staging updated to 8.4 and my VSTs wouldn't load, so I just moved to Wine-stable which was at 8.0 at the time. WineHQ-stable just updated to 9.0 recently and I am now again unable to load any VSTs, I'm not sure where to post this issue but I do have some projects in LMMS that are dependent on VSTs and I'm not the most tech savvy when it comes to using Linux. Is this something that can be addressed within LMMS or do I have to downgrade Wine back to 8.0 somehow?

[musikbear]

issues with VSTs loading,
::
currently running the LMMS appimage on Linux Mint 21.2 using WineHQ-staging

WineHQ-stable just updated to 9.0 :: now again unable to load any VSTs,
do I have to downgrade Wine back to 8.0

The keypoint here is the upgrade of wine9. In LMMS, It is not working atm : (
Yes, you need to use an earlier WINE -not WINE9

Besides that, since you are new in Forum
Welcome MrMysterious !
Here are all important links:
http://lmms.io/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=4740
-A few rules and useful forum instructions
If you like to introduce yourself, to the community, go here:
http://lmms.io/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=4480

[WendellWright]

Thanks for the info, I will keep it in my mind.