PG-8X (2.0) released

[sprnva]

Here's the old AU. The file is too big to attach so I've uploaded it here.

[beely]

Oh... And where can we find this 1.0.0 AU version ? On the website there is only 2.0.13 version, and only VST....

It's the early version. When Martin updated PG8X significantly for V2, he hadn't done the AU, only the Win/VST versions - the AU was still stuck on a much earlier version. But it works, without requiring a VST wrapper, so I stuck with that one.

I hoping we'll eventually get a modern updated AU, whether it's by Martin, or by SSG if they take it over. Until then, this one is OK.

[jamcat]

Here is the direct link to the Mac AU plugin from Martin's PG-8X page:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/e5oop1vf8vpl ... eezxa?dl=0

You'll find the AU version in the folder "MAC-AU-discontinued," named PG-8X_2016-04-02.component.zip.

However, Audio Units uses a cached listed of your installed AU plugins, and adding or deleting an AU plugin .component file directly to Mac HD > Library > Audio > Plug-Ins > Components will not cause that cache to be updated.

So what you need to do is delete com.apple.audiounits.sandboxed.cache from:
Macintosh HD > Users > [you] > Library > Caches > AudioUnitCache, then reboot.

You also will need to right-click the PG-8X.component after copying it to your Plug-Ins > Component folder, and "Open With" Terminal.app to allow it to be opened before running your DAW.

[beely]

will not cause that cache to be updated.

"may not". It's not a given, depending on your macOS version.

So what you need to do is delete com.apple.audiounits.sandboxed.cache from:
Macintosh HD > Users > [you] > Library > Caches > AudioUnitCache, then reboot.

I do not recommend this except as a last resort, as you'll have to revalidate *all* your plugins, which is quite a drastic action (especially if, as sometimes happens, some of them won't be able to be revalidated.)

Just reboot, is usually good enough, or if you want to force a plugin change without a reboot, "killall -9 AudioComponentRegistrar" in the terminal gives a kick to the ACR (which is the buggy component that fails to detect a new plugin).

You also will need to right-click the PG-8X.component after copying to your Plug-Ins > Component folder, and "Open With" Terminal.app to allow it to be opened before running your DAW.

? Why would you want to try running an audio plugin with the Terminal?

What are you trying to achieve with this step? Are you trying to remove the quarantine bit and/or codesign or something?

[jamcat]

These are the steps that I have consistently found needed to be taken to get a plugin to show up. There are other ways to do it, I'm sure, but that's what I found easiest and to consistently work.

Opening with Terminal is just a way to get the "Open With" dialog for the .component itself, which is needed to be able to tell MacOS to "Open Anyway" when it warns you. I have found that if you open your DAW without doing that first, the plugin will be blocked and it's a real pain in the ass to get it unblocked.

As for updating the cache, I have never gotten it to update by a simple reboot after manually copying an AU plugin. This has been consistent certainly for the last several MacOS versions. I am on Ventura 13.1.

Anyways, if you have a better way that is easier to do and simple to explain, by all means list the steps.

[Hammer26]

Oh i have to take a while to translate and understand all you say !!
However I'm on Mac Os 13, there is no folder "library" in the "user" folder...
After a search, there is no file called " com.apple.audiounits.sandboxed.cache " on my mac.
And of course PG-8X component is not validate by Logic...

[beely]

Opening with Terminal is just a way to get the "Open With" dialog for the .component itself, which is needed to be able to tell MacOS to "Open Anyway" when it warns you. I have found that if you open your DAW without doing that first, the plugin will be blocked and it's a real pain in the ass to get it unblocked.

OK, I see what you are saying. Plugins can't be run on their own in macOS, either from the Finder or Terminal, they need to be loaded via a host, and it shouldn't be blocked but it depends on your system settings. Removing the quarantine bit is the easiest solution for that - "xattr -cr /path/to/plugin" will do that.

As for updating the cache, I have never gotten it to update by a simple reboot after manually copying an AU plugin. This has been consistent certainly for the last several MacOS versions. I am on Ventura 13.1.

It varies - it was very bad when the bug first started happening around HS or Mojave time, but seems to have gotten better, and I would say for me, probably about 7 in 8 times, installing a new plugin hasn't required required any additional action from me to show up in my host. For that other 1 in 8 time, I using the killall method above (I have it assigned to a simple alias), so I never need to reboot. I haven't needed to kill the aucache for anything other than testing or troubleshooting, and never for just installing a plugin.

But systems are complex, and if it's necessary, it's a useful step to know - but like I say, a last resort as it can have adverse effects (I've been helping others out with this exact issue just this week). Try the other things first, and honestly, a reboot after installing a plugin is simple and should be enough for most people to get a newly installed plugin to show up.

Also, if people are installing software like audio plugins, they should set their security preferences to run apps from app store and signed developers by default, not app store only, which reduces the hoops you have to go through to install your software in terms of security.

Anyways, if you have a better way that is easier to do and simple to explain, by all means list the steps.

Sure, and I've listed a whole bunch of them in this, and my above posts. Use as necessary.

[jamcat]

Oh i have to take a while to translate and understand all you say !!
However I'm on Mac Os 13, there is no folder "library" in the "user" folder...
After a search, there is no file called " com.apple.audiounits.sandboxed.cache " on my mac.
And of course PG-8X component is not validate by Logic...

The Library folder in your user folder can be accessed by going to Go from the finder menu bar and holding Option. It will appear in the list then.

Or use beely’s terminal command:
killall -9 AudioComponentRegistrar

[jamcat]

It varies - it was very bad when the bug first started happening around HS or Mojave time, but seems to have gotten better, and I would say for me, probably about 7 in 8 times, installing a new plugin hasn't required required any additional action from me to show up in my host. For that other 1 in 8 time, I using the killall method above (I have it assigned to a simple alias), so I never need to reboot. I haven't needed to kill the aucache for anything other than testing or troubleshooting, and never for just installing a plugin.

The issue is specifically when manually moving a loose AU plugin to the Components folder. Something needs to force the cache to update, I’m guessing. Perhaps that’s normally part of the installation process. But in this case, there is no installer. Also, I use Studio One so maybe Logic automatically updates the AU cache, but Studio One obviously does not.

My idea of “easier” doesn’t include running terminal commands. Avoiding that is a big part of my process.

[Hammer26]

Yes.... And ?
In french we say " i'm like a chicken with a knife " !!!

[jamcat]

I have no idea. Hopefully beely can help. That’s why I just delete files and reboot.

[Hammer26]

com.apple.audionits.cache deleted ( no problem 375 plug ins re-validated in a few seconds )
PG-8X component opened with the terminal... just to be open, that's it ?

it still does not work...

[beely]

The issue is specifically when manually moving a loose AU plugin to the Components folder. Something needs to force the cache to update, I’m guessing. Perhaps that’s normally part of the installation process. But in this case, there is no installer. Also, I use Studio One so maybe Logic automatically updates the AU cache, but Studio One obviously does not.

The AU cache is maintained by macOS (remember the AudioComponentRegistrar process I mentioned above? That's the system service that monitors the AU plugins on the system. Sometimes it can get frozen and not detect changes to the plugin folder - that's what the kill command does - reboots that process and brings it back to life. macOS has all kinds of systems to send messages to monitoring processes when something in a folder changes - like installing new plugins, moving plugins out etc.

Remember, AudioUnits are a macOS system supported feature, whether you own or use Logic, or not. As I say, caching, permissions and so on are complex. You do what you need to do. I do not need to trash my au cache and revalidate hundreds of plugins just because I moved a plugin out of the plugin folder, and this should not in normal cases be necessary.

My idea of “easier” doesn’t include running terminal commands. Avoiding that is a big part of my process.

Yeah, I get it. By honestly opening terminal, typing "pluginreset" (which is my alias) and hitting return takes about 5 seconds, and it's done. Trashing the AU cache, without using Terminal in case you know the path off by heart, involves opening up a Finder window on that folder (however you choose to do it), deleting that file, then re-opening your host, and waiting for usually several minutes to revalidate a typical collection of plugins. (On my old Intel Mac, with loads of plugins, it could take something like half an hour to revalidate them all, all the time with the processor burning the machine up.)

So *my* definition of easier is - lets go the way that takes a few seconds and doesn't disrupt my installation, and as I may need to do it somewhat regularly, let's make it as easy and simple to do as possible, but giving it an easy to type/remember alias.

Like I say - I'm just telling you what *I* do, and the reasons why. The last thing you want to happen is the scenario that I was helping one guy with this week - that you trash the cache, all your plugins revalidate. Now a bunch of old plugins that previously validated on an earlier version of macOS, and had stayed validated in the cache and worked, no longer validate on your current macOS which has a new validation standard. Now you have a bunch of plugins that won't work, and you can't load your projects. But you can't download more recent versions of those old plugins, because that's all there is. Now you're stuck... and have to figure out what to do - none of which is obvious, particularly to non tech-savvy users.

AUcache trashing can be a fairly disruptive procedure for these reasons. If I had exhausted the easy/quick/non-disruptive steps, and they hadn't worked, I would *move* my aucache, to see if that worked. If it didn't, I would put it back, so at least I wouldn't lose my previously cached file in case something bad happened.

Anyway, you get the idea, I'll leave it there as it's a bit of a tangent to the thread... ymmv

[jamcat]

com.apple.audionits.cache deleted ( no problem 375 plug ins re-validated in a few seconds )
PG-8X component opened with the terminal... just to be open, that's it ?

it still does not work...

Above, I meant "Go" not "Applications":

The Library folder in your user folder can be accessed by going to Go from the finder menu bar and holding Option. It will appear in the list then.

Opening with Terminal is simply to do "Open with" on the plugin so you can give it permission to open since it was downloaded off the internet and MacOS will block it otherwise.

These steps, however, are for getting a manually installed AU plugin you downloaded from the internet to show up in your DAW. If it is showing up but just not working, that is a different problem altogether.

[beely]

com.apple.audionits.cache deleted ( no problem 375 plug ins re-validated in a few seconds )

Are you sure you mean "validated", not just scanned? By few seconds, do you mean, like 6, or like, 45?

PG-8X component opened with the terminal... just to be open, that's it ?

it still does not work...

What you mean by "doesn't work", and what hosts are you trying it in? Try Hosting AU as a simple host. Or are you saying it doesn't show up as a plugin?

Try "auval -l" in the terminal. Is "aumu PG8X MLvs - MLVST: PG-8X" listed in there?