PLug In Bundle not working

[Joe Kleon]

My Ilok account says my bundle is activated and is good through October, but it is not loading when I launch Pro Tools. It was working fine the last time I used it and I have not changed anything. Please advise. Thank you.

[Darryl Ramm]

Could you provide any less information?

What exact plugin bundle on what exact version of Pro Tools on what exact computer/OS version. You really running on a Mac G4?

By not loading you mean what exactly? 1. Plugins not being listed in the splash screen as they are scanned and loaded? Or 2. plugins not being listed in the inserts/plugins menu in the Pro Tools UI?

Really nothing has changed? Auto updates are turned off. Things usually don't just stop working by themselves.

[Joe Kleon]

I am using a 2019 Imac, running Pro Tools First 2020.9 on a Mac OS 10.14.6.

I am referring to the "Avid Complete Plug In Bundle (26)".

As it is launching it says it is scanning plugins, but when I open a session it says the plugins are not in my plug in folder. As I mentioned before, I have not removed or changed anything from the last time I used it, a few days ago.

When I open Ilok, it says the bundle is active.

[Darryl Ramm]

So you paid separately for an Avid Complete Plugin Bundle subscription that you purchased/installed via the Avid plugin store in Pro Tools First?

Pro Tools First was a total disaster of a product, it was thankfully killed off by Avid and even the support forums for it on DUC were removed. Biggest issues with First were the flaky unreliable cloud storage, lack of easy session compatibility with other versions of Pro Tools, the attempt to lock users into a proprietary plugin app store that no sane plugin vendors would agree to. A different release schedule/builds from "real" Pro Tools so First users were often stuck unable to get help especially on DUC. All these problems were undone when Pro Tools Intro (and Artist) were introduced.

If you try installing the ACPB plugins manually on Pro Tools First that may possibly break even with an iLok license present, thanks to the plugin app store mess that Pro Tools first inflicts.

I would just not even bother trying to get this to work. You should get onto Pro Tools Intro (free) or maybe Artist. Intro can run your ACPB license. Artist includes these so you might not need a separate ACPB subscription. You may need to upgrade your macOS version to run the latest Pro Tools release. https://avidtech.my.salesforce-sites...tibility-Chart (every version of Pro Tools now uses the same installer, and has the same OS compatibility). It is better to do a full clean macOS install, ideally on a spare boot drive volume or an external SSD than trying to do an insitu upgrade. Do new installs of apps and plugins and drivers, do not try to migrate them using the Mac migration assistant (assassin).

Edit: You can check the latest macOS supported on your exact iMac at Check what is the latest macOS version your exact iMac supports at https://everymac.com but you should have the ability to run Sonoma. Again do not just blindly run the macOS installer and do an in-situ macOS upgrade, read up online how to use the same macOS installer to do a full clean new install on an empty volume or new disk drive.

Yes, likely not what you were likely expecting, but Pro Tools First was such a disaster you need to get off it yesterday.

[Joe Kleon]

When I get a new machine next year I will upgrade. For now I would just like to get this working again. Nothing has changed. It worked fine 2 days ago.

When I opened the app today, it didn't recognize my Scarlett 2i2. I unplugged the Scarlett and plugged it back in and Pro Tools recognized it. Then all my plugins stopped loading. I get a message that the plugins from the bundle I bought are not in my plugins folder, but when I check the folder they are in there.

There has to be a way to restore things to the way they were this weekend, so I can continue to use this until I get a new machine.

[Darryl Ramm]

Originally Posted by Joe Kleon

There has to be a way to restore things to the way they were this weekend, so I can continue to use this until I get a new machine.

Yes. A backup. If you have one roll back to that.

Other than than nobody here can guess what the cause is here/what changed.

You can try the standard troubleshooting steps, starting with trashing prefs, described under "Help us Help You" up the top of every DUC web page.

All the foums areas with many thosuands of posts about Pro Tools First problems were deleted by Avid. But who knows if they would have been any help.

I've given you the best advice possible, I am not going to help troubleshoot First issues more, but hope you can sort it out.

Since First is no longer supported you don't even have the option of purchasing an ASC to contact Avid support.