Dimension Pro not showing up on WIN 11 computer

[gmp]

Mettelus can you explain what you mean by

simple junction to point to my Multisamples directory on another drive

I'm not able to point to my sample drive. I wonder if this is a regedit thing

[sjoens]

I think we've been confusing installer version with plugin version.  Installer 1.5.5.13 and 1.5.5.16 will both install Dimension 1.5.0.11.

 

3 hours ago, gmp said:

I tried to install 1.5.5.13, but when it got to ENGLISH I hit OK and the window closed

I was able to install both.  The only real difference between them is 1.5.5.16 won't require you to run Dimension as admin to register it.
With 1.5.5.13 you have to run it as admin or it will say the number is invalid.

FWIW, Sonar X1, X2, & X3 all came with Dimension 1.5 but they all had different serial numbers.  What's weird is the latest CCC version has the same serial as the X2 version, not the X3 version.

[Bristol_Jonesey]

1 hour ago, gmp said:

Mettelus can you explain what you mean by

simple junction to point to my Multisamples directory on another drive

I'm not able to point to my sample drive. I wonder if this is a regedit thing

To create and remove a symbolic link named MyFolder from the root directory to the \Users\User1\Documents directory, and a hard link named Myfile.file to the example.file file located within the directory, type:

mklink /d \MyFolder \Users\User1\Documents

mklink /h \MyFile.file \User1\Documents\example.file

rd \MyFolder

del \MyFile.file

Edited September 7 by Bristol_Jonesey

[gmp]

Bristol if you can explain a little clearly. it would help me know what to do.  Sorry this is pretty foreign to me about the  symbolic link and mklink. Here's where Dim Pro installed the library named "Programs"

C:\ProgramData\Cakewalk\Dimension Pro\Programs

and here's where I need to point Dim Pro to my library
D:\Dimension Pro\Programs\00 GP2

Are those commands CMD or Run?

Thanks

[mettelus]

I never made a junction to the Program directory, since that is small (~30MB) and easily copied. The Multisamples folder is the big one, and is in your main Cakewalk directory ([where you installed to]\Cakewalk\Dimension Pro\Multisamples).

As far as junctions, the easiest method is to create a batch file using NotePad. The format is akin to this (bold text is the content):

mklink /j "F:\Cakewalk\Dimension Pro\Multisamples" "F:\Cakewalk Content\Dimension Pro\Multisamples"
pause

In the above example, the "F:\Cakewalk\Dimension Pro\Multisamples" is the junction, and must not exist when the batch file is run in order for the junction to be created. The "F:\Cakewalk Content\Dimension Pro\Multisamples" is the target (pre-existing directory). Once created, a junction will look almost like a subdirectory, but have a small arrow in the lower left corner.

To your example above, your batch file would look like this:

mklink /j "C:\ProgramData\Cakewalk\Dimension Pro\Programs" "D:\Dimension Pro\Programs\00 GP2"
pause

Again, the "C:\ProgramData\Cakewalk\Dimension Pro\Programs" folder must not exist (safest to move it if it is there) before running. Save the NotePad file with a descriptive name (e.g., DimPro Programs Junction.txt), then close NotePad and rename that saved file to DimPro Programs Junction.bat (change the .txt to .bat). For system directories you need to right click the batch file and "Run as Administrator." The "pause" at the end keeps the window open so you can read what it did (hitting any key will exit it). The reason I use batch files is you have a record of what you did, and can use it as a template to make more (or edit it if needed later on). To modify an existing batch file, right click on it and select "Edit" (NOT "Open"... "Open" runs it).

Edited September 8 by mettelus

[mettelus]

To help clarify the above, I wanted to add a "practical" example of how I use/setup junctions. Ample Sound puts their samples in your documents folder by default, and are rather massive. The directory those are installed in by default is "C:\Users\[username]\Documents\Ample Sound" To do this quickly, I will "Edit" an existing bat file with NotePad (and then rename it to "mklink Ample Sound.bat" in this case), and have two instances of Windows Explorer open. You can also initially create a text file, and rename it when done as per the above post as well.

In the one Windows Explorer for the junction...

1. Drill into the folder I want to move (and make into a junction), then copy the text from the address bar at the top of Windows explorer (in this case "C:\Users\[username]\Documents\Ample Sound").
2. Paste that address into the txt/bat file on the left side, so I now have mklink /j "C:\Users\[username]\Documents\Ample Sound" in NotePad.
3. Back in Windows Explorer, go up one folder level, highlight the "Ample Sound" directory and hit CTRL-X (to cut/move it).

In the other Window Explorer window for the target, find where you want to place that cut directory. In my case that was in F:\Ample Sound.

1. For this just go to the F drive and paste the directory. By doing this it has moved the initial directory (which must not exist for a junction to be created), and put my samples where I want them.
2. Again, I drill into that moved folder so I can copy the address from the top of Windows Explorer (in this case is "F:\Ample Sound").
3. Paste that address into NotePad on the right side, so I now have mklink /j "C:\Users\[username]\Documents\Ample Sound" "F:\Ample Sound" as the first line in NotePad.

Finally, in NotePad, leave the "pause" in as the second line, save and close. If you save as a txt file, rename it to a .bat file. The final batch file content prior to running will look like:

mklink /j "C:\Users\[username]\Documents\Ample Sound" "F:\Ample Sound"
pause

As the setup was done with the moving, double-clicking the batch file will create the junction (again, if this is in system directories, you would need to right-click the batch file and "Run as Administrator").

BIG PICTURE: When created, what that junction does is create a pointer from the junction to the target... e.g., in this case, if as I drill into my Documents folder, the "Ample Sound" directory will have a little arrow on the icon, and when I open that, it will "appear" to Windows Explorer that I am still drilling deeper into my Documents folder (even in the address bar), but as soon as I opened the "Documents\Ample Sound" directory, it actually shifted to "F:\Ample Sound." The above example is also why I move the directory I want as the target, so the names match (just in case I need to find things later), and also so that the "junction" can be created (it will not create if a directory is already in that location). To Windows, a junction "looks" like a simple directory, but hops to another location seamlessly.

[gmp]

When I had to do a clean install of Dim Pro, I had to delete some registry keys. I just checked out those keys on both computers. Here's what they look like. You can see where the Multisamples are stored. I first backed up my registry and changed the new computer to point to my D drive.  I also did this

copy Programs folder from old computer
C:\ProgramData\Cakewalk\Dimension Pro\Programs
to new computer
C:\ProgramData\Cakewalk\Dimension Pro\Programs

Now when I open Dim pro in my new computer it finds my library 

Old computer

new computer

[gmp]

i really appreciate your detail Mettelus on how to do this. I just thought a registry tweak would be an easier way, especially for others viewing this post with a similar problem with a new computer

Thanks

[mettelus]

No worries there. DP is one of the few programs that has pointers directly in the registry (for a folder you may want to move). I am always hesitant to tell folks to squirrel through their registry "by default."