between a rock & a hard place here. need to schedule a couple of full length projects tracked/rough mixed using BFD3.4.5.28 for overdubs and final mixes, but the expansion as re-downloaded/re-installed/re-authorized/re-scanned, etc. under BFD3.5 is missing critical kit piece content (Chocolate Audio - Contemporary Vintage; kicks/toms) which were used extensively and signed off in preproduction.
i’m on 3.5 as the previous version would not authorize under the old L/M and the information/understanding i had at the time was it was no longer supported = no longer able to be authorized. however, seeing comments here that look like some users are still running the previous version, looking for the least painful way to get this booked and billed.
i have an archived PC/Win10 with 3.4.5.28 but it’s rack mounted and committed to another project atm. considered cloning/swapping in system/sample drives, not confident that will actually work. about to try copying the missing content from an archived drive and see if i can hack it into the 3.5 installation. using a different expansion would require quite a bit of effort (tweaking drum models, balances, processing, etc) and would not be a good look or use of time.
submitted a ticket 3 weeks ago, but have yet to receive a confirmation of the reported condition, let alone a solution. any insight/suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Currently, there is no way for the old LM to download anything. I filed a ticket and they said they were aware of the issue and are working on a fix (not holding my breath). I’ve had no issues with the old LM authorizing my content, or even newer purchases.
I’ve done some limited experimenting and am able to use some expansions (v3.5) with BFD v3.4.5.28. The caveat being, to replace the version.xml file in the root folder of the expansion with the older expansion version, . I don’t think this is going to help your situation, as you’re not trying to go backwards.
As for copying the missing audio over to use with v3.5, I think it all depends on whether or not the newer info.xml’s for the expansion actually have that audio info in the file. I don’t think it will break anything by trying. It will either see the audio and know what to do with it or not.
I’m about to hit Reply and expecting to see the “Your post needs approval”, so you probably won’t see this for a day or two… I guess I got lucky this time.
ran the old expansion installer and copied over the missing content files to the 3.5 dir. got something to load with the kit preset, but they weren’t sounding quite the same. running a diff on the xml files is showing deltas in the tweaks, still need to look into that.
an “authorization” flag was thrown when restarting BFD3.5 after copying over the missing content. np to rescan, but sure looks like the new authorization scheme is tied directly to the content and maybe why it takes so long to authorize (nice bonus for your best customers…). for sure there are much better/more elegant ways to manage legitimate use.
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fwiw, we consider ourselves to be rather diligent wrt to a robust system configuration. the “random” de-authorization issues we had with the initial InMusic relaunch could be related to our default offline state as they never seemed to be in sync with what they were claiming for “authorized” usage and possibly why we were not able to “reauthorize” under the previous L/M (we couldn’t get it to even run…) reverting back to BFD3.4.5.28 is sounding better atm but would take some very careful planning before attempting that route.
I’ve had pretty good success so far updating my expansions to v3.5 and having them work with BFD 3.4. The concern was with older expansions like London and Eldorado, but no issues and the 3.5 core library works. The only big one I haven’t updated is Dark Farm, but that should work. I haven’t touched the Sonic Reality stuff yet.
At least I can keep my BFD samples drive current and be able to use 3.5 in the future, plus I’m saving a little space with the newer versions. And I kinda like how now kits, presets and grooves are written to the expansion root, rather than all over the place like before.
I am about to update from 3.4 to 3.5. Do you think it is ok or would cause any confusion to leave my old content on my external drive and proceed to install the new content, expansions, on the same drive, then delete the old expansion folders after the fact. I have attached a photo of the content as it exists at the moment on an external drive
“If you have user presets or kits saved in the Documents folder, you can move them to the core library folder or leave them in the Documents folder and add them to the library during the scan.”
I have backed up the entire BFD drums folder that is in my documents folder. It contains 3 subfolders “Eldorado”, “BFD3” (this contains all my presets, Grooves and kits etc. The other folder is BFD3 core library. My content is on an external drive. It contains my expansion packs and core library. I simply wan’t to be able to access my presets, grooves and any other user info I have created in BFD3.4 so they will appear in BFD3.5. I am assuming I should reinstall all the content folders that are currently on an external drive? I have attached a picture of the content on my external drive.
I think it’s fine to keep the 3.4 libraries, just make sure you create a new parent folder for where the 3.5 libraries will be installed, to keep them separated and rename the old one, in case you’d prefer using that same name.
I think the prompt about the kits, presets and grooves is just letting users know that they can store their saved stuff in the expansion folder, instead of user/Documents if they want. I don’t think it makes much of a difference… just preference. Maybe they’re trying to get users to have these things in one place now, instead of multiple like previously. Less chances for confusion and issues.
after a few rounds of dialog with CX, the problem has been confirmed, passed off to development and the ticket closed. have no idea what to expect other than the current reality, which is value (for me) continues to degrade with each update. getting to the point where rebuilding an entire system based on the archived configuration might be the best choice remaining, but ya, time = $$$, just saying…
