Friday, January 2, 2015

Introducing UltimatePluginTool- Fix problems with Maschine, Kontakt, Komplete Kontrol and more

Over the past year or two I've encountered a number of problems with some of my plugins and standalone music software that resulted from my moving files around after installing them, and from not always paying attention to where I installed things in the first place. When most people root-cause technical issues like these, they usually spend the ten or fifteen minutes it takes to solve the problem and then move on. Me? I'll spend two solid months writing a program that fixes the problems for me.

The result of this effort is UltimatePluginTool.

The current version of the program does three things (update: make that four things, as of version 1.0.0.0, and five things as of version 1.1.0.0!):

1. Search your computer for duplicate plugin files, and for incompatible files in your platform-specific directories.

You can delete outdated plugins and unsupported files here. You can also launch plugins in an external plugin host directly from this wizard screen.

2. Browse detailed information about your installed Native Instruments products, fix problems related to misplaced files, and move program content to different folders or drives.

This wizard can resolve a number of common problems with Maschine, Komplete Kontrol, Kontakt, and most other Native Instruments apps and plugins. It also provides the ability to launch standalone applications or open plugins in an external plugin host.

3. Re-arrange the Libraries tab in Native Instruments Kontakt, using record store-style sorting.

You can also prioritize frequently-used libraries or hide rarely-used ones, as needed.


More features and use cases are in the works. I'll also be putting together a few tutorials on how to use UltimatePluginTool to fix a number of problems. All important controls are equipped with tooltips (just float over something in the program to see a quick description), and clicking the program's icon in the upper left of every screen brings up a system menu that gives you quick access to documentation, updates, and tutorials.


UltimatePluginTool is free, and you can get it now at my downloads page. It runs on 32-bit or 64-bit Windows, and has been tested on Windows XP, Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 8. At the moment, only VST 2 plugins are supported.

Enjoy, and check back for more information and features as the tool develops.

UltimatePluginTool Release Notes

VERSION 1.1.1.0
Date: March 28, 2016
MD5 checksum (UltimatePluginToolSetup.exe): 472F1F568E195E9B82DC0B3D014B0A9B
SHA-1 checksum (UltimatePluginToolSetup.exe): 605D1BD2A962DB12603FACB01FDF21F6B8D3E4D8

Changes:
  • Program now works on Windows XP again (you still have to run the "(XP)" version of the program, and the "relocate plugin content" feature is not supported on XP, but at least the program runs again on that OS now.
  • Using latest NSIS engine for more secure installer.
  • Some optimizations in the recursive file code that the relocate content wizard uses.

VERSION 1.1.0.0
Date: February 1, 2016
MD5 checksum (UltimatePluginToolSetup.exe): 1EC4AF2DC3B1BD0337CEB54D81758741
SHA-1 checksum (UltimatePluginToolSetup.exe): 01BCC4C3B8E7DD306541B3576046AB3517A09365
Changes:
  • Added new Relocate Plugin Content wizard for moving programs and content file without having to reinstall or reconfigure anything.
  • ­Native Instruments Product Manager now properly identifies third­-party NKS content.
  • Product Manager's Bundle(s) field is now a combo box that lists all matching bundles for installed version of selected product.
    VERSION 1.0.0.0
    Date: October 6, 2015
    MD5 checksum (UltimatePluginToolSetup.exe): 7FAA5EE422464D18B7229378EEECC3D7
    SHA-1 checksum (UltimatePluginToolSetup.exe): EA667D3BAF3A5A3E8C11B9D9B43D69EAF6375032
    Changes:
    • Added new "Fix Native Instruments thumbnails in Maschine and Komplete Kontrol" mode.
    • Some under-the-hood enhancements.

    Support UltimatePluginTool

    I develop and maintain free software on my own time. I don't charge a fee because I want everyone to have equal access to my programs- but if something I wrote helped you and you'd like to express your thanks, you can send a donation of any amount via PayPal. Support from my visitors covers my hosting and licensing costs, and gives me incentive to keep putting out cool new utilities.

    If you wish to help out, you can enter a donation amount below and then click on the Donate button. You do not need a PayPal account in order to donate! Just click the "Don't have a PayPal account" option on the page that comes up after you click the Donate button. The donation amount is in U.S. Dollars (USD).

    Amount: $


    Note: You might receive a personal "thank you" from me in response, but I won't sign you up for any mailing lists and you won't hear from me again unless you contact me first. Thanks for your consideration!

    11 comments:

    mikeb55 said...

    Any chance of a Mac version?

    Rich said...

    Hi. Thanks for making this tool!. There used to be a little utility called vstspy which was similar but it wasn't updated and doesn't work on 64 bit vst. It showed many fields from the plugin including the four character ID for the plugin. Plogue Bidule will not run vst with duplicate ids even if they are different plugins. Vst spy used to allow me to sort that problem out by sorting on plugin ID. Is this possible with your program? Thanks!

    Ultimate Outsider said...

    @Rich - Cool, I don't think I've heard of that program before. UltimatePluginTool does not currently examine VST properties like ID number, but I agree that would be a useful feature to have. I will consider it for a future update... the program is actually kind of a platform/framework for lots of little things I need/want to be able to do with different plugins, so if I incorporate some logic like that it may end up being in a new "wizard" in the program, or as an enhancement to one of the existing features.

    Random Lobster said...

    Hello,

    Just stumbled across this post and thought your "UltimatePluginTool" looked interesting (mainly because I have some badly performing VSTs I want to track down)

    However when I run the "UltimatePluginToolXP" version I get "The procedure entry point 'CreateSymbolicLinkW' could not be located in the dynamic link library KERNEL32.DLL"

    Is this fixable ?

    Ultimate Outsider said...

    @Random Lobster - I assume you are running Windows XP if you're using the XP version, yes? I really need to set up a computer here with Windows XP for testing. I just took a look at the Microsoft SDK though, and it looks like that feature might not work on Windows XP. I think the Symbolic Link functionality was new to Windows Vista. I might have to actually remove that particular wizard from the XP version, unfortunately.

    The first couple of versions of my program did work on Windows XP (and I tested them when I still had an XP system around), but it appears that the most recent couple of updates I made use some APIs that aren't available on XP, resulting in the errors you saw. I apologize for that.

    Random Lobster said...

    No apologies needed ! And I am indeed using theXP version. I've got 2 MIDI interfaces (Unitor8) and an audio interface (Audiowerk8) which have no drivers post XP. And I'm not replacing perfectly good hardware (and associated software) when it still works perfectly !

    Not to mention the fact that Windows 10 is spyware.

    But if you'd like me to test any XP builds you care to make I'd be happy to do so. You can get me via ramjet AT templeofdin DOT co DOT uk.

    Cheers !

    Unknown said...

    Hi there,

    many thanks for this neat tool!
    Unfortunately I can't use it here since there is no "link to XP installer" like written in the docs?! If I run the "UltimatePluginToolSetup.exe"-Installer, only the normal version is installed and no link or whatever to a XP-version is created.
    Where's the trick?
    TIA!

    greetz
    Chris

    Unknown said...

    Ah, I just found the XP-exe in the program folder.
    However, I have the same problem as "Random Lobster" with "The procedure entry point 'CreateSymbolicLinkW'"...

    cheers,
    Chris

    Ultimate Outsider said...

    @Chris - I'm sorry about that. The program used to work on XP but it looks like the most recent version does not. I don't have any Windows XP systems here to test on anymore which is why I didn't catch the bug, but I realized I can just install XP in a virtual machine. I am going to fix my program for XP soon, possibly even this weekend.

    R.J. said...

    I wish it would also check for .vst3, not only dlls :/

    Maxim S. Calda said...

    Great work, Ultimate Outsider! Kudos for that. I have another problem related to NI Komplete Kontrol case…which I like you to present… Because of installing Reaktor 6 lately Komplete Kontrol (I have Komplete 10 bundle) doesn't show a graphic interface anymore for Reaktor-based Instruments. The root of the problem is that all Reaktor-based instruments open with Reaktor 6 automatically in Komplete Kontrol now, which was not the intention. The idea was to only use Reaktor 6 standalone like I was informed. However Komplete Kontrol still opens the Reaktor-based sounds normally and they are playable but within Kontrol I don’t have vision anymore for these instruments. I don’t get an error message btw. With my current version of Komplete Kontrol I cannot adjust it to open only with Reaktor 5 (which is an option with newer versions of Komplete Kontrol). Updating Komplete Kontrol itself not an option because the latest update is not compatible with the Windows 7 I use. And I’m hesitated to update and creating maybe even more problems. So…I was wondering if with your great Plugin and knowledge it is perhaps possible to somehow adjust Komplete Kontrol under the hood to force it to open all Reaktor based instruments again with Reaktor 5, just like before. It must have something to do with changed pathnames or the Reaktor library being indexed as Reaktor 6 now within the Komplete Kontrol plugin.

    Naturally I contacted Native Instruments ofcourse, but they simply tell me to update to Windows 10, which is ridiculous and for several reasons no option.

    Best regards,

    Maxim S. Calda (Lowlanda)