Hello,

I've finally narrowed down to what plugin is causing this issue and it's the U-He plugins. When I install them (Zebra2 for example), it creates folder junctions for the plugin data. Not sure why as I've never seen a plugin installation do this. But even if I remove these junctions/system link things, I still get a huge waiting time whenever I scan plugins in Ableton. When I uninstall the Zebra stuff, the delay goes away. Frustrating and would love to figure out why this is happening or how to fix. Thanks!

 

Turn off "scan presets on startup" in options panel for every u-he instrument. If you happen to install new presets open the presets browser and click with the right button on some folder and press "refresh" to be able to use these new presets.

Cheers!

 

Thanks for that! Hmm does that affect the plugin (not preset) scan though? The problem is, if I don't delete the 'Zebra2.data' shortcut in my vst3 folder, then the plugin scan takes ages. If I do delete that shortcut, that fixes the delay issue, but now Zebra2 opens unauthorized. Do you know why this is happening?

Edit: The authorisation failure seems to just be happening for some reason even though I've used this installation file before. Happens regardless of whether I wait for it to scan and leave the shortcut folder or not o.O

 

Last edited: Apr 11, 2023

I also have noticed this issue with Ableton 11 Win 10 and both legit (my own purchased serial) and the new R2R. If you look at task manager you'll see that at the same time Ableton plugin scan is going, "AntiMalware Service Executable" also known as Windows Defender is going off as well. You can see this in Resource Monitor under the Disk Tab, the msmpeng.exe will be scanning through U-he stuff. Not only does Ableton not like anything other than VST .dll in the VST folders, but Ableton accessing the file is triggering the background scan.

Solution: Add the U-he folder \Documents\u-he (and anything else you don't want being scanned) as an exclusion to Windows Defender. This massively improved my plugin scan times.

EDIT-I've also got Program Data\Ableton and my VST location added as an exclusion.

 

Thanks for the reply! Glad somebody else has experienced this. So I tried what you're suggesting and it hasn't helped me unfortunately I'm not 100% sure I did it right though so let me know how this looks to you.

In Windows Security I went to Virus & Threat Protection Settings -> Exclusions -> Add folder exclusions

I added these:
C:\Program Files\Common Files\VST3
C:\DAWs\Ableton (this is where I have Ableton installed, not programdata)
C:\Plugins (this is where all my vst2 plugins including u-he are installed)
D:\U-He (this is where the data files for u-he are stored)

How does this look? Any idea why it might not have helped?

 

No you did it right comparing to what I did. The other things to mention are 1-after 11.2 came out (anecdotally) I noticed a lot of folks on reddit complaining that the plugin scanner slowed down significantly, and 2-folders added to Ableton Places will also be scanned prior to VST and they themselves can slow things down. You may want to try rolling back to the version previous to 11.2 (in this case, 11.1.6 when I check my Ableton account) and see if that improves things. At least then you'll know potentially its an Ableton problem and not a you problem. Don't worry about your projects and files, just uninstall 11.2, install 11.1.6, and scan to see what happens. As for folders in Places, the larger the folder/more contents in the folder, the longer it takes to scan. I wish I could be more help. I definitely feel like my scan slowed down after 11.2 but its at the point where at least its bearable for me on an SSD and a 9900k CPU.

 

I'm on 11.1 I think and I have Diva installed. My scan issues seems to be related to Ableton Index in Task Manager. When things lock up it will show a high megabytes in Index, sometimes inside the Ableton drop down menu and sometimes outside of it... I found that after shutting Ableton I had to let it do its thing, which can sometimes take minutes

I also get lock ups when I add a new Places link. I save my sounds to a Places menu before printing, along with MIDI data and when I reference a song with multiple song saves that will take AGES to Index... Sometimes removing those links can speed things up. Saving ADG presets and ALS presets with MIDI doesn't seem to slow things down

I haven't spotted Defender working and can't remember if I disabled it, probably not, so mine might be linked to Index working at the same time as Defender... Sometimes the lockups can take several minutes and I end up shutting Ableton down

I'm pretty sure my slow downs and lock ups are all connected to Index in some way, but Defender and Diva might be adding to the carnage

The best way to let Index do its thing is to just boot, check Task Manager for a high Index amount (low is around 70mb for me and if its 300-400 its going crazy again) and just let it run, then shut Ableton, make sure that it can finish the Index thing and leaves Task Manager, then reboot... When Index is going crazy it uses about 7-8% of my CPU as well, Ryzen 3700

Another thing I remembered is Native Massive, original. I stopped using that, but when I installed presets it would take forever to scan. I don't install presets on anything now but you could try moving 95% of your U-He presets to a 'storage folder' that can't be scanned and see if that speeds things up

I'm offline btw so its easy enough to disable Defender... This thread has me wondering if Index is interacting with Defender, fighting to take charge. I get lock ups when I have over 100 channels active (I do some crazy routing to compensate for Ableton's shit Send/Returns and lack of Aux Channels) and can't even shorten audio loops. I'm not sure if my Behringer Fader is causing that, but changing channels can unlock it. Freezing all of my plugins is an even better fix

Something you can try to see the Index locking up is on boot up access a menu with a lot of things to scan. This seems to keep Index at that high value for the rest of the session. If you reboot fresh, after Index clears in Task Manager and don't touch that same folder (a song with 30 saves of the same track seems to be a good example for me) Index doesn't go crazy...

So if you take this same logic and don't allow Index to see your Plugins menu you can see if Index goes crazy. Create a save of a Diva preset as an ADG that you can drop back into a new track - put that into a simple menu in Places for Ableton to scan on a fresh boot. Then you can try dropping multiple instances without touching the Plugins menu and see if Index goes crazy. If not, go back to Plugins and see if that activates Index

I generally work with hacks to avoid these lock ups, so I'll add menus temporarily to bring in parts from a previous save, then delete the link in Places for example

 

Has Ableton become a Native Instruments size company?

 

Yeah I've seen people talk about that as well... It's pretty frustrating how poor Ableton does in some technical regards like this. Since getting into Bitwig I've realised how out of touch Ableton is, particularly with things like this.

I think to be honest the most straightforward solution to my problem was actually deleting those "shortcuts (or junctions im not sure what you call them)" in the plugin directories. The plugins seemed to still work after that, the only problem is that I can't get Zebra2 to authorise anymore, no matter what I try. I downloaded the ZebraHZ version, deleted the shortcuts and that one works perfectly now, but I need to get the Zebra2 installed too because I've used it in many programs... Any idea how to fix the crack? :S

 

I believe the registration data is in "Zebra2.data\Support\com.u-he.Zebra2.user.txt"
On my install those actual data folders are in my user "Documents\u-he\" folder.

I thought the plugin would not find the presets if one deletes the shortcut, but you say it still finds them.
Yes, i tried and that works. It may know from in the registry (HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\U-HE\VST) where it keeps the location of the VSTs & common "dataPath" (in Users "Documents\" folder).

Since it already knows where to look for the data from the registry, the shortcuts may be for non-windows or universal use..dunno.
But, because it still knows where to look for the data it seems funny that deleting the link should change anything, as if looking via the shortcut causes some trouble.(?)

As far as registration, I see i altered mine (having to add two letters to make it work , i believe) and it is still working even without the shortcut. Zebra2 still runs as registered as usual.
I wonder if you could just drop a symlink to the "Support" folder or the "com.u-he.Zebra2.user.txt", but as mine is working i didn't try that.

 

Yea

Yeah it's a bit bizarre indeed. Hmmm I cannot find the "com.u-he.Zebra2.user.txt" I only have these two:
com.u-he.Zebra2.midiassign
com.u-he.Zebra2.preferences

And when you say you altered yours, what part exactly?

EDIT: Very strange, but I tried to copy the .user file from one of the other synths (ie. Diva) and just change the "diva" name to Zebra2 and it tells me there's already a file with that name even though there is not one. So if I press enter, it just renames it to "com.u-he.Zebra2.user (2)". That is quite bizarre o.O but it might have something to do with the license not working

Even reinstalling doesn't fix my authorisation issue, whereas it used to when the timebomb went off

 

Last edited: Apr 13, 2023

Also I'm considering just buying U-he legacy because of this timebomb headache that doesn't seem to have any straight answers online. I'm wondering if you can just copy ALL of the presets from the 2.9.3 VR version into a legit one and it will work fine? I imagine yes

 

Hello guyz. U can't do anything about it. Ableton "improved" the pluginscanner with one of the previous updates. Now it scans every folder related to the plugins. And the u-he plugins have a lot of subfolders. It's just a pain in the ass.

 

For me it take ages for the Blue Cats VR release . It scans for minutes in every load . Difficult to keep using it like that and no R2R version .... If you have them installed , check them too . No problems for U-He at all . PC user here .

 

I just read it and it is actually the keygen that adds a couple of characters after the name one inputs.

Spoiler: Here's from the R2R.nfo:

If you want to keep preference or presets, [only]
delete "com.u-he.(ProdutName).user.*" files in Data/Support folders.
This onlywipes previous registrations.

==================================
Generating License
----------------------------------------
Run our keygen, select a product.
Input FirstName and LastName.
Format must be "Xxxxx". Capitalize first letter only.
Click GENERATE in the keygen.
The full name and serial number pair will be generated.

NOTE :
Due to the protection scheme, the generated may contain extra characters after your lastname.
Always remind that use generated name by the keygen.
Otherwise, license won't be accepted.

===================================
Install / Activate
----------------------------------------
Install plugin.

Run plugin.
It runs in "demo mode".
If it isn't running in demo, you have wrong previous installation somewhere.
Uninstall everything and try again.

It asks you to enter the license.
In Filterscape, you need to select "enter serial number" from preset menu.
Input your generated license.
Enjoy!

===================================
Disclaimer
----------------------------------------
Our keygen generates true name + serial pair exactly like purchased version.
However, their product has blacklist system for the licensee name.
The words like "Team" "AiR" "ASSiGN" "R2R" and some real names are blacklisted.
When you use blacklisted words or name, you will get timebomb soon or later.

But don't worry, as far as you are using normal name, it rarely happens.
When you get timebomb, delete old registration and try the new one.
You also need to reflect on what you did

R2R and our keygen don't check every single black listsed words or names,
because developer constantly adds those tricks to the updates.


NOTE :
Filterscape has different protection.
Our keygen calculates license from name like other formal R2R keygen.


TEAM R2R 2023

Also, make sure you have the fixed keygen... I have v2.0.2 from Jan17,2023

 

What @SineWave suggested worked here. I disabled autoscan for presets at start up for each u-he plugins in the options. Now Ableton plug-in scans goes very fast. @Pat22 By the way I dont own Blue Cats plugins so I dont know. Maybe they have also such function for autoscan presets on start up.

 

Do not use VR, use R2R and make sure you get the updated "FIXED KEYGEN ONLY." I can't comment on the registry because I've never had any issues requiring me to go into the registry for U-he stuff.

Wipe your data folder per the keygen NFO instructions and do not mess with anything. Don't delete data folders, don't delete shortcuts. Don't move things from any folder you've told the installer to install to (I.e. dont install VST3 to Common Files and then move it like a friend of mine does and wonder's why his VST3s never update properly). I hate to be the guy that says "I never have any problems" but I don't mess with things and things just work. I know that doesn't help people that DO have problems, but not messing with things is important.

All U-he plugins should have a minimum of 3 txt files generated by install and typing your key into the plugin on run. These are located in the data folder/support and are:
1: com.u-he.Zebra2.midiassign.txt
2: com.u-he.Zebra2.Preferences.txt
3: com.u-he.Zebra2.user.txt (where the serial is).

I can delete my legit Zebra license, register with R2R keygen, run no problem, delete it again, and register with my legit license over and over.

Finally, the Ableton plugin scan takes place even before the Uhe plugin is turned on/added to a track, and I don't think disabling the scanning of presets (something that takes place AFTER the plugin added) will help much when it comes to ABLETON scanning. These are two separate scans and two separate issues. I do not have preset scanning in plugin disabled, and this goes very fast.

 

Will do this. Thank you! And also, the r2r is only 2.9.0, will I have any issues opening projects I made with v2.9.3? And can I just copy the presets packs from the V.R. version into the r2r?

EDIT: I seemed to just install the 2.9.0 r2r version with no keygen and it works. I've copied the presets over and that's working too. Fingers crossed it stays working :D

 

Last edited by a moderator: Apr 19, 2023