HOLD THE PRESS! UPDATE - I actually got the 571 portable to work on this machine, after only an entire *week* of trying. But I don't know why it worked this time, and didn't before. This one, though, didn't go into an endless loop of "Pick another name", and it actually works. I tried the 5.8.0 and it didn't do that either, but it wouldn't work. It seems like all of these are totally different. I have tried "installing" this one before, and it wouldn't work, but AFAIK I didn't do anything different this time...except act more desperate, LOL. (Sorry about the shouting up above, but this is a big deal for me.)

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Original message:

I tried the l_Kontakt_5.8.1_Update_Symlink-p2p.rar and found the installer so confusing that I had to abandon the integration part of the installation because no matter what I did it told me that the symlink name was the name of an existing folder and I had to change the name. Nothing worked at all, so I had to back out and try it without integration, which I figured wouldn't work.

It didn't, but interestingly, the x86 plugins showed up and to my surprise, they actually run when I add them in the DAW. But then, another roadblock. Aside from the fact that I don't want 32 bit plugins (want 64 bit!), of course there aren't any libraries yet, so I go to install some existing ones and as soon as I try to add one in that manager pane you get for doing this, it locks up so badly that I have to reboot; can't kill the DAW in the Task Manager at all.

BUT...BUT...BUT - I can load .nki instruments through the FILES menu of the plugin. And they play!

So, how do I stop it from crashing when I add libraries (I know this has been a reported problem in some releases, but I didn't realize it would also crash my DAW), and how do I get it to see the x64 plugins and not just the x86? Is there a tutorial on how to actually install this "no install" version? Because the process makes no sense if it just keeps telling you to change the name of the symlink in an endless loop.

 

Last edited: Sep 8, 2018

When you do the "installing" of the symlink update which is integration, placing files into its respective folder, if Windows asked you to rename a folder it means you tried to copy an entire folder, it's wrong.
You should have copied each file to its specific place based on the root of the subfolders where it was in the update.
This task needs a lot of concentration and may seem complicated and annoying but the process is not that long and that's the only way to do.

Now, about the Portable versions that you've also tried, it's possible that you made some similar mistake (misunderstanding), however that process is simplier, there you don't have to copy anything, accually you should not move the vst dll from that portable folder. And also it's important not to leave more vesion of Kontakt vst visible for the DAW, it may or may not cause conflict.

 

Yeah, I'm convinced you made some critical mistake with 5.8.0 and/or the others you're having trouble with, and that's why they're not functioning properly. Especially when you consider that you had it working fine on a another computer. I wish one of us could remotely control your computer in order to determine what's going on.

 

Thanks, but it wasn't Windows that was complaining about renaming the file - it was the installer. Actually, I didn't ever copy any files or folders, because I put the installer in the final location first and extracted it there, then ran it. I have to say that the "instructions" in these things is laughable, prone to misinterpretation (not the least because some of them are in Russian, LOL!), and largely a matter of guesswork if you're not used to it. I tend to get a stable system and then leave it alone, often for years. Jazzz, I have NO idea what you mean when you say "You should have copied each file to its specific place based on the root of the subfolders where it was in the update." since I didn't copy anything. I let the installer do its thing like the "instructions" said to.

Majestic, I wish so, too! I would really like to get 580 working, but I can live with 571, at least until I get a better grip on this. Now there are only a few libs that won't work for me (Session Strings 2 requires 580), but my real favorites all work. And I'm able to continue setting the new computer up with a functioning Reaper; it's almost as much detail work as building a hot rod from scratch, LOL! It's worth it, though - the newer machine is an order of magnitude faster and has three times as much memory.

Thanks for all the encouragement!

 

So the thing is, I don't remember to use this easy installer for the update, at least checking my downloaded installs, the 5.8.0 didn't come with installer, only with the files that I had to put substituting the earlier version, but not only the app and the vsts, that was the process I mentioned you. The 5.8.1 that I also recommended you, at least the one I could find and download, in fact has an installer.
I had to delete my windows 7 partition (I just have windows in Parallels in mac for testing purposes) weeks ago that's why I couldn't check these details before on the go, but now I have a new Win10 installed, so had to start reinstalling this Kontakts and also Reaper.
It's really annoying because nothing is clear, there appear too many application files redundantly, suggested to run, and at the end it's likely not necessary.
I could manage to get Reaper recognizing and opening Kontakt, the latest version (5.8.1) that I upgraded to.
One thing I had to do to manage the update was putting the extracted folder+installer (from NI Kontakt 5.8.1 SLI UPD) to the main folder of the 5.6.8 (NI Kontakt 5.6.8 AL SymLink Installer folder) and run the installer of the newer one. However I think I just ran the "Replace with version NI Kontakt 5.8.1" script. I don't now, I'm not 100% sober at this moment , sorry.
What I suggest you to check, which version of Kontakt vst do you find in this location:
C:\Program Files\Steinberg\VstPlugins
Because there is the vst folder that Reaper checks in default (besides of a Program files/Common files/VST3 folder but Kontakt is not vst3),
Did you add other locations, too, in Reaper that could cause a conflict?
The Portable version would be the best to use.

 

Right now I don't have any Kontakts installed at all; I am only using the portable. It's just easier. I tried the method of installing 5.6.1, then updating it to 5.6.6, and I got stuck there because nothing higher worked. So I uninstalled everything and used portables, and finally got the 5.7.1 portable to work. And on my old machine, 5.8.0 is working as a portable, with no installed versions, either. But for some reason, it won't work on this newer one.

So any of the ones that require you to overwrite the original files won't work for me because there aren't any!

I am pretty experienced with Reaper (I've been using it for about 10 years) - I know how to set the paths and make sure there's no conflict, so I don't think that was an issue.