Common Advice for Plugin Problems

Use Single Threaded Mode (Preferences Menu)

Forte uses different threads for different plugins, and sometimes plugins cannot handle this. Go into preferences and uncheck "Use all available CPUs" and restart Forte. This will use only one CPU core/thread for all streaming. You will waste CPU capacity, but it has been known to help with some plugins.

Use "Disconnect on Scene Change" (Scene Commands Tab)

Scene changes can be complicated times for plugins. Right in the middle of processing both audio and MIDI, they are asked to completely reconfigure their sound. A Scene change typically causes a new VST "chunk" (FXB or FXP data block) to be downloaded into the plugin. Some plugins have a hard time with this. Try disconnecting the plugin during scene changes. On the Scene Commands tab of the plugin console, check the "Disconnect this instrument when loading configuration data." box.

Don't Download new plugin data on Scene Change (Scene Commands Tab)

You can also check the box "Do not use per-scene configuration data" to avoid having a new VST chunk downloaded during a scene change. This is especially recommended for sampler plugins. In this case, the plugin will remain configured the same during the entire set, but you can send program changes to it on scene change. This is much more light-weight. All this is configured on the Scene Commands tab.

Run Forte in Administrator Mode

Some plugins can't be discovered or don't behave correctly on Windows Vista or Windows 7 unless Forte is running with Administrator privileges. Right click on the Forte shortcut and configure it to always run as administrator.

Less Common Advice for Plugins Problems

Change the Device Compatibility file

Forte tries to make a good decision about how to get and set VST configuration (chunks or FXB/FXP data). However, sometimes a plugin wants something different to get or set its entire state. Forte has a way to override scene capture and recall behavior for individual plugins. A file called "DeviceCompatibility.xml" in the install directory contains plugin-specific settings which can override the default behavior. Plugins are referenced in this file by either CLSID or VST ID. If your favorite plugin does not correctly restore its settings on scene change, add it to this file. Note that this MUST be a valid XML file in order for the feature to work.


An example entry would be:


<Device Name="KarmaFX">
    <saveFXBbool="1"/>
    <saveFXPbool="0"/>
    <saveProgramNumberbool="0"/>
    <saveParamsbool="0"/>
</Device>


This instructs Forte how to save scenes, not restore them, so you must restart Forte, reload your rack, and recapture your scenes.

The entry is defined by the Device tag.  Plugins can be identified in several ways:


  • Name="<partial case-insensitive plugin name>" - affects any plugin that matches the plugin name
  • Name="<partial case-insensitive plugin vendor name>" - affects any plugin by a vendor
  • CLSID="<a  big string of letters and numbers>" - affects a specific plugin.  A CLSID is how Forte unambiguously identifies a plugin.  This value matches the value Forte uses to identify the plugin in its plugin cache file (plugins.xml).

The flags that can be used within a Device element include:

 

  • saveFXB - if 1, save an FXB chunk with a scene
  • saveFXP - if 1, save an FXP chunk with a scene
  • saveProgramNumber - if 1, save the VST program number with a scene
  • saveParams - if 1 save the VST parameters with a scene (typically only effects would use this option)
  • isVSTi - if 1 forces a plugin to be identified as an instrument plugins.  This is useful for example with Guitar Rig which is an effect plugin, not an instrument, but since you would typically want it to have its own module and be fed by audio input, you can force it to be treated as an instrument.