Cubase Settings Were Reset?

[dr_gregg]

Hi all,
I’m running Cubase 13 Pro. Today when I went in my studio and booted Cubase I got an alert that my Waves plug-ins weren’t recognized. After reinstalling them, that finally worked…but all my preferences were reset. My recent projects folder is empty, and my color schemes are back to the boring gray.
What happened / can this be restored without having to tediously set everything up again?

[Paul_Bryce]

What OS, Windows or Mac ?
Do you not have a recent OS backup that you can restore ?
Sounds like maybe you had a Windows update but you don’t give any info.

[dr_gregg]

Yes, Windows 10. I didn’t update anything. I did just notice that my RME TotalMix FX was reset, too. So…maybe it’s OS-related? How do you restore a recent backup?

Update: the same thing happened to Sibelius…so it’s definitely my computer and not Cubase. But on that note…is there a way to save templates for workflow (i.e.: color schemes, etc?)

[Reco29]

Hi,
this is probably what you are looking for:

How to Save Profiles, Key Commands, Preferences, Inputs/Outputs, CR Presets, Plugin Collections

It takes a lot of time and energy to set up all these presets in the title and it is very cumbersome to rebuild them once they are lost. So it might be a good idea to secure them. Not only for security reasons but also if you want to update another system or copy them to a brandnew system. The file system can be confusing and sometimes presets are saved in more than one location. Moreover, there are some pitfalls that one should be aware of. At first, this might sound like a complicated and nerv…

[Paul_Bryce]

I use the programs from these guys: https://www.terabyteunlimited.com/
Have used it for years and it has saved my sanity more than once.
I backup my regular Win10 partition, a DAW-Win10 partition, and 3 Linux partitions on one Nvme as well as a Data partition on another NVMe drive.
Only takes about 5mins to backup one of the OS’s ( around 100GB ) same to restore.
The info @Reco29 posted is also very helpful.

[Reco29]

@Paul_Bryce

I backup my regular Win10 partition, a DAW-Win10 partition, and 3 Linux partitions on one Nvme as well as a Data partition on another NVMe drive.

Yes, absolutely, this is a solid advice!

However, talking about backups I think that there are basically two general approaches:

• A Backing up your whole system based on partition (s)
• B Backing up specific files and/or the most relevant folders

A is a given if you are working with Cubase/Nuendo for a living and you MUST restore your system in no time or need access to a recent backup. Of course, this is always a clever thing to do regardless of the professional background.

B is another route that spans from backing up the most important settings to backing up all relevant folders. This one might be a bit more approachable than the first one.

Both approaches make sense and serve specific needs. Whatever you do - you got to start somewhere because losing everything is the worst option.

[Thor.HOG]

@Reco29

B is another route that spans from backing up the most important settings to backing up all relevant folders. This one might be a bit more approachable than the first one.

I have no doubt everyone using MacOS already uses TimeMachine, which is a “best of both worlds” solution in that you can restore individual files as easily as you can restore the entire system. However, I like having backup sets of my entire Preferences folders for both C14P and N14 automatically created when I logon. I could use a plist/launchd to schedule it, but since I already use TM I’m good with this solution.

I just used Automator to create an application (standalone .app) from a zsh script to zip each Preferences folder into an iCloud-enabled folder with a date-time stamp. Takes about 3 seconds to complete and is automatic every time I logon. Of course, I can just execute the app to perform the operation as well.

#!/bin/bash

SOURCE1="/Users/username/Library/Preferences/Nuendo 14"
SOURCE2="/Users/username/Library/Preferences/Cubase 14"

DEST="/Users/username/Documents/Music/Confiugrations/Preferences"

mkdir -p "$DEST"

TIMESTAMP=$(date +"%Y-%m-%d_%H-%M-%S")

Zip1="N14_$TIMESTAMP.zip"
Zip2="C14_$TIMESTAMP.zip"

cd "$SOURCE1" && zip -r "$DEST/$Zip1" ./* > /dev/null
cd "$SOURCE2" && zip -r "$DEST/$Zip2" ./* > /dev/null

I was doing this “kind of manually” before but here’s what the resultant files look like that I just ran:

Just in case anyone is interested

EDIT: It’s “automatic when I logon” because I added the .app to the Logon Items

[Reco29]

Thanks for sharing @Thor.HOG This looks like a very elegant solution!

If I may add: The question of “Which files and folders do really matter and how do I handle things in case something is broken?” remains. Replacing the whole partition, well, this is obvious. But if you want to handpick which files/folders should serve as a basis for a new system or a replacement if something gets broken is by far more tricky. The preference folder is a good starting point but it’s one out of many folders depending on what you are up to.
I am not at all criticising your approach - this is a problem in general due to the complex architecture of the matter.

[Thor.HOG]

I always welcome and encourage critical analysis of these kinds of processes. It’s how they provide value, so no worries at all sir.

I can’t speak to how/where/why preferences are stored on Windows, but any time I’ve needed to dig into custom preferences on MacOS everything I’ve needed has been in the application folder under ~/Library/Preferences. Custom preferences, key commands, media bay, control room, etc, etc. ; even templates. Of course, you can just add paths to the script for anything else you want/need. The reason I like this approach is that it captures all settings in a comprehensive snapshot, saved by date. It also exists outside of any particular vendor backup solution. Nothing is worse than using Vendor A to back everything up and having to reinstall the application first just to get to where you can restore. Partition-based restores are a last resort from my perspective. Of course, the use of the Windows registry adds complexities, etc, but that’s another issue, but also part of that #WindowsLife which I don’t have a use for.

All good; the only reason I posted that was to offer an additional toolset for anyone interested, and one that is backup-application agnostic, runs automatically, captures all user preferences, and even becomes part of the cloud backup as well.

[Reco29]

Your contributions are highly welcome, that goes without saying!
Well, I am not a Mac expert. Having said this, I must (reluctantly) admit that the folder architecture on a Mac seems to be better organized than on a Windows rig.
Pheew, that wasn’t an easy one to admit

[Thor.HOG]

I try to be as objective as I can be, and to approach issues without inherent bias, or more importantly, pseudo-emotional affinity based upon some manner of conditioned preference. This helps me to deal with the more technical aspects of problem-solving rather, and without the burden of vendor-loyalty inferences.

EDIT: I’m so sorry. I only put that last part in to be funny. I’ve been LOLing the entire time. I have removed that bit (to people just reading this, I put in an OS-war flame-bait response which I have since removed).

[Reco29]

Hahaha, good one, I LOVE IT!!