Multi-Program Rack Not Populating (in HALion Sonic SE)

I’m a new user and playback isn’t working. (It runs, but won’t sound.) I’ve been through this entire video twice: Troubleshooting Playback Issues in Dorico | Support - YouTube

The video doesn’t mention my problem—which seems to be that when in Play mode I open the “Edit Instrument” option for the HALion Sonic SE (in the “VST Instruments” panel), the instruments list if UNPOPULATED. Nor does it have any title, such as “Multi-Program Rack”, as I see in the video.

Yes, I do have the HALion Sonic SE library loaded—and yes, I deleted it and reloaded it, as per the directions on the video.

My playhead does move during playback, but no sound comes out—and yes, I’ve double checked all the settings mentioned in the video. Again, what the video assumes is that the sound library will be populated, and mine is not.

Any suggestions for how to fix this?

Thanks in advance!

Try Play > Playback Template > HSSE+HSO (Pro), Apply & Close, then give Dorico a few seconds.
Then try playing again.

If that doesn’t work, try Play > Load sounds for unassigned instruments.

If you’ve already tried these, I apologise - I’ve never needed to go through that video!

Hi Jackpelham, you say that you installed the sound libraries, but it seem that they do not get recognized.
Would you please open the Steinberg Library Manager and see what sound libraris that one detects?
Also, it would be good if you choose from Dorico’s main menu Help > Create Diagnostic Report.
That creates a zip file on your desktop, please attach here. Thanks

Sounds like a great idea. I’ve spent 5 minutes searching various sources for how to open the Steinberg Library Manager, and I still can’t figure it out. Please advise!

It’s a separate application, either on the start menu or in the applications folder (depending on whether you’re on Mac or Windows).

Thanks! I found it and opened it. It says “No libraries found.”

What now?

Hey, Steinberg! Here is the diagnostics zip you requested.

Thanks!
Dorico Diagnostics.zip (762 KB)

Jack, it really appears that you’ve not actually installed the sounds you’ve downloaded. Please try running the sound content installer again. In Steinberg Download Assistant it’s called “Dorico Pro 3 Sounds Installer” for Dorico Pro or “Dorico Elements 3 Sounds Installer” for Dorico Elements.

It also appears that you might not have a suitable audio output chosen in Edit > Device Setup: with a project open, go to Edit > Device Setup and make sure you’ve got an appropriate interface chosen there?

Yeah, I’ve downloaded that file at least four times in the last couple of weeks since I bought Dorico. There are no instructions whatsoever as to what to do with that file. This is one of the things that was very surprising to me in the process—that such an expensive software would be just tossed in my lap for me to have to figure out what to do with it.

Even as I click all through it now, it’s even more obvious that there are ZERO instructions. So what am I supposed to do with it?

That file, that the Steinberg Download Assistant downloaded for you, double click on it and then a normal installer application will start. Just follow the on-screen instructions and let the installer run. Then start Dorico and everything shall be fine. If not, please post a new diagnostic report. Thanks

I got it downloaded, by now the “play” mode is not working. Here’s another diagnostics zip file.
Dorico Diagnostics.zip (905 KB)

From the log files I can see that you have now the sound libraries installed, so that’s already a little success.
On the other hand, what exactly is not working in Play mode with you, could you please be a bit more specific?

Because the log files look quite normal. For the audio device the Generic Low Latency Driver is chosen and the sound is expected to come out of your computer’s speakers.
What if you press Play, is the green line not moving?
What if you open the HALion Sonic SE editor window and click with the mouse on the on-screen keyboard; does any sound come out?

The green play head does NOT move now as it did before loading the sounds. And no sound comes out when I play the onscreen keyboard. I see a response from the sound meter at the top of that HALion Sonic SE popup window, showing that it is receiving my clicks on the piano keyboard, but no sound comes out of my speakers.

Under Edit > Device Setup, what ASIO driver is selected and which output ports are shown?
Also, try to switch to another sample rate and then back again. After that, does then the green line move?