# Changing Sample HD



## Chris Hein (Aug 12, 2018)

I just moved all my libraries and samples to a new faster and larger HD.
Mac OS 10.12.6. Kontakt 5.8

Kontakt finds nothing anymore.
I can' believe that I have to repair everything manually.
So I hope you will tell me that I'm just too stupid to find the right solution.

Native Access:
Do I really have to repair each library manually by pointing it to the .nicnt file?
Isn't there a way to batch repair all library path in one go by saying: Search all libraries on this HD? 

Quick Load library:
Not only the samples are not found, even the instrument names are gone.
Only the folder structure with empty folders is still available.
I can find the instrument names in the application support folder in the Mac library folder, but that only helps to see what I had in my quick load database.

The "files" section in the Kontakt browser has no search function.
I can search the .nki files in the Mac finder, or through the Load Save function in Kontakt.
But that doesn't help much, because a loaded instrument can't be dragged into the Quick Load browser.

Looks like I'll need month to rebuild everything.
Not to mention the fact that I'll have "Missing samples" the next few years in all my Cubase projects.

Actually I thought changing the sample drive from time to time is a common thing.
I hope anyone has a few tips.

Thanks,

Chris Hein


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## GeneraStudios (Aug 12, 2018)

I might be wrong, but doesn't changing the application and content locations inside of preferences in NA fix that end of the issue? 

As far as missing samples, I think once you fix the Native Access end of the libraries you should be all set (at least for Player licensed libraries through NA), fixed manually or otherwise.


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## Chris Hein (Aug 12, 2018)

Thanks, thats what I tried first. (Forgot to mention)
In the NA preferences it says "application location" not libraries.
However, it doesn't work.

Even the NI support pages describe no other way than manual repair of the libraries.

Chris Hein


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## jcrosby (Aug 12, 2018)

Chris Hein said:


> I just moved all my libraries and samples to a new faster and larger HD.
> Mac OS 10.12.6. Kontakt 5.8
> 
> Kontakt finds nothing anymore.
> ...


I feel your pain, went through this last fall.
You'd think NI could make it that easy but unfortunately we're stuck with two ridiculous options, download the whole thing again or rollback to 5.6, manually add everything back and update back to 5.8.1. Both are time-consuming and, (at least for me), 5.6.6 won't launch on Sierra after upgrading to 5.8. 5.6 will, but now that 5.6.6 broke I'm concerned previous versions eventually will too.

As far as Quickload that's another issue. If you move anything QL breaks and that's that. QL can be years of organization, once it breaks the amount of time required to add them back is time thrown away from doing other things.
There has to be a better solution than this.

Edit: Rant reduced... As others have pointed out you have to keep the same path names and can copy things like plists but it still takes time and doesn't solve a broken QL directory.

For those not using QL how are you accessing non-player libraries without having to open windows and drill into them?


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## kurtvanzo (Aug 12, 2018)

Chris Hein said:


> Quick Load library:
> Not only the samples are not found, even the instrument names are gone.
> Only the folder structure with empty folders is still available.
> I can find the instrument names in the application support folder in the Mac library folder, but that only helps to see what I had in my quick load database.



This is the reason I stopped using quickload- move any library and poof! The quickload is gone. Like you I move all my stuff to a better drive (SSDs in this case) and many hours of quickload work disappeared. Evil Dragon confirmed my worry- that it’s gone for good.

I did have to add each Kontakt Player library individually (they come up blank with a button to locate the missing library- with many dozens to fix, it took a while, but in a few hours I was set.

Ironically it was during this time that I asked myself “Why did Chris Hein make each solo string library a separate Kontakt Player library?” - but I understand allowing people to buy one part at a time. I just can’t imagine how long this would take if every library was this way (Solos and ensembles), I don’t think my scroll bar would be more than a small sliver. 

I also had to batch resave some of my libraries, but for the most part the smaller libraries took the move well.

The one shortcut I used that worked was transferring the .plist files when moving to a new computer (but keeping the HD’s the same) since that kept me from having to re-add everything. But that doesn’t help for moving samples. :/


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## JamieLang (Aug 12, 2018)

If it's a one for one drive change--meaning you HAD one smaller drive, and are moving them all to ONE bigger drive, you could rename the volume in OSX or specify the same drive letter in Windows...if you've kept the sub directory structure the same, that will alleviate a lot of the issues. If \SameMountedVolumeName\Samples\ChrisHorns\BadAss.NKI is there...the instruments saved with absolute path will find what they need. While, you specified OSX, note the same would be true for S:\Samples\ChrisHorns\BadAss.NKI on Windows--which doesn't give a CRAP what you NAME the volume in it's under the hood paths.

Hope that helps. I have never really used Quickload, so I don't know if that will follow--but the saved NKI files being able to find their resources should resolve.

Edit: just the helpful bits...less commentary about Kontakt


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## Chris Hein (Aug 12, 2018)

Thanks so much for all your fast replies.
It makes me feel better, but only because I can finally stop my google search.

Before I started using Quick Load, I used to have my own "Favorite" folder inside my sample folder.
I duplicated the .nki files and sorted them in subfolders, pretty much the same way Quick Load is organized.
Thanks to the "Quick jump" feature, I can quick load my selections easily.
I'll go back to that method of organizing my instruments.
If I'll ever change my HD again, which will definitely happen again, I just have to "Batch re-save" this single folder.
Thats a reason why I don't understand NI doesn't include a batch re-save for the Quick Load library.

I like to see things positive:
Its time to re-organize my 'old' favorites anyway. 
The time it needs, is the time you have to wait longer for my next libraries / updates. 

Thanks again,

Chris Hein


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## GeneraStudios (Aug 14, 2018)

jcrosby said:


> I feel your pain, went through this last fall.
> You'd think NI could make it that easy but unfortunately we're stuck with two ridiculous options, download the whole thing again or rollback to 5.6, manually add everything back and update back to 5.8.1. Both are time-consuming and, (at least for me), 5.6.6 won't launch on Sierra after upgrading to 5.8. 5.6 will, but now that 5.6.6 broke I'm concerned previous versions eventually will too.
> 
> As far as Quickload that's another issue. If you move anything QL breaks and that's that. QL can be years of organization, once it breaks the amount of time required to add them back is time thrown away from doing other things.
> ...




I just use the file browser to load non-player libraries. I tend to put all of my libraries in a couple common spots, and you can save a number of 'views' which are just folder locations. Wasn't even aware of this QL feature until last week and it looks handy, but i've found using the file browser to be easy enough so I haven't switched.


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## jcrosby (Aug 14, 2018)

GeneraStudios said:


> I just use the file browser to load non-player libraries. I tend to put all of my libraries in a couple common spots, and you can save a number of 'views' which are just folder locations. Wasn't even aware of this QL feature until last week and it looks handy, but i've found using the file browser to be easy enough so I haven't switched.


Thanks GS. I often forget about this since I'm so used to QL... May try Chris's trick too of adding a QL-like file structure of bookmarked patches... The Factory Library directory seems like a pretty common sense location.


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## Chris Hein (Aug 14, 2018)

I thinks its really the same having a QL database or a folder in your finder, available through the Kontakt browser.

The QL folder in my Mac Library folder has 4.5GB.
So I think, Kontakt does actually the same and places a copy of the .nki file in the system folder.
The system drive is not the place where any of my sample data belongs, so I'll better have my favourite folder with copies of the .nki files on my sample drive.

BTW, I switched from a 4 years old LaCie 2big to a new LaCie 5big.
Both are thunderbolt2, but the new disc is almost 2 times faster.
Blackmagic Disc Speed Test says: 
LaCie 2big: 300MB/s
LaCie 5big: 800MB/s
Not sure though if a new 2big would be faster.

Chris Hein


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## EvilDragon (Aug 14, 2018)

QuickLoad is basically creating links to files (or on macOS, aliases, which are a bit different).


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## jcrosby (Aug 14, 2018)

EvilDragon said:


> QuickLoad is basically creating links to files (or on macOS, aliases, which are a bit different).


Thanks ED. Unfortunately, on macOS there's no way to fix broken aliases. (Which obvioulsy would be nice...) So once the QL links break they're broken... Don't think this works even with the same file paths, (but it's been a while since dealing with this...) IIRC QL should, but doesn't make symlinks, which should be resolvable if the path is the same.


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## Chris Hein (Aug 15, 2018)

Yes, its called alias on a mac.
But these files have 300kb - 600kb each. Actually 1/3 the size of the original .nki files.

Chris Hein


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## EvilDragon (Aug 15, 2018)

Hmmm....

https://www.brighthub.com/computing/mac-platform/articles/3920.aspx


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## Chris Hein (Aug 15, 2018)

EvilDragon said:


> Hmmm....
> 
> https://www.brighthub.com/computing/mac-platform/articles/3920.aspx


Hi EvilDragon,

Thanks for trying to help, but this article is from 2009!
I don't even start to read it. 

The problem with Google is, that you always find pretty old results which are often not valid anymore.
Luckily on the link you posted the date mentioned.

The only way to fix a broken alias link I know, is to manually find the original.
Usually my Mac is able to search for a file name and find it.
Why is there no "Search for original" in MacOS for broken Alias?
We all know it would be an easy task for Spotlight. 

Chris Hein


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## jcrosby (Aug 15, 2018)

Chris Hein said:


> Hi EvilDragon,
> 
> Thanks for trying to help, but this article is from 2009!
> I don't even start to read it.
> ...



Yes, as far as I know this is the case... For example, Spectrasonics creates a _symlink_ with Omnisphere not an alias. This isn't tied to Finder, spotlight, or any other macOS nonsense, it's just a path... So if I change machines but the paths stay the same Omnisphere generally doesn't have an issue... QL not so much...At least as far as the article is concerned aliases don't work the same way on macOS as they did once upon a time. (And why I believe Spectrasonics chooses to use symlinks instead of Aliases...)

As someone else mentioned QL could and should have a batch-reave option. 
I would gladly sacrifice several hours of writing to resolve a broken QL directory than have to either rebuild it, or as other suggest just skip it altogether.


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## EvilDragon (Aug 15, 2018)

Chris Hein said:


> Thanks for trying to help, but this article is from 2009!
> I don't even start to read it.



Fixing aliases is something that should be valid no matter what the year is... But of course, it's Apple so stuff will break eventually in some OS update. 


Might wanna give this a shot, too: https://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/53303/resolve-aliases


BTW I agree that symlinks should have been used instead of links (Windows) or aliases (macOS). Aliases are tied to the file's ID in the filesystem. If you change a hard drive to a newly formatted one and copy the file over, its ID doesn't seem to stay the same, so the alias breaks then. Symlink would still work as long as the new hard drive has the same name as the old one.


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## macmac (Aug 15, 2018)

I had a situation a couple years ago where my QL links were broken. Ultimately I had to redo the entire QL by hand again and it took a very verrrry long time. I have a folder for my third party stuff containing folders for each individual developer. Then I have a Favorites folder, and also a category folder where each library is sorted by what it is (Bells, brass, guitars, etc.) so my QL list is quite involved.

First I tried some supposed batch alias fixer method, but it didn't do the job. I then tried making fresh aliases of everything using the Finder (not Kontakt, as I thought that might be faster) and putting them into the QL folder, and a few of them worked. Some didn't (don't know why).

QL really does need to use a different method, or have some way to resolve this easily. It was tedious. So sorry you have to go through this.


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## Kony (Aug 15, 2018)

EvilDragon said:


> BTW I agree that symlinks should have been used instead of links (Windows) or aliases (macOS). Aliases are tied to the file's ID in the filesystem. If you change a hard drive to a newly formatted one and copy the file over, its ID doesn't seem to stay the same, so the alias breaks then. Symlink would still work as long as the new hard drive has the same name as the old one.


Would this still be the case if the drive was cloned?


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## EvilDragon (Aug 15, 2018)

If the clone also cloned the name of the drive, it should work I suppose.


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## macmac (Aug 15, 2018)

Chris Hein said:


> Why is there no "Search for original" in MacOS for broken Alias?



Individually there is. When you select an alias (~/library/app support/kontakt/QL folder in the finder, not Kontakt) and do a Get Info, there is a button in there called "Select New Original", but unfortunately you have to do this for every single alias file.

In Automator, there is a workflow called "New Aliases" which lets you select a source folder and batch-make aliases into a designated folder. If you have them overwrite the old ones, that will perhaps work. But still you'd have to do folder by folder, which would be the same as just resolving the samples in Kontakt when they show up missing upon load.

I didn't think an alias required a hardware ID, just the name of the drive had to be the same. I may be wrong. In my case, my original drive had a different name. When I upgraded my whole computer setup, the external drive got a new name, and that broke the aliases. I didn't want to go back to the old name so had to move forward by redoing the entire QL.

I think your original QL method is probably the best. Here's a couple script things I found, but can't guarantee the fix.

https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/2656/how-do-i-fix-failed-aliases
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/30837074/how-to-fix-100s-of-alias-on-mac-after-migration


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## macmac (Aug 15, 2018)

I just tried something now in the hopes to avoid this issue in the future. From the NI/QL folder that holds the QL aliases, I copied my Category folder (because that folder is the most time-consuming one to re-do) and copied it onto the drive that holds my samples. So now in Kontakt, under Files, it shows up there as well as in the QL. Maybe since that folder of aliases resides on the same referenced drive, hopefully one day when I have to get a new drive, it will stay intact if the other one does not. I test-loaded some of the .nki's in Kontakt from that folder, and they are fine.


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## Chris Hein (Aug 15, 2018)

macmac said:


> I just tried something now in the hopes to avoid this issue in the future. From the NI/QL folder that holds the QL aliases, I copied my Category folder (because that folder is the most time-consuming one to re-do) and copied it onto the drive that holds my samples. So now in Kontakt, under Files, it shows up there as well as in the QL. Maybe since that folder of aliases resides on the same referenced drive, hopefully one day when I have to get a new drive, it will stay intact if the other one does not. I test-loaded some of the .nki's in Kontakt from that folder, and they are fine.


Wait, you copy the alias files and they show up as loadable .nki files in Kontakt?
How does the copy of the alias know what the original doesn't know?

Can't believe that. I think the copy of the alias still finds the samples on your original drive.
An Alias is pretty stupid. It has no search function nor any batch re-link features.
It only holds the name which you have to paste one by one into spotlight.
Typical computer work. Why do I have to do that.

So, Apple and NI don't have any proper workaround for a pretty common issue: replacing a HD.

*Can't someone please write an app for that?
Batch re-linking alias files with a simple "search and find by file name" feature?*

Chris Hein


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## dzilizzi (Aug 15, 2018)

For my laptop, I was having this issue every time I plugged in my external drive. I solved it by giving the drive a letter so when I connect it, it stays the same. I'm thinking if you clone the drive withe the same letter, the route won't change and this shouldn't be a problem. 

And yes, this is very annoying.


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## macmac (Aug 15, 2018)

Chris Hein said:


> Wait, you copy the alias files and they show up as loadable .nki files in Kontakt?
> How does the copy of the alias know what the original doesn't know?
> 
> Can't believe that. I think the copy of the alias still finds the samples on your original drive.



Yes that is what happens. All I did was put a second copy of one of those alias folders on the original drive where the aliases actually point to, and left the other one in the Users folder where QL puts it.



Chris Hein said:


> An Alias is pretty stupid. It has no search function nor any batch re-link features.
> It only holds the name which you have to paste one by one into spotlight.
> Typical computer work. Why do I have to do that.
> 
> ...



Sorry, here's what I mean: As you know, QL creates aliases of the directory (whatever your folder structure is) and places it in the Users folder/app support/NI etc. So what I did today as a test: I copied the one folder in there that took the most effort to sort (my categories) and then I pasted that folder onto the samples drive. This means now that the Categories folder shows up under QL and also under the Files menu in Kontakt. It may mean nothing, but if one day that HD needs to be replaced, maybe that category folder might stay intact since it is on the same drive as the originals (I will be using a clone). If aliases break one day, my third-party folder will be easy enough to recreate in QL by just dragging the whole thing into QL. But my categories...that was very time-consuming to organize.

So when I drag one of the .nki's from either that category folder under Kontakt's file menu or from QL, both work—as they should.

And you are so right. With all the features Apple offers, it's hard to believe there is no batch fix.


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## EvilDragon (Aug 15, 2018)

Chris Hein said:


> So, Apple and NI don't have any proper workaround for a pretty common issue: replacing a HD.



But the solution is easy - just keep your new drive's name the same as the old one? Especially if you cloned your old drive onto the new one (which is probably the best possible thing you can do). On Windows just keeping the drive letter the same would work (and I have it verified working). Not really rocket science here, IMHO...


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## jcrosby (Aug 16, 2018)

EvilDragon said:


> But the solution is easy - just keep your new drive's name the same as the old one? Especially if you cloned your old drive onto the new one (which is probably the best possible thing you can do). On Windows just keeping the drive letter the same would work (and I have it verified working). Not really rocket science here, IMHO...


Are you on Windows or macOS? It's not quite that easy on mac, (at least not for me in recent years...) As far as I can tell aliases are tied to spotlight, I also find that once an alias breaks they tend to stay broken. (This wasn't always the case for me on OS-X...)

Symlinks however stick-around when the path doesn't change. (Again, my guess as to why Spectrasonics creates a symlink when it looks for the Steam folder instead of an alias...)


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## EvilDragon (Aug 16, 2018)

Windows here. For once that some things are easier to do on Windows, haha.


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## macmac (Aug 16, 2018)

Good article on this: Symlinks only require the path [names] to be the same, and aliases use the path in addition to the inode name of the object (original folder). (There's your ID thing, EvilDragon).

https://www.lifewire.com/aliases-symbolic-links-hard-links-mac-2260189

I came across a couple instances where I needed either an alias or symlink, when one didn't work right. There have been a couple instances where writing to a folder (like creating a preset or a Photoshop brush, etc), it went through the motions like it was writing, but it actually didn't, so required a different kind of link. Same situation when installing/downloading certain updated stuff which didn't ask for an installation path, some stuff didn't actually write to the original folder. But the other type of link worked.

The icon looks the same for both aliases and symlinks, so in order to know which original folders have aliases and which have symbolic links, I use Apple's tag feature — a tag for 'symlink' and one for 'alias', and I tag the original folder as such. So when I click the alias tag in the sidebar, the folders that have an alias show up, and same for symlink. That way I know quickly what need to have links which could come in handy if you ever needed to rebuild your hard drives with fresh installs of everything. The bulk of my data is always on separate drives than my OS and linked to where it would normally be installed on the OS drive, e.g. [DAW] Song folder, iTunes library, Logic stuff, etc., so being able to see this is handy.

And speaking of tags, I used to use a utility where I could categorize apps and things and see them all at at a glance. Was convenient for all those little apps that you forgot you had that do a certain function. That utility is long-since defunct, so now I use the tag system for this with an extensive list of created tags to organize anything according to what it is/does, that I might need to see quickly at a glance (e.g. launch an not-often used app or choosing the best one for the job, seeing them all lined up). The second benefit is doing as much as possible with what comes inherent in the OS and not having to worry about a third-party app no longer working.


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