# Rename Hard Drive with Kontakt libraries without Kontakt complaining it doesn't know where things are?



## Ashermusic (Aug 8, 2019)

Is it possible?


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## Christof (Aug 8, 2019)

Very good question!


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## neblix (Aug 8, 2019)

It is not possible.


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## Ashermusic (Aug 8, 2019)

Kontakt really is stupid then. The drive's ID itself wouldn't be changing, e.g. ST340083 2A Media, just the name of the volume.


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## neblix (Aug 8, 2019)

Ashermusic said:


> Kontakt really is stupid then. The drive's ID itself wouldn't be changing, e.g. ST340083 2A Media, just the name of the volume.



Mac OS uses drive names themselves as a way to talk to the drive. For instance in the terminal you "cd" to a drive by directly typing its name. As far as I know there is no way to have OS commands run on drive ID's.

Therefore it doesn't really seem like it's something Kontakt could do differently, because there isn't a way Kontakt or any other software can talk more closely to the hardware than the OS that it sits on top of. I have never seen any software written to store filepaths in terms of drive ID's either.

However, what you might be able to do is simply add a symlink next to your drive, with the old name, and have it point to the new drive. You're then tricking Kontakt into believing the old drive is still there.


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## Ashermusic (Aug 8, 2019)

neblix said:


> However, what you might be able to do is simply add a symlink next to your drive, with the old name, and have it point to the new drive.




It's the same drive. it's named Samples Backup 2, because there used to be a Sample Backup 1 that died. So I just want to rename it to Samples Backup.


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## Rob Elliott (Aug 8, 2019)

Always frustrating. My 'drive names' have remained unchanged through 3 replacements (last 12 yrs). First I do when I get a new computer or drive is 'rename' to what it's replacing - just because of this issue. :(


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## Lionel Schmitt (Aug 8, 2019)

Yea, this drives me nuts! I had to sort my libraries differently several times and opening old projects was just a freakin' nightmare. I'll also have to keep paths and drive letter the same on new drives just because of this... really silly. They should somehow provide a fix IMO.


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## neblix (Aug 8, 2019)

Ashermusic said:


> It's the same drive. it's named Samples Backup 2, because there used to be a Sample Backup 1 that died. So I just want to rename it to Samples Backup.



It doesn't matter if it's a new drive or old drive with the new name. The symlink functions the same.


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## Pietro (Aug 8, 2019)

I'm not 100% sure but I believe it's possible. If you change the letter of the hard drive, sure it will require re-assigning paths, but name? Does Konktakt go by name of the drive, rather than the letter?

At least that's the case on PC.

- Piotr


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## Desire Inspires (Aug 8, 2019)

Ashermusic said:


> Kontakt really is stupid then. The drive's ID itself wouldn't be changing, e.g. ST340083 2A Media, just the name of the volume.



Kontakt is a piece of software. It has no brain. So it is not stupid. It simply is a tool.

Sorry, I can’t have anyone talk bad about my baby, Kontakt!


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## Nick Batzdorf (Aug 8, 2019)

Rename the drive and see. If it doesn't, either redirect Kontakt or go back to the old name.


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## AndyP (Aug 8, 2019)

Kontakt ... impossible.

I have a backup ssd, the volume has exactly the same name as the main disk. Even sometimes, when I change these disks, some libraries lose the path.

But that doesn't just happen in Kontact, other players also get confused sometimes. The worst thing is Sampletank, but I hardly use it anymore. Rebuilding the database was driving me nuts.

Answer: No, the volumes must have exactly the same name.


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## wst3 (Aug 8, 2019)

my solution is a little convoluted, but it has reduced the amount of time I spend "locating" libraries.

I have three library drives, K:. L:. and M:

For now K is for full Kontakt libraries, L is for Player libraries, and M is for non-Kontakt libraries.

And first time around I left it just like that. Not good.

So second time around I created a top level directory on each drive, which allows me to use symbolic links, which all exist in whichever goofy user library Native Instruments expects me to use.

So now my three drives look like this:
K:\Kontakt Libraries\
L:\Kontakt Player Libraries
M:\Toontrack
M:\UVI

and so on. Almost laa of these top level directories have symbolic links in "My Documents" since that is where so many developers expect us to keep stuff.

So far I've only had to deal with locating libraries on the rare occasion when there has been a system glitch, which has been rare.

For Mac I would expect this to work, but I'm not sure where you would place the sym links.

FWIW I tried using a sym link to a drive itself, and at least for Windows that did not work.


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## Nick Batzdorf (Aug 8, 2019)

wst3 said:


> For Mac I would expect this to work, but I'm not sure where you would place the sym links



Not something normal Mac users deal with. You'd have to go to the Terminal and type in some crap.

There may be a program to create them, but feh. Real men and women don't bother.


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## Nick Batzdorf (Aug 8, 2019)

Bear in mind that normal humans don't rename their drives very often, and relinking sample libraries isn't a big deal.


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## ScoringFilm (Aug 9, 2019)

It is possible in Windows by using the registry editor. There are two locations in the registry which would need to be altered:

*[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Native Instruments]*

example entry:

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Native Instruments\Library Name]
"ContentDir"="D:\\Samples\\Library Name"

and

*[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Native Instruments]*

example entry:

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Native Instruments\Library Name]
"CurInstrDir"="D:\\Samples\\Library Name\\Instruments\\"

Export each of these branches to a text (.reg) file, search and replace the drive name/letter, then double click the .reg file to replace the values in the registry.

J


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## wst3 (Aug 9, 2019)

Hmmm... that registry hack is probably easier than managing a bunch of sym links, and there are no pre-reqs. Nicely done!


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## EvilDragon (Aug 9, 2019)

Well, unless you have hundreds of KP libraries, then that registry tweak is a chore and having just symlinks to a master folder containing all your KP libs is MUCH easier...

(Symlinks can also redirect to whole drives, too, IIRC...)


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## MartinH. (Aug 9, 2019)

Does the registry hack do anything different than moving a library and clicking "locate" in Kontakt when it can't find it anymore? 


On windows I recommend "Steammover" to create symbolic links. Worked fine for me at least.


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## wst3 (Aug 9, 2019)

EvilDragon said:


> Well, unless you have hundreds of KP libraries, then that registry tweak is a chore and having just symlinks to a master folder containing all your KP libs is MUCH easier...



If you start out with a hierarchy that includes a top level directory then a simply symlink is the answer. If you use the drive as the top level directory then a script to change registry entries would probably be faster.



EvilDragon said:


> (Symlinks can also redirect to whole drives, too, IIRC...)


That is what I thought, and that was my first pass, but it did not work. I don't recall the specifics, but I do recall I was bummed!

That same thing would work in a *nix environment, where everything is a branch from root. That may be true in Windows, but they've done a very good job of hiding it!


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## EvilDragon (Aug 9, 2019)

I've been using Link Shell Extension and it can create symlinks to whole drives no problem.





__





Link Shell Extension






schinagl.priv.at


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## ptram (Aug 9, 2019)

I've spent a good part of last night trying to make Native Access accept the path where I had moved a library. There was no way to make it work.

In the end, I found the preference file, and could see that NA didn't change the path as instructed in the GUI. I edited the string by hand, and everything worked fine.

A text string. It was not able to rewrite a text string.

Paolo


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## Nick Batzdorf (Aug 9, 2019)

Jay is using a Mac. We don't need no stinkin' symlink.


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## EvilDragon (Aug 9, 2019)

Symlinks are also a thing on Mac as well.


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## Ashermusic (Aug 9, 2019)

EvilDragon said:


> I've been using Link Shell Extension and it can create symlinks to whole drives no problem.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Is there a Mac equivalent, E.D.?


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## Nick Batzdorf (Aug 9, 2019)

EvilDragon said:


> Symlinks are also a thing on Mac as well.



But you need to go into the Terminal or (I assume) use a dedicated program.

Much easier to tell Kontakt where your libraries are. And it's not all of them, just the ones that show up in the Libraries tab, not the Files ones.

Really, this is a 5-minute operation. Much ado about nothing.


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## Ashermusic (Aug 9, 2019)

Nick Batzdorf said:


> And it's not all of them, just the ones that show up in the Libraries tab, not the Files ones.



I don't think so. When you load an instrument from the re-named library, it will ask you to find the samples, you have to guide it to it, and then re-save it...for every f'ing instrument because you can't simply tell Kontakt to "use this path" for other instruments in the library.


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## EvilDragon (Aug 9, 2019)

How to Create and Use Symbolic Links (aka Symlinks) on a Mac


Symbolic links, also known as symlinks, are special files that point to files or directories in other locations on your system. You can think of them like advanced aliases and here’s how to use them in MacOS.




www.howtogeek.com





(Scroll to bottom, there's a graphical way to do it with a free 3rd party tool.)


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## Nick Batzdorf (Aug 9, 2019)

Ashermusic said:


> I don't think so. When you load an instrument from the re-named library, it will ask you to find the samples, you have to guide it to it, and then re-save it...for every f'ing instrument because you can't simply tell Kontakt to "use this path" for other instruments in the library.



1. Remove library


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## Nick Batzdorf (Aug 9, 2019)

2. Add library. You only have to do that once for every installed library, and Bob's your uncle.


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## Nick Batzdorf (Aug 9, 2019)

If it's one that isn't installed in the list, you just load it. (I'm not sure why some can't be installed in the list?)


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## Lindon (Aug 12, 2019)

sym links are your friend - and some sample software out there create their own as part of the install - Kontakt is not one of them...:-(


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## MartinH. (Aug 12, 2019)

Nick Batzdorf said:


> 2. Add library. You only have to do that once for every installed library, and Bob's your uncle.



I think they removed that button in an update.


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## Ashermusic (Aug 12, 2019)

Native Access allows you to relocate "moved" libraries that use the Kontakt player. For the others, I am batch re-saving. It's time consuming but oh well.


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