Manually added places missing after upgrade? read this!

[bjoeri]

I had about 30 manually added folders, some of which was used in a lot of projects.
This happened to me, and according Google searches, several others to.
Haven't so far seen any good solution for this, restart, restart computer, reinstall live etc, etc.

As this problem occurs and surely get you stopped in your tracks, and all flow is lost for this day, got to the bottom browsing through some *.cfg files.

there's a file here:
C:\Users\>your username<\AppData\Roaming\Ableton\Live 9.1.3b9*(*your ableton version)\Preferences\library.cfg
Luckily, this a editable xml-file
Look for this tag: <UserFolderInfoList>
Look at the example

<UserFolderInfoList>
<UserFolderInfo Path="E:\_samples\_Loops\" DisplayName="_Loops" />
<UserFolderInfo Path="E:\_samples\_FX\" DisplayName="_FX" />
<UserFolderInfo Path="E:\_samples\_VOCALS\" DisplayName="_VOCALS" />
</UserFolderInfoList>
//
This entry is where Ableton reads your manually added Folders under "Places"
<UserFolderInfo Path="E:\_samples\_Loops\" DisplayName="_Loops" />
Be sure to make backup of this file regularly, at least before upgrades.
Guess Ableton doesn't take this config file from previous installations, at least not when having different version side by side in different folders, like final releases and betas.
Also had problem with Packs not showing up, solved this by moving all packs to another dir, then pointing out default installation path for packs in Live preferences, woala, they show up, you can then move them back to Factory Packs if you prefer, don't forget to point out the path again.

Hope this helps someone!
Cheers!

[jestermgee]

Be sure if you are using Betas you understand how they work.

Live 9.1.3b9 - The "b" is a beta version and these do not copy your user files when installed because Betas typically want to be started from fresh and then destroyed so you need to manually copy settings and any custom scripts.

Live should normally carry settings over from a version one version to another but leaves the old files available just in case you find new issues you can roll back to an old version or even run side-by-side until you are confident the new version works for you.

It's actually a very useful way to do it but yes, you can get stuck if you don't know about the settings location.

[Richie Witch]

I experienced a similar problem a couple times, including losing a customized folder structure containing all my non-Ableton plug-ins. It was a disaster having to redownload and reinstall them all, especially the free ones.

Then I found some advice that recommended moving all my samples, vst folders, clips, project files, etc to a subfolder under "My Documents" rather than the default location. Three upgrades later and I've not lost a single thing.