You seem to be confused about the version numbers. Rack 2 is version 2.3.0 Both the free and the pro version. The fundamental plugins are version 2.5.0 and are now called VCV Free.
So maybe install 2.3.0 from the site and avoid the AUR ?
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That’s for sure! 
UPDATE: Might be of relevance …
I managed to locate and download Fundamental-2.5.0-lin-x64.vcvplugin and manually placed it in the plugin folder. Upon starting up VCVRack it “took” the plugin as needing to be installed, since the *.vcvplugin file was no longer there and the plugin.so file in the plugin folder was time-refreshed.
However, VCVRack still indicates that I need to update to the 2.5.0 version and that I am still running 2.3.0 (seen in the upper right hand status bar corner). Then again, I probably continue to trip over different version #s for the app vs individual plugins. 
Apparently, for some reason the update to the Fundamental (2.5.0) won’t load, so I’m stuck with 2.3.0:
From log.txt:
[0.072 info src/plugin.cpp:137 loadPlugin] Loading plugin from /home/ejm/.Rack2/plugins/Fundamental
[0.072 warn src/plugin.cpp:203 loadPlugin] Could not load plugin/home/ejm/.Rack2/plugins/Fundamental: Plugin/Fundamental is already loaded, not attempting to load it again
Whether this has anything to do with SurgeXT not loading either is hard to know at this point. But it seems more problematic that the latest version of VCVRack’s basic VCV Free plugins won’t update.
The plot thickens.
So basically you’re still stuck on VCV Free 2.5.0 and SurgeXTRack 2.1.6.0 not updating. Lets’s wait for some other ideas and/or send a mail to VCV.
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Yes, you nailed it! Thanks again for all your efforts to help.
I’ll focus my attention on enjoying all the wonderful features of VCVRack and the countless plugins that are currently available to me
Since I seem to be the only one experiencing this glitch, I’ll hang loose for a while and see if anyone else has the same issue, in which case it might be worth escalating to those on the support team. 
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Hope you get it sorted, once you experience SurgeXT you’ll not want to be without it.
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Thanks… That’s what I suspect - hence my keen interest in installing that plugin suite!
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Maybe change the title to
SurgeXT not appearing - despite subscribing - on Arch Linux 6.3.4-Zen OS
to attract more Linux experts ?
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Good thought. I’ve edited heading to reflect both SurgeXT and Fundamentals won’t install, and it’s happening in two different versions of Arch (6.3.2 and 6.3.4). Perhaps this will attract specific interest/expertise in those areas. Thanks!
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I use Arch and don’t have this issue but I don’t use the AUR version so might be worth checking if it can be run locally.
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This may not determine anything, but have you tried updating VCV Free by clicking only on that update line and see if you can do it one at a time?. Or, are you always clicking on “update all”? I usually update one plugin at a time so I can tell what went wrong, if anything.
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Great thought, but unfortunately having tried that previously it seems to make no difference in this particular situation.
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Interesting! You’ve inspired me…
So I downloaded the RackFree-2.3.0-lin-x64.zip file, extracted it into a subfolder within my ~/Downloads folder, and ran it (by entering ./Rack from the terminal there). After everything updated this time, it accepted the SurgeXT plugins and they (all) show up - and appear to function properly based on a quick test or two.
This suggests indeed there’s some thing squirrelly about the current AUR-based version of VCVRack that isn’t fully ready for prime time. Mostly it is, but a few (at least 2?) plugin sets won’t update properly - in my case the Fundamental(s) - which is pretty important - and the SurgeXT suite - which is pretty cool and sad to miss.
My next (and hopefully final) step is to see if I can get this VCVRack setup now buried within my ~/Download folder to get moved over into my ~/.Rack folder with the various functioning plugins and report back.
Having uninstalled /.Rack folder in my home directory I’ll need to try this next…
[Aside: “autodaf” now shows up as a plugin I need to update, which I never recall “adding” in the first place, but it won’t load … not a concern, just a curiosity 
]
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Ha!
Well, the saga continues with a whimper. Ready to put myself out of my misery…
DOWNLOADING DIRECTLY ROM vcvrack.com & LAUNCHING FROM LOCAL DOWNLOAD FOLDER:
Launching the executable in the download folder from terminal, I get all of the plugins installed and functioning (including SurgeXT, Free VCV). But that’s a sloppy solution and requires a terminal/batch file each time to start the program.
INSTALLING FROM THE AUR REPOSITORY:
When I install VCVRack via the AUR the executable goes in the /usr/bin folder @ root (program data goes into a directory in my home folder ~/.Rack2 folder) but then those specific plugins become problematic all over again (e.g., SurgeXT and Free VCV Foundations) and won’t install.
For some reason, copying the executable from the direct download to replace the ‘/usr/bin’ just causes more errors and doesn’t run.
Probably not worth wasting your valuable time (and banging my head against this wall) anymore.
Seems pretty clear that something in the AUR package is broken and I cannot untangle what that might be.
If I ever figure it out I’ll post an update here for future travelers. Meanwhile, thanks to you all for trying!
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I didn’t read everything but if this thread amounts to “I insralled vcv rack from source via aur rather than the binary from rack.com and now surge xt won’t load with some mangled symbol error in the lot@ then
- Don’t use rack from the aur use rack built by the rack environment or
- Don’t use surge from the library build surge yourself from source to be compatible with your build or
- Fix the broken aur build which uses a somehow incompatible glibc with binary builds from rack
A few plugins hit this case but surge is the most popular.
If the issue is something else could someone summarize it again maybe? Lots of messages
Thx
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@baconpaul Sorry, yes, this thread got long with the back 'n forth.
I will need to reflect and digest each of your bullet points in the morning and see what I can make of it going forward. Thx!
Is it my imagination, or is arch linux a uniquely problematic platform for VCV?
There are a lot of variables (actual and figurative) to contend with in Arch Linux so it can be easy to miss one and for something to not work. AUR is not Arch Linux and is completely unofficial so unfortunately it’s not uncommon for there to be packaging issues with it.
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Well done to all the debuggers! The case seems fairly clear now. The Rack build in AUR is no good, so my advice would be to uninstall it and forget about it, and instead just use the Rack directly downloaded from vcvrack.com. You should be able to run that completely normally.
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My experience is that software packagers often change build or source flags on open source projects for reasons, resulting in different builds than “official” binaries. Also packaging binaries for the collection of operating environments we mislabel with a singular noun “linux” is hard unless you make some limiting choices. And many packagers don’t run extensive test.
In this case someone wrote a package for rack and didn’t see if it worked, but made it easy to use. I get a support ticket on surge xt rack doesn’t work on arch about every week or two right now.
I think Andrew uses arch as his primary distro so I would not say arch and rack are a bad match. I would instead say arch makes it easy to make unofficial packages.
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