Some plugins missing/not updating properly in VCV Rack 2.5.0 for Linux

VCV Rack
1

After updating to VCV Rack 2.5.0 on Arch Linux, certain plugins are missing. They’re listed in the Library menu as having updates available. When I install those updates, their folders appear in the plugin folder ~/.local/share/Rack2/plugins-lin-x64 as expected, but their modules don’t appear in VCV Rack.

Also, after their updates, those plugins are still listed as needing updates in the Library menu. Updating them again doesn’t seem to accomplish anything.

The affected plugins are:

  • Frequency Domain
  • RPJ Visualizer
  • Stellare Link
  • Surge XT
  • alef’s bits

My other plugins work as expected.

I’ve tried backing up my user folder and creating a new one, but the problem persisted. I’ve also tried running Rack from the command line, but there were no error messages.

Is this just a case of the plugins needing to be rewritten to be compatible with VCV Rack 2.5.0, or is it a problem with Rack itself? If it’s the former, the current behavior is very confusing - why do the plugins show up as needing updates even after they have been updated? As far as I can tell, there is no documentation of this behavior, which leads me to suspect a bug in the new version of Rack. I’d appreciate any insights folks could offer. Thanks!

2

Are there error messages related to these in the Rack log?

3

Are you using the binary of vcv rack or are you building yourself? (in arch terms this is I think vcv-rack-bin or vcv-rack-git

there’s a long known problem where a from-source build of rack on arch requires a from-source build of the plugins on the same system, and mix and match of a from-source rack with a from-library plugin will break some plugins, including Surge.

this may be the same problem you are seeing, especially if you get a symbol missing in the loader portion of your log.

4

The log yields these warnings, which sound like the missing symbol issue that baconpaul is talking about:

[3.450 warn src/plugin.cpp:196 loadPlugin] Could not load plugin /home/username/.local/share/Rack2/plugins-lin-x64/alefsbits: Failed to load library /home/username/.local/share/Rack2/plugins-lin-x64/alefsbits/plugin.so: /home/username/.local/share/Rack2/plugins-lin-x64/alefsbits/plugin.so: undefined symbol: src_delete
[3.532 warn src/plugin.cpp:196 loadPlugin] Could not load plugin /home/username/.local/share/Rack2/plugins-lin-x64/FrequencyDomain: Failed to load library /home/username/.local/share/Rack2/plugins-lin-x64/FrequencyDomain/plugin.so: /home/username/.local/share/Rack2/plugins-lin-x64/FrequencyDomain/plugin.so: undefined symbol: _ZSt16__at_thread_exitPSt20__at_thread_exit_elt
[3.608 warn src/plugin.cpp:196 loadPlugin] Could not load plugin /home/username/.local/share/Rack2/plugins-lin-x64/RPJVisualizer: Failed to load library /home/username/.local/share/Rack2/plugins-lin-x64/RPJVisualizer/plugin.so: /home/username/.local/share/Rack2/plugins-lin-x64/RPJVisualizer/plugin.so: undefined symbol: _ZNSt6locale13_S_categoriesE
[3.627 warn src/plugin.cpp:196 loadPlugin] Could not load plugin /home/username/.local/share/Rack2/plugins-lin-x64/StellareModular-Link: Failed to load library /home/username/.local/share/Rack2/plugins-lin-x64/StellareModular-Link/plugin.so: /home/username/.local/share/Rack2/plugins-lin-x64/StellareModular-Link/plugin.so: undefined symbol: _ZN10__cxxabiv111__terminateEPFvvE
[3.669 warn src/plugin.cpp:196 loadPlugin] Could not load plugin /home/username/.local/share/Rack2/plugins-lin-x64/SurgeXTRack: Failed to load library /home/username/.local/share/Rack2/plugins-lin-x64/SurgeXTRack/plugin.so: /home/username/.local/share/Rack2/plugins-lin-x64/SurgeXTRack/plugin.so: undefined symbol: src_process
5

That’s a good question. The logs I posted above do seem to indicate that it’s a missing symbol issue. I’ve tried a couple of different versions of VCV Rack for Arch. Currently, neither vcvrack-bin or vcvrack-git from the AUR will build for me, so I was using the vcvrack binary from the proaudio repository. However, I just tried building and installing the version of vcvrack from the AUR (no -git or -bin), and I’m having the same issue with that one.

6

I figured out how to install vcvrack-bin from the AUR (the PKGBUILD needed a minor edit), and that version works. All my plugins are now present and accounted for. Thanks to pachde and baconpaul for your help!

1 Like
7

could you share the edit,
to help other users with the same/similar problem?

1 Like
8

Yeah the locale symbol is the one which got us and comes from an inconsistent libc in the build environments (rack library vs whatever arch happens to use). Glad you got it sorted