Zombie Plugins

VCV Rack
1

Yesterday I decided to clean up my Rack installation by getting rid of some plugins whose modules I never use. I did this by going into plugins-win-x64 and deleting the plugin folders with those names. (I’m on Windows 10 and using VCV Rack 2.5.2, in case that matters.) I then went up to the Library web page and carefully clicked the Remove button on every single module in those listings.

I deleted 25 plugins using this technique. In 21 cases, it worked. But when I launch Rack, the Library menu tells me I need to update four of them – Ahornberg, Autinn, Bacon Music, and BB Modules. Yes, I can ignore the little red dot, but at some point there will be updates or new plugins that I will want, and when I download the new stuff, those four zombies will be back.

I posted about this on the Facebook group, and someone suggested editing the settings.json file. Sure enough, those four had non-empty listings in the first area (the area where the listings have square brackets), whereas the others that I deleted just have empty brackets. So I got rid of that stuff and saved the file. The stuff in curly braces doesn’t seem to matter, because some of the successfully deleted plugins also have non-empty listings there. (Yes, I did a backup before I edited settings.json.)

Well, that didn’t work. The zombies are STILL coming back. They’re rising from the grave and staggering toward me with their filthy fingers outstretched.

How do I get rid of them?

2

Maybe you have “subscription” to some plugins brand , try entering the plugin page (top right in library) and check if the zombies are subscribed, then unsubscribe

3

I don’t think deleting the files affects anything. I think if you unsubscribe/whatever from the library then they are deleted. Imao it’s a good feature that on a new system it will download and install all those plugins that you are calling “zombies”.

4

He also hit remove for each module in the library, but probably needs to simply unsubscribe from the plugin.

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5

But in either case there should be no reason to explicitly delete any plugin folders, correct?

6

I checked. I’m not subscribed to any of them. VCV tech support has been very responsive, however. I’m exchanging emails with Eric. I sent him a random guess about what’s causing the problem, and he’s checking into it.

7

The solution (found by Eric in VCV tech support) is to hit the Plugins button in the Library page, go to the Zombie plugins, click Subscribe, and then click Remove All. This apparently gets rid of deprecated modules that are hiding in the plugin but that can’t be deleted in the main Library web page because they’re never displayed there.

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8

Simple rules:

  • Never add/remove modules in the library, only subscribe/unsubscribe plugins.
  • Something you have to know: Rack never deletes plugins on your computer, only adds them. So if you unsubscribe to a plugin in the library you have to manually remove it from your disk yourself. It’s not great but that’s how Andrew wanted it.
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