Portatron patch saving problem

[dvdrtldg]

Is anyone having issues with Portatron and patch saving in Reason? I'm finding that when I make changes to a Portatron patch (either factory patch or one of my own) and then save & close the session, when I re-open the session the changes in Portatron haven't saved. I'll contact them directly, but just wondering how common this problem is?

Reason 13.0.3 / Portatron 1.4.1 / Mac OS Sonoma

[huggermugger]

I'm in R12, 1.4.1, Sonoma. A modified factory patch was recalled correctly after saving the project and re-opening. Maybe it's an R13 thing?

[stillifegaijin]

I have had the same problem. Is very frustrating.

[buddard]

Thanks for reporting this issue.

I tried to reproduce it in Reason 13.0 and 13.1 beta on macOS 13.5.2 (Ventura), but the changes seem to be saved correctly with the song.

I performed the following steps:

1. Create a new Reason song
2. Create an instance of Portatron and open its GUI
3. Mute one of the mixer channels in the default patch
4. Save the Reason song and close it
5. Reopen the song
6. Open the Portatron GUI, confirm that the mixer channel is still muted

Do these exact steps result in an unexpected state for you (i e, no channels appear muted)?
If not, can you please provide an exact sequence of steps that do cause the issue for you?

[dvdrtldg]

Thanks for reporting this issue.

I tried to reproduce it in Reason 13.0 and 13.1 beta on macOS 13.5.2 (Ventura), but the changes seem to be saved correctly with the song.

I performed the following steps:

1. Create a new Reason song
2. Create an instance of Portatron and open its GUI
3. Mute one of the mixer channels in the default patch
4. Save the Reason song and close it
5. Reopen the song
6. Open the Portatron GUI, confirm that the mixer channel is still muted

Do these exact steps result in an unexpected state for you (i e, no channels appear muted)?
If not, can you please provide an exact sequence of steps that do cause the issue for you?

Apologies for the long delay in replying! I've been busy with work and not spending much time on Reason

I tried what you suggested above, and it all worked fine - the mixer channel was still muted when I saved & re-opened the session

But here's the thing: the problem is intermittent and doesn't always happen. So I can't be sure that the mixer channel will continue to be muted - will open & close the session a few times over the next few days and see how it goes

But what *is* happening right away is that I also reduced the Drive to zero on the muted mixer channel. Saved and closed the session. The first time I re-opened the session, everything was OK. But then I closed and opened it again, and found that the Drive on the mixer channel was back at its original level of 42%. When I reduced Drive to zero and tried to save the patch again, it crashed Reason

I have another session where I've reduced Drive to zero on a mixer channel, and also reduced Wobble to zero. Those two parameters keep moving around - sometimes when I open the session they're right where I left them (i.e. at zero), but sometimes they've reverted to their original levels

[dvdrtldg]

UPDATE: I just re-opened the test session after a couple of hours' break, and found that the muted channel is now un-muted, while Drive has reverted to its default setting

Time seems to be a factor here - opening the session a short time after saving tends to result in fewer problems, but if I leave it for a few hours or days, all the changed settings have reverted to default state (which includes changes made in the Tape Editor field). Weird

[buddard]

UPDATE: I just re-opened the test session after a couple of hours' break, and found that the muted channel is now un-muted, while Drive has reverted to its default setting

Time seems to be a factor here - opening the session a short time after saving tends to result in fewer problems, but if I leave it for a few hours or days, all the changed settings have reverted to default state (which includes changes made in the Tape Editor field). Weird

I don't think that time can be a factor since files on disk just don't change over time... If something is wrong with the parameters when opening the session, the error must have been written to the file when the song was last saved.

Are you sure that there are no active automation lanes for Portatron in your session? They will be created automatically if you move controls on a VST while recording.

[dvdrtldg]

I don't think that time can be a factor since files on disk just don't change over time... If something is wrong with the parameters when opening the session, the error must have been written to the file when the song was last saved.

Yeah that makes sense

Are you sure that there are no active automation lanes for Portatron in your session? They will be created automatically if you move controls on a VST while recording.

Nope, no automation lanes. All I've done in the test session is launch Portatron with the default patch and changed a few parameters (mute channel 1, set Noise to zero, set Wobble to zero), save and close

Just re-opened it now, and my changes have reverted to default settings (again)