I bet you see the control surface name in brackets? This happens in certain conditions with how the Control Surface files get registered within Windows. We haven't nailed the exact reason that causes it, but we do have a solution. It just takes a few easy steps.

1. Close SONAR
2. On your system go to 'C:\Users\[Your Windows user name]\AppData\Roaming\Cakewalk\SONAR X3' (or producer/studio)
3. Delete the file called ctrlsurface.dat
4. Now open up a command window with administrator rights.
Windows 7: Type CMD in the start search. Right click on cmd.exe and select 'Run as Administrator'
Windows 8: Open up Metro, type CMD, rightclick on Command Prompt and select 'Run as Administrator' at the bottom of the screen.
5. In the prompt type "cd C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\SteamApps\common\Cakewalk\x64\Shared Surfaces" without quotes and press [Enter].
Note: If your STEAM directory is not on C: or in a different path you'll need to change that accordingly.
6. Your prompt should now read that you're in the above directory.
7. Next type "Regsvr32 ACTController.dll" without the quotes and press [Enter].
8. You should receive a message stating that the .dll was registered successfully.
9. Repeat this for any of the other control surface .dll files you need to utilize and are having issues with.

Now you should be able to go back into SONAR x64 and the ACT control surface will keep your MIDI port assignments. If you have any issues with following along, please contact our phone support reps and they can walk you through this.

More Info on Contacting Support here

Thanks for the reply! So I tried your suggestion out and am still having the same issue. I restarted sonarx64 after recieving the dialog box described and noticed that no control surface was displayed in the box at top of screen so I went into prefs, controlsurfaces, and selected add new control surface. Then I selected act midi controller and clicked ok. this now shows up in the list, but is still in the brackets you describe. could this be a problem with windows 8.1? i forgot to mention my OS in the original post.

Originally posted by rreynolds1979:

Thanks for the reply! So I tried your suggestion out and am still having the same issue. I restarted sonarx64 after recieving the dialog box described and noticed that no control surface was displayed in the box at top of screen so I went into prefs, controlsurfaces, and selected add new control surface. Then I selected act midi controller and clicked ok. this now shows up in the list, but is still in the brackets you describe. could this be a problem with windows 8.1? i forgot to mention my OS in the original post.

Yes, it's normal for the control surface to be missing since we deleted the original configuration file. It get's re-created on launch if it's unavailable.

Do you have any pending Windows updates going? Sometimes this prevents files from getting registered properly too. You'll see a successful message, but it doesn't actually work. This has been a problem with some of our FX/Synth too. If you do have any pending updates, complete them, then run the steps above again.

Also, please try re-registering the same file under:
"C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\SteamApps\common\Cakewalk\Shared Surfaces"

It shouldn't be a Win 8.1 specific issue as it happens to me sometimes in Win7 or Win8. Though the previous steps always worked for me and others to get it working correctly.

Solved! There was indeed an update pending restart. Once completed your fix worked perfectly. Thanks for the fast reply!

Originally posted by rreynolds1979:

Solved! There was indeed an update pending restart. Once completed your fix worked perfectly. Thanks for the fast reply!

Windows update strikes again!

Thanks for the reply on your status. I'm glad everything is working now, and you're very welcome!

I had same problem here and this solution helps, thanks!

Just to help some others save their evening: You can get the same thing the other way around. I bought an Nektar Impact LX61 and installed the drivers and got the controller name in brackets, tried the above a couple of times and it didn't work. Then I noticed that the Sonar X3 icon on my desktop launches the 32bit version, when I run the 64bit version it worked with all the transport controls \o/

Originally posted by AcXeller:

Just to help some others save their evening: You can get the same thing the other way around. I bought an Nektar Impact LX61 and installed the drivers and got the controller name in brackets, tried the above a couple of times and it didn't work. Then I noticed that the Sonar X3 icon on my desktop launches the 32bit version, when I run the 64bit version it worked with all the transport controls \o/

I think we've discovered a bit more fool proof method for registration. We'll be integrating that into new releases and retroactively updating past products in the near future.

But it still won't do anything if Windows is holding the Regsvr utilities hostage during a pending update. :(

I know it's offtopic but i just don't wanna create a thread just for my question but it's control surface related anyway, is there any chance that Sonar includes HUI driver support in the future?

Originally posted by Sh03e:

I know it's offtopic but i just don't wanna create a thread just for my question but it's control surface related anyway, is there any chance that Sonar includes HUI driver support in the future?

Hmm, potentially. We'd have to look into the HUI protocol. I just found a post on the Reaper forums that has all the docs. I'll make sure it's on our feature brainstorming lists.

We have open sourced out control surface SDK's. There's a user on our public forum whos working on a new universal plug-in. http://forum.cakewalk.com/You-can-integrate-your-Control-Surface-with-SONAR-as-deep-as-you-want-m3125708.aspx

It's possible that there could be a HUI > Mackie or HUI > Cakewalk mapper/interpreter, without having to introduce native HUI into the application.

I still have the same issue as above but with MMC control surface, the fix didn't solve this problem...
the ACT MIDi control surface does work, but the MMC control surface needs to be fixed..

Originally posted by River:

I still have the same issue as above but with MMC control surface, the fix didn't solve this problem...
the ACT MIDi control surface does work, but the MMC control surface needs to be fixed..

You'll just need to run the same registration process above with the MMC.dll files under Shared Surfaces and x64/Shared Surfaces.

MMC.dll file is missing from the x64/Shared Surfaces folder...:( what can i do about this?

I just tried validating steam files, it failed 2 files, but it didn't add the x64/Shared Surface/MMC.dll file.... can i replace it with the one in the Shared Surfaces folder?

Originally posted by River:

MMC.dll file is missing from the x64/Shared Surfaces folder...:( what can i do about this?

After X3, we deprecated some older control surface plugins, which were unpopular.

There's a separate installer available on our website: https://www.cakewalk.com/Support/Knowledge-Base/2007013438/Control-Surface-Installers

But after testing, it appears it's not picking up the Steam paths. You can try and see if it works on your end.

I may need to add this as an optional DLC to SONAR then. I can probably get that done for the next monthly update.

Originally posted by River:

MMC.dll file is missing from the x64/Shared Surfaces folder...:( what can i do about this?

I just tried validating steam files, it failed 2 files, but it didn't add the x64/Shared Surface/MMC.dll file.... can i replace it with the one in the Shared Surfaces folder?

On more research, it looks like MMC is a 32 bit only control surface.

https://www.cakewalk.com/Support/Knowledge-Base/2007012973/What-control-surfaces-are-supported-under-SONAR-x64

I can't rebuild individual components, so I think it'll be limited to 32 bit at the moment. You wont be able to copy the 32 bit version over to 64.