Problem
After upgrading to Logic Pro X 10.2.2 my install seemed to be missing content (in my case mainly Plugin Settings, although I’ve read reports from people missing anything from EXS instruments to Alchemy patches or complete Drummers). All additional content had been installed as witnessed by the Sound Library Manager. Deleting the Logic application file and re-downloading from the App Store (in order to re-establish a connection with the Apple homeland in the hopes of triggering a “install missing content” menu-option) does not help.
Hours of web-surfing finally brought a not-completely-obvious solution, which I’d though I’d share with the world since during my search I ran into various pages describing similar problems without a solution.
Solution
In this thread user Sonic Nomad posts a Github-link to a utility he made, lpx_links (direct link). However, you don’t have to actually download the utility (ZIP file at top of linked page). Instead open the Terminal application on your Mac, and paste this command (found under ‘Usage’ on the above github page) followed by a :
cd ~/Downloads; mkdir -p lpx_links/app ; cd lpx_links/app ; curl -#L https://github.com/davidteren/lpx_links/tarball/master | tar -xzv –strip-components 1 ; ./lpx_links.rb
(should be all on one line)
What this does is
- create a folder lpx_links in your Downloads folder
- create a list of links to all Packages (*.pkg) needed for a complete Logic install
- put this list in a text file lpx_links:download_links:links.txt
The text file contains 582 (!) links on as many lines. Here’s the start of the file:
http://audiocontentdownload.apple.com/lp10_ms3_content_2016/../lp10_ms3_content_2013/GarageBandBasicContent.pkg
http://audiocontentdownload.apple.com/lp10_ms3_content_2016/../lp10_ms3_content_2013/JamPack1.pkg
[…]
I looked through the file, and found these packages:
http://audiocontentdownload.apple.com/lp10_ms3_content_2016/MAContent10_AssetPack_0540_PlugInSettingsGB.pkg
http://audiocontentdownload.apple.com/lp10_ms3_content_2016/MAContent10_AssetPack_0541_PlugInSettingsGBLogic.pkg
http://audiocontentdownload.apple.com/lp10_ms3_content_2016/MAContent10_AssetPack_0542_PlugInSettingsLogic.pkg
I then pasted these lines one by one in the address-bar of my browser and hit return. In the Downloads folder I now had the above 3 PlugInSettings packages. From there on it was simple: double click each of the packages to start the installer, pick the right drive, enter password, etc. Now when launching LPX I *did* have the missing presets. Problem solved.
More thoughts
This list of package-links might be helpful for anyone wanting to maintain a backup of all Logic installers / additional content packages. Using a download manager you could easily download all 582 packages and put them on a backup drive. Or: this method could be used to download all installers once, after which you can install Logic on multiple machines without the need to go through the 40+ GB download for every one of them. People on slow or expensive internet connections may appreciate this shortcut.
And: since I’m not sure what else went wrong with my install, do I now have to go through the process of downloading all packages and installing them all, manually, one by one? A somewhat rhetorical question, but still… there’s this nagging feeling…