no maxpreferences.maxpref file?
Some tips in the forum indicate that I should try deleting my maxpreferences.maxpref file... but I don't seem to have one! In fact I don't have the ~/Library/Application Support/Cycling '74/Max 8/Settings/ folder either. (I do have a ~/Documents/Max 8/Library folder, but nothing like the above is in it.)
Any suggestions as to where else I should look? (I did do a search, of course.) Or a way to restore the folder/file?
What OS (Mac, Windows, etc.) are you using, as the file locations will be totally different?
In Windows 10, Max stores things in four different places!:
C:\Program Files\Cycling '74\Max 8
C:\Users\<<YourUserName>>\Documents\Max 8
C:\ProgramData\Max 8
C:\Users\ <<YourUserName>> \AppData\Roaming\Cycling '74
Bear in mind that the last two are "hidden" folders by default so you will need to enable the "hidden Items" option under the View tab in File Explorer to see them.
The items you are trying to find should be in:
C:\Users\ <<YourUserName>> \Roaming\Cycling '74\Max 8 Preferences\Settings
If you're on a Mac then it's totally different again and I can't help you!!! But somebody else here will know as most people on here use Macs.
If the files have genuinely gone missing (Microsoft OneDrive, and even DropBox, have been notorious for making your personal files disappear of late simply due to minor system clock variations!), the easiest way to get them back is to re-install (or repair) Max over the top but you will have to reconfigure any personal settings again. Normally however, re-installing Max over an otherwise intact system is non-destructive as far as existing preferences and settings are concerned.
With specific reference to user files disappearing in OneDrive and DropBox under Windows 10, I eventually tracked the problem down to the fact that a recent Windows update had turned OFF the automatic system time updates and the hardware system clock had started to drift. This caused OneDrive and DropBox to think that files had changed and/or been deleted and they disappeared into the ether! Re-enabling the system clock updates in Preferences and resetting the OneDrive/DropBox synchronisation cured the problem and fortunately I found the missing files in the OneDrive and DropBox Recycle Bins via the Web browser!!!
The configuration on Macs is obviously slightly different (and their clocks are probably more accurate anyway!) but I have also heard of the same problem affecting Macs as well.
Thanks! Actually I am on a Mac.
But anyway it finally dawned on me to look under "File Preferences", and now I've found it. Didn't realize it was a "hidden" file!