recording the audio output of max into a sound file

hi guys, i'm in need of a bit of advice

i'm working on a program that takes samples that you drag in to it then runs it through a grainstretch external and various delays then a live.gain for overall level into an ezdac~ which is the audio output. i wanted to be able to record the effected signal of the sample i dropped into the program as a standalone sound file saved to somewhere like the desktop and that can be played back in itunes/imported into logic pro etc so at the end of the chain i have an sfrecord~ going out of the live.gain. i saw on the help file you have to have a message box "open" running into it that you click on to make a file name, then a toggle to turn the sfrecord~ on but when i turn the audio on, the effected signal comes through and i turn the toggle for the sfrecord~ on, the file that i get out of it is exactly 0 seconds long. what is going wrong? is it actually possible to record sounds generated within max?

joe