editing/debugging m4l patches (real-time w/ incoming midi)

Hey guys,
Long time live user, noob max user. I've been through all the max tutorials, mostly pretty clear, but there doesn't seem to be a good starting point or tutorial explaining the fundamentals of using max to interact w/ live.

Right now the problem I'm having is making a small modification to the CS Step Sequencer to use with my APC. The patch works fine in on the control surface when in playback or edit mode, but there doesn't seem to be any feedback from live into the max runtime - e.g. the bar indicator doesn't increment with the changing pages (in follow mode or manual), and whenever I try to add a print object it doesn't output anything when I expect it to. I'd like to add a constant "bar indicator" to the running lights, and I've found the stuff I need to edit, but I can't figure out how to get some changes working incrementally and test them inside max.

I've tried turning on and off live preview, using presentation/patcher mode, edit/lock, and just saving the patch, but nothing has kicked max into responsiveness. What combination of modes do you use to test changes in the patch - also, do all nested patchers need to be in this mode? The piece I'm trying to edit is about 5 patchers deep.

Alternately, is there a good starting document to read that would clarify things? Thanks.

M