Brian H.

I could use some insight and tips on more easily installing the incremental updates for Max. Max maintenance updates are usually full downloads of the app and all supporting materials, not just a binary or patch. So that means every time, I have to know what's in there and dig through everything in the Max folder to transfer any files I've added from 6.0.8 to 6.1.3, for example. Seems like a pain and high possibility for error. I have moved externals out of my Max folder, so those can stay-put. But stuff like Extras, Jamoma, clippings, Max Toolbox, etc. still have to be managed individually every time?

Hey all,
I could use some insight and tips on more easily installing the incremental updates for Max.  Max maintenance updates are usually full downloads of the app and all supporting materials, not just a binary or patch.  So that means every time, I have to know what's in there and dig through everything in the Max folder to transfer any files I've added from 6.0.8 to 6.1.3, for example.  Seems like a pain and high possibility for error.  I have moved externals out of my Max folder, so those can stay-put.  But stuff like Extras, Jamoma, clippings, Max Toolbox, etc. still have to be managed individually every time?

managing-max-updates

Your own files should remain untouched by our installers.

I recommend the use of the packages folder in your documents folder for managing your own content. You can put just about anything you like in there.

+1 for the packages folder. You can even run multiple versions of Max and have access to the same content !

Whoa...OK, let me see if I get this: I create ~/Documents/Max/Packages/clippings, stuff (beyond the standard install) in there, and it appears as a clipping in Max? And if I specifically add ~/Documents/Max/Packages/templates to my Max path, files in there will appear in New > From Template? Is that the basic idea?

I tried it quickly-- clippings worked with some things, but not others. I put a bunch of my clippings in a folder named as above (also tried creating a subfolder), and they didn't appear. But it worked for Vizzie and some other stuff that I moved from /Applications/Max 6.1/patches/clippings.

Is this new? I didn't see a packages folder in 6.0.8.

Whoa...OK, let me see if I get this:  I create ~/Documents/Max/Packages/clippings, stuff (beyond the standard install) in there, and it appears as a clipping in Max?  And if I specifically add ~/Documents/Max/Packages/templates to my Max path, files in there will appear in New > From Template?  Is that the basic idea?

I tried it quickly-- clippings worked with some things, but not others.  I put a bunch of my clippings in a folder named as above (also tried creating a subfolder), and they didn't appear.  But it worked for Vizzie and some other stuff that I moved from /Applications/Max 6.1/patches/clippings.

Is this new?  I didn't see a packages folder in 6.0.8.

I create ~/Documents/Max/Packages/clippings, stuff (beyond the standard install) in there, and it appears as a clipping in Max?

i'm not sure if you can do this, you have multiple packages in the "package" folder, and each one has its folder, so it's more sure to do

~/Documents/Max/Packages/MyStuffInPackageFormat/clippings

same thing : rather do ~/Documents/Max/Packages/MyStuffInPackageFormat/templates

And if I specifically add ~/Documents/Max/Packages/templates to my Max path, files in there will appear in New > From Template? Is that the basic idea?

Not really. The basic idea is that you DON'T add this to your Max paths, as Max (from 6.1x onwards iirc) should have created a ~/Documents/Max/Packages folder and work with it in a specific way, which is not the same as when you manually add a path to your Max paths.

In fact, if you have now added anything inside ~/Documents/Max/Packages to your Max user paths, you might want to remove these, as they will interfere with the package format...

Is this new? I didn’t see a packages folder in 6.0.8.

 I create ~/Documents/Max/Packages/clippings, stuff (beyond the standard install) in there, and it appears as a clipping in Max? 

i'm not sure if you can do this, you have multiple packages in the "package" folder, and each one has its folder, so it's more sure to do 

 And if I specifically add ~/Documents/Max/Packages/templates to my Max path, files in there will appear in New > From Template? Is that the basic idea?

Not really. The basic idea is that you DON'T add this to your Max paths, as Max (from 6.1x onwards iirc) should have created a ~/Documents/Max/Packages folder and work with it in a specific way, which is not the same as when you manually add a path to your Max paths.
In fact, if you have now added anything inside ~/Documents/Max/Packages to your Max user paths, you might want to remove these, as they will interfere with the package format...

A little thing : there are two Packages folders which are recognized by Max and created by default.

They behave similarly. It can be confusing, you might want to prefer using only one of those in order to have everything installed in one place... but the idea is that the

is dependant on current max folder, whereas the

will be seen by all Max installations able to see packages (for now it's not much, but for the future...)

A little thing : there are two Packages folders which are recognized by Max and created by default. 

and the other is in
/Applications/Max6/Packages

They behave similarly. It can be confusing, you might want to prefer using only one of those in order to have everything installed in one place... but the idea is that the
/Applications/Max6/Packages
is dependant on current max folder, whereas the
~/Documents/Max/Packages
will be seen by all Max installations able to see packages (for now it's not much, but for the future...)


Ah, thanks a lot Vichug, now I get it! Works like a charm so far, seems like a great solution. Would be useful to be able to use whatever folder/subfolder I'd like for Packages someday.

Ah, thanks a lot Vichug, now I get it!  Works like a charm so far, seems like a great solution.  Would be useful to be able to use whatever folder/subfolder I'd like for Packages someday.


The ~/Documents/Max folder seems to be missing here on my computer. No biggie for now, but I would very much like to have all my externals in one place on my documents folder.

The ~/Documents/Max folder seems to be missing here on my computer. No biggie for now, but I would very much like to have all my externals in one place on my documents folder.
What is the clever solution?


Should work by just creating the folder manually.

Managing Max updates...