Trouble with inlets/outlets on downloaded audio patches

Hi everybody,

First, I would like to say that I'm a new Max user, and while I love working with the program there is plenty that I don't understand.

I downloaded a set of audio patches created by a Max user, and when I went to open them in Max I found that the UI for each of the patches seemed to be missing their inlets/outlets. I have been trying to find a way to connect these patches to other devices, like synths and effects, so I can use them (even to output to gain/ezdac) but I have not figured it out. (The creator has a series of youtube videos demonstrating the patches where they seem to connect to other patches with no problem)

Confusingly, a little while I tried again to open one of the patches with bpatcher and suddenly, the inlets and outlets were there. I went to open the other patches and only found an empty box in the patcher window, with no programming outside of the 'presentation' view. This now happens whenever I try to open any of the patches with bpatcher, just an empty space. I've tried to create the situation that let me open the patch with its inlets/outlets that one time, but I can't figure that one out either. (I can 'open' the patches into their own patcher window and control the UI but, again, there seems to be no way to connect it to anything)

Any advice on how to troubleshoot this problem would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for reading!