If you experience plugin activation errors such as 'Could not find license file on local machine' this may be caused by a change in your Content Download Drive.


In this article we will go through the causes and steps to fix this.


1) Content Download Drive. This is a drive location where a single 'Synth' folder is created for your plugins and plugin content. If the Content Download Drive location and 'Synth' folder has been changed, duplicated or edited - this could very well be cause activation issues and errors when attempting to use your plugins. 

Note: Resetting your MPC's preferences will also reset the existing content download drive.



2) 'Synth' Folder: As mentioned, this folder is where all the plugins and their content files are stored when you download and activate plugin instruments and FX on your MPC.


On my MPC Live II here, I have this 'Synth' folder saved on my installed SSD under the name 'Test' - I set my SSD via Content Download Drive in the Activations menu.

Yours may be an user-installed SSD, SD card or USB drive. Using these drives are most preferred than the MPC's Internal Drive for storage management purposes:


When you enter the 'Synth' folder, you will find folders relating to your activated plugins and FX:



  • If you can see this folder: But can't see a particular plugin (not applicable to MPC Stems) this would indicate that another drive may have been used as the Content Download Drive when installing plugins in the past.


  • If you cannot see this folder: This would indicate that the 'Synth' folder may already be existing in another drive location.


To fix this, look for the 'Synth' folder on any external drives you may have used as your Content Download Drive. On the MPC's Internal drive, this will be under: Menu > Browser > Places > Internal.


Once the 'Synth folder has been found, delete the entire folder (Press Shift and Tap Delete) and perform the following steps in order:


1. Power off MPC
2. Power on MPC
3. Go to: Menu > Preferences > Activations and set the Content Download Drive to your chosen external drive (i.e user-installed SSD, SD card or USB drive)*


*Note: This external drive will need to be permanently connected to your MPC when activating and installing your plugins. I would suggest using an SD card or user-installed SSD (MPC Live, Live II, X, X SE and Key 61 only)



4. You should now see a download icon appear besides all of your plugins. Tap on the download icon and 'Activate' icon to start a fresh installation of your plugins:



5. Once this has been done, you should now find that your plugins and plugin content have been downloaded to a new ‘Synth’ folder on your chosen Content Download Drive - which will resolve plugin activation related errors.