Install the Plugin Manager

You need root SSH access to the MPC and its IP address (network settings, or your router).

1. Connect: type the IP address (and password, if you use one), press Connect.
2. Choose: tick plugins from the list. Verified = tested on hardware, Listed = passed automatic checks, Experimental = new or unproven.
3. Install: save your project, press Install… and confirm. MPC restarts once; your settings are backed up first.
4. Use: add the plugin to a track from the plugin browser.

• Update: tick a plugin marked update and install. Your projects and own files (ROMs, kits) are kept.
• Remove: Remove plugins → tick → Remove…. Your own files are kept.
• Register plugin folders: adds plugin folders MPC is missing from its list (for example after a card was out at start-up).
• Clean up old backups: keeps the newest settings backups (10 is plenty).
• Install to: pick the internal drive, an SD card or a USB drive. The internal drive is the safest.
• Your own zips: drop zip files into the box under the list. Plugins marked Build it yourself have no download: see the Build page.

At the bottom of the app, step 7 (Advanced: device patches, collapsed) lists community patches that change the device itself, not a plugin. An example is the 16-pad drum layout for some plugins, which changes Akai's own MPC program. This is not for most people, and the app only looks: open the step (or press Check the device) and it asks the device which patches are applied. It cannot apply or undo a patch yet; each row links to a guide for running the script yourself over SSH. The same patches, with what each one changes, its backup and its script checksum, are on the Device patches page.

Three patches are listed today: the 16-pad drum layout (it changes Akai's MPC program), the drive exec patch (it lets MPC load plugins from a drive mounted noexec, such as an MPC/Force's SSD, by making one folder of the drive executable; it adds a service to the device; the original was tried on one Force by its author, and this adapted version is untested on a device so far, testers are wanted), and the button remap (an LD_PRELOAD shim that turns a hardware button into other buttons, a pad or a screen tap; its author tried it on an MPC Live with Hakai and on a Force, and this installer is untested on a device so far, testers are wanted: it edits MPC's launcher or adds a service drop-in, remounts the root filesystem writable for a moment and restarts MPC, so keep an SSH session open and know how to run its uninstall before you try it). A row can also say Installed, not active (the patch is installed but not in effect right now, for example because a drive is not mounted, or because MPC has not loaded the remap).

A row can say This firmware is not supported. That is the patch refusing, on purpose: it only works on one exact build of MPC OS, checked by a checksum, and the row shows your device's checksum and what the patch supports. If an earlier install left a backup of the stock program, the patch's guide explains how to restore it first.

MPC keeps its whole plugin list in one place: the pluginList-arm list in its settings file, MPC.settings. Every way of installing plugins edits that same list, so one method can undo another. The plugin's files usually are still on the card; only its line in the list is gone. The usual causes:

• The settings file was edited while MPC was running. MPC holds its settings in memory while it runs and saves them itself, so a change made underneath it can be overwritten. Stop MPC first (systemctl stop acvs; if systemctl cat acvs finds no such service, as on some MPC OS 2.x versions and on Hakai-enabled systems, the service is inmusic-mpc), edit, then start it (systemctl start acvs). The app and the installers do this for you.
• Another tool rebuilt the whole list. Some community installers and scan scripts do not add one line: they write a new list from the plugin folders they find in the Synths folders (each folder with a plugin-meta.xml inside). A plugin that is not such a folder, for example one added by hand or installed by an older release with its .so in /sdcard/vst, drops off the list at the next scan. A release is such a folder if its zip has a portable/ folder inside, and a scan keeps it. Reinstall anything older with a release that has one.
• The settings file became invalid. After a broken edit MPC resets MPC.settings to its defaults, which empties the plugin list along with your other preferences. Restore a backup (below).
• The line points to a file that is not there: a plugin folder was moved or renamed, or the card it is on is not inserted.

Check what MPC has registered, and whether each file exists (on the device, over SSH):

grep -o 'file="[^"]*"' /media/az01-internal/Settings/*/MPC.settings | cut -d'"' -f2 |
    while read -r f; do [ -f "$f" ] && echo "ok       $f" || echo "MISSING  $f"; done

To get plugins back:

• Register the plugin folders in the app (step 5, "Register plugin folders"). If the plugin's folder is still on the device or its card, this adds its line back to the list without reinstalling anything. This is the quickest fix, and the right one when a card was out when MPC started.
• Install the plugin again (the current release) with the app. It adds its own line back and leaves every other plugin's line alone. This is the safest fix.
• Or restore a backup of the settings file. The app and the installers leave one next to the original each time they change it, named MPC.settings.bak-<plugin>-<date> (or bak-remove-…, bak-sync-…). List them newest first with ls -t /media/az01-internal/Settings/*/MPC.settings.bak-*, then stop MPC, copy the one you want over MPC.settings, and start MPC. A backup also brings back the preferences you had at that time.

Before you paste a command you found online into the device's shell, copy the settings file to your computer: scp "root@<device-ip>:/media/az01-internal/Settings/*/MPC.settings" . Any command that rebuilds, restores or resets that file replaces your whole plugin list.

• The app cannot connect. Check the IP address (it can change), that the device is on and on the same network, and that SSH is enabled. If you use a password, check it; otherwise the app only tries an SSH key in ~/.ssh that has no passphrase.
• The app says it cannot install on this device. It only installs to a 32-bit ARM MPC OS device where you are logged in as root.
• MPC shows default settings after the restart. The edited settings file was not accepted. Restore the backup the installer made, next to MPC.settings (see above).
• The plugin is not in the list. MPC reads its plugin list at startup. Check that the app's log ended with "Done", then see "If a plugin disappears after a restart" above.
• My drive is "noexec" and the app will not install there. Linux lets each drive be mounted with or without permission to run programs. MPC mounts external drives (SSD, SD card, USB stick) without it, and a plugin is a program, so MPC lists it but cannot load it. This is a device rule, not an app bug. Pick one: 1. Install on the internal drive (simplest, nothing on the device changes). In the app choose the internal drive under Install to; if it has no Synths folder yet the app creates it. If you only see the external drive, reconnect, or create a Synths folder at the top of the internal drive by hand. 2. Keep the plugins on the external drive with the drive exec patch (step 7, Advanced): it makes only that drive's Synths folder executable. It runs on 32-bit (Gen1) devices, takes one drive at a time, and needs the drive named under /media. After it is applied, run the script's verify (sh drive-exec-patch.sh verify): it checks that MPC itself, not just the shell, sees the executable folder, and that your plugins are in that folder. Then, in the app, run "Register plugin folders" (step 5) and restart MPC. If it still shows only "Load Plugin": the usual causes are plugins installed in a different folder than the patched one (the patch covers <drive>/Synths only), MPC started before the drive was ready (restart MPC with the drive in), or a second drive (the patch handles one).
• The plugin is in the list but only "Load Plugin" shows. MPC could not load the library. Two usual causes: the plugin sits on a drive mounted noexec (an MPC/Force's SSD is; check with mount | grep noexec, and install to the internal drive or an SD card instead, or, if you are comfortable with SSH, the optional drive exec patch listed in the app's "Advanced: device patches" step, which makes one folder of the drive executable: it is untested on a device so far, read its guide first, it adds a small service to the device), or it is a build that needs a newer glibc than your MPC OS has (a copy installed by hand, or a version older than the catalog's current one). Install the newest version from the app. If it still fails, send the journalctl -u acvs lines (or journalctl -u inmusic-mpc where there is no acvs) from the moment you add the plugin to a track, plus the output of ls -l /lib/libc.so.6.
• The page is empty on MPC OS 2.x. The plugin is made for MPC OS 3.x (the app warns about this before installing it on a 2.x device): its skin is in the newer format, which MPC OS 2.x does not draw. It still plays from the Q-Links. Look for a release marked MPC OS 2.x tested, or ask the plugin's developer for one.
• The plugin loads but has no screen. The skin goes in a /sdcard/Synths folder, and MPC must have that folder in its content locations. The installer warns if it does not.
• Silence, or default sounds. Some plugins need files you provide, such as ROMs or banks. Check the plugin's own page.

Ask in the community with the plugin's name, version, your device model and the installer's output (the log in the app).

On the catalog, tick Add to install list on each plugin you want, open the bar that appears at the bottom, type your device's IP address and copy the command. Paste it into a terminal (Terminal on a Mac, PowerShell on Windows 10 or later) and press Enter. The command logs in to your device, downloads a small script (mpc-store.sh) from this site and runs it. The script:

• downloads every zip you picked and checks it against the checksum in the catalog, before it changes anything on the device;
• asks you to confirm, then stops MPC once, runs each plugin's own installer, and starts MPC again once;
• remembers what it installed, so update later installs newer versions (and holds back a change that would alter saved projects unless you add --major).

Prefer to read the script before running it? The bar has a "Read the script first" section with the steps and the hash the script should have. The same command with list, update, remove <id>, prune or sync at the end shows what is available, updates what you installed, removes a plugin (your own files in its folder are kept), deletes old backups of MPC's settings (prune --keep 10), or registers plugin folders you copied into Synths by hand. It needs the same root SSH access, and the device needs internet access. Plugins you build yourself are not included.

1. Download and check the zip. Download the zip from the plugin's card on the catalog. Every version lists a checksum (SHA-256). Compare it with your download:

shasum -a 256 Name-1.2.0-mpc-armv7.zip      # macOS and Linux
certutil -hashfile Name-1.2.0-mpc-armv7.zip SHA256    # Windows

If the first characters do not match the catalog, download it again. Also open the plugin's source link and read what you are about to run as root: the installer is a plain shell script.

2. Copy it to the device. Unzip it, then copy the whole folder over:

unzip Name-1.2.0-mpc-armv7.zip
scp -r Name-1.2.0 root@<device-ip>:/tmp/

3. Run the installer. Save your project on the device first. The installer stops MPC and starts it again.

ssh root@<device-ip> sh /tmp/Name-1.2.0/install.sh

It checks the device, stops MPC, copies the plugin folder (the plugin, its skin and its data) into /sdcard/Synths, backs up MPC.settings next to the original, adds the plugin to MPC's plugin list and starts MPC again. Add -y to skip the confirmation question. If anything fails, MPC is restarted and your settings are left unchanged.

Update: run the new version's install.sh the same way. Remove: run ssh root@<device-ip> sh /tmp/Name-1.2.0/uninstall.sh; it removes the files and the plugin-list entry (after a backup), keeps your own files, and restarts MPC.

If you would rather click than type, use an SSH app with a file browser. Termius is one (macOS, Windows, Linux, iPhone, iPad and Android); other SFTP and SSH apps work the same way. You do the same two things as steps 2 and 3 of the "By hand" version, with the mouse:

1. Add your device as a host. In Termius, add a new host with the device's IP address and the username root, using the same login you would use with ssh. Connect once to check it works.
2. Copy the folder over. Unzip the plugin's zip on your computer first. Open the host's file browser (SFTP), go to /tmp on the device, and drag the unzipped plugin folder into it.
3. Run the installer. Open a terminal on the same host and type sh /tmp/<the-folder-name>/install.sh (Tab completes the folder name). Save your project first: it stops and restarts MPC. Answer y when it asks, or add -y to skip the question.

The app's buttons and plans change over time, so check Termius's own help if a screen looks different. It is only a nicer way to copy and run: the plugin, the checksum check and the installer are the same.

Each zip's INSTALL.md lists the manual steps: copy the plugin folder (portable/<Vendor> - VST - <Name>/ in the zip) to /sdcard/Synths/, stop MPC (systemctl stop acvs), back up MPC.settings, add the line from that folder's plugin-meta.xml to the plugin list with %payload-path% replaced by /sdcard/Synths, and start MPC (systemctl start acvs, or inmusic-mpc if that is the service you stopped). Edit the settings file only while MPC is stopped (see "If a plugin disappears after a restart" above).

If you use a community tool that scans Synths folders for plugins, the same plugin folder works there: copy it into Synths and run the scan. Such a scan rebuilds the whole plugin list from the folders it finds, so it drops any plugin that is not such a folder, and it does not back up your settings first.