Oh, I thought, that I searched the forum completely, but now I found this one - a bit different, but somehow similar…:
Problem loading Cabbage plugins in Native Instruments Maschine
Are you sure each plugin has a unique plugin id?
Yes, they have.
Hmm, I guess there is no way I can run the machine host without the hardware?
No, you can run the Maschine software without the hardware.
Oh, so I can probably grab a demo somewhere and test myself 
I have never seen a demo version, but if you find one…
There seems to be no demo version available on the NI web site:
https://support.native-instruments.com/hc/en-us/articles/213038629-Where-Can-I-Find-the-DEMO-Version-of-a-Native-Instruments-Product-
Yeah, that’s an issue alright. I’ve no come across this issue in any other host, and I’ve run Cabbage is almost all of the hosts on Windows. Actually, Samplitude is one of the few I haven’t run Cabbage with, but as you say, that one works fine. You don’t happen to have any VST wrapping plugins that can’ host the Cabbage plugins? I’m not even sure there are any on Windows tbh…
I will try a wrapper, come back to you later.
In the meantime, it might be worth updating the NI thread to say that even if the binaries are different, we till suffer from the same problem…
Updateted the NI thread an tried a wrapper, will try another one later.
The wrapper works, but is not the solution, only a workaround. The one, that I tested now, is only VST2, and I cannot map instrument knobs/faders to Maschine master macros. These are a simple way, to have access to relevant parameters of different plugins at the same time, without constantly switching from one plugin to the other while playing live. But I can now load both Cabbage instruments and tweak their GUIs as needed. At least.
You mentioned the plugin id - which role does it play? If the binaries are identical, the plugin id cannot be a part of the binary, so it is only in the CSD file. Should that have influence on loading plugins by the host?
It hasn’t in any other host I’ve tested with, but there is always one. The plugin name and id should technically be built into the plugin at compile time. Let me try something…
Ok, can you open the plugins once again with Hexed or whatever you’re using. Search for the string CabbRORY. Change RORY to something unique. Save and try again. If it doesn’t work with this change it’s because Cabbage overwrites that key when a plugin is launched. So maybe if I stop Cabbage from doing that, you might be able to convince Maschine that each plugin is somehow unique. 
Edit: you might as well try changing the Cabb string too while you’re at it…
Will try that in the afternoon.
But what I found out this morning: there are many strings “pluginID” in the dll/vst3, all (as far as i investigated it) followed by zeros, here is an example:
But where should I expect the unique pluginID? If the pluginID is not written to the binary, then all the plugins have the same useseless dummy ID, and that may confuse Maschine. That woukld also explain, why the binaries are absolutely identical.
That pluginId reference is a red herring. The CabbRORY string is what you need to modify. That’s the placeholder plugin ID. But when a Cabbage plugin is launched by a host, it scans the .csd file an dynamically updates the plugin ID. Maschine obviously isn’t happy about this step.
That could be a good idea - the only problem: there is no “CabbRORY” in the file… 
Strange, I searched through some Cabbage VSTs yesterday and found that string. Maybe I was looking at old plugins. Crap. Give me sec…
a sec later… yes, I must have scanned an older plugin. Ok, let me build one here with an embedded plugin ID…
Yeah, that didn’t really work either. I’ll have to park this for now and think about it further. I thought I could explicitly set the plugin code and then hex edit it after, but that doesn’t seem to work either. I’ll keep looking into it.
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In the meantime, I tried several VST wrappers, I ended with:
https://www.bluecataudio.com/Products/Product_PatchWork
This seems to do the job (and much more…). The first of the other two that I tested, had a really horrible UI, and the second cutted of the release of some notes. These both were useless to me.
Of course, a real solution of the problem would be nice, but now, that I have the blue cat… I am happy so far.
The support call at NI is still open, perhaps I get some useful information from there. If so, I let you know.
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