Installation

Helgobox is provided as ReaPack package. ReaPack is a popular 3rd-party package manager for REAPER that makes installing add-ons easy and keeps your installation up to date effortlessly.

System requirements

Please check below system requirements before attempting to install Helgobox!

REAPER

  • Playtime needs REAPER 7.23 or later

  • ReaLearn works acceptably with older REAPER versions, but it works better with REAPER 7.23 or later

Windows

  • ReaLearn needs Windows 7 or later

  • Playtime needs Windows 8 or later

macOS

  • ReaLearn needs macOS 10.12 or later

  • Playtime needs macOS 10.15 or later

  • For macOS 10.14 or later, all below-mentioned installation options should work

  • For macOS 10.13 or earlier, installation via installer is not supported. You need to install via ReaPack!

Linux

  • ReaLearn runs on Linux, except for a few minor features

  • Playtime doesn’t run on Linux yet!

  • Installation via installer is not supported. You need to install via ReaPack!

  • Needs glibc version 2.31 or later (e.g. Ubuntu 20)

  • Needs libxdo. You can install it like this:

    Debian, Ubuntu
    sudo apt-get install -y libxdo-dev
    openSUSE
    sudo zypper install xdotool
If you want to use a Stream Deck controller with ReaLearn on Linux, more setup is necessary.
A more detailed system compatibility table can be found here.

Installing Helgobox

Please choose:

  1. I want an installer đź‘Ť

  2. I have ReaPack and want to use it to install Helgobox

  3. I don’t have ReaPack but want to use it to install Helgobox

  4. I want to install Helgobox manually, without ReaPack

I want an installer đź‘Ť

For users who don’t have ReaPack installed already, there’s a convenient installer that automatically installs both ReaPack and Helgobox. It gets you up and running in no time, supporting even portable REAPER installations!

You can use it if you have Windows 7+ or macOS 10.14+.

Simply press the following link and follow the instructions: Install Helgobox

I have ReaPack and want to use it to install Helgobox

Here’s how you can install Helgobox via ReaPack:

  1. In REAPER, select Extensions  ReaPack  Import repositories…

  2. Copy and paste the following repository URL into the text area:

    https://github.com/helgoboss/reaper-packages/raw/master/index.xml

  3. Select Extensions  ReaPack  Browse packages…

  4. Search for helgobox

  5. Right mouse click on the package "Helgobox: ReaLearn & Playtime" and choose Install…

  6. Press OK or Apply

  7. Restart REAPER

I don’t have ReaPack but want to use it to install Helgobox

  1. Install ReaPack, following the installation section of its user guide

  2. Restart REAPER

  3. Follow the instructions in I have ReaPack and want to use it to install Helgobox

I want to install Helgobox manually, without ReaPack

If you are more the download type of person, you can find the latest dll, dylib and so files here at GitHub on the releases page for manual installation.

You also must install Helgobox manually if you plan to use it in both REAPER for Windows 32-bit and REAPER for Windows 64-bit because then it’s important to use two separate VST plug-in directories.

Validating the installation

You know that Helgobox is installed successfully if you see the menu Extensions  Helgobox.

In addition, you should see a plug-in entry "VSTi: Helgobox - ReaLearn & Playtime (Helgoboss)" after right-clicking the empty area of REAPER’s track panel and choosing Insert virtual instrument on new track…​.

On Helgobox for Linux, the extension menu entry doesn’t exist yet. But the plug-in should be there.

Troubleshooting

Helgobox plug-in doesn’t appear in the list of plug-ins

If the plug-in "VSTi: Helgobox - ReaLearn & Playtime (Helgoboss)" doesn’t appear in the list of plug-ins, please proceed as follows:

  1. If you are on Linux, make sure to follow the installation instructions for Linux!

  2. Make sure that Helgobox runs as native plug-in!

    • By default, each plug-in runs as native plug-in. If not, you probably changed the configuration at some point.

    • You can fix that by right-clicking "VSTi: Helgobox - ReaLearn & Playtime (Helgoboss)" in the plug-in list and select Run as  Native only (prevent bridging).

    • It’s technically impossible to run Helgobox as a bridged plug-in!

If none of these suggestions help, please please report a bug!

Updating Helgobox

Helgobox development moves fast! In order to take advantage of latest features, improvements and fixes, you should check the Helgobox homepage for updates from time to time.

Here’s how you can install the latest stable Helgobox version:

  1. Run Extensions  ReaPack  Synchronize packages

    • ReaPack will show you a summary at the end, which tells you whether a new Helgobox version has been installed.

  2. Restart REAPER

Testing new features and improvements

If you want to get access to cutting-edge but untested versions of Helgobox, you can install Helgobox pre-releases.

Install a specific pre-release of Helgobox

  1. Extensions  ReaPack  Browse packages…​

  2. Right-click the package "Helgobox: ReaLearn & Playtime" and navigate to the submenu Versions

  3. Select the desired pre-release version (versions containing -pre or -rc)

  4. Press OK or Apply

  5. Restart REAPER

Enable pre-releases globally

  1. Extensions  ReaPack  Manage repositories

  2. Options…  Enable pre-releases globally (bleeding edge)

  3. After that, whenever you synchronize packages, you will get the latest stuff.