Port ID Conflicts

Each Port ID carries one active route at a time. If a Chain won't activate, it's almost always because a Port ID it needs is already in use. The ProPatch app checks every Chain you activate or edit against the Port IDs in use and asks you what to do.

Three kinds of conflict

On some models, a front-panel Port ID and a rear Port ID share one path through the matrix, so they conflict even though the IDs differ. See Front and rear Port IDs that share a path.

The CONFLICTS DETECTED dialog lists each conflicting Chain as a collapsible row (<chain name> N nodes). Expand a row to see the conflicting Device → Node (ports) lines.

With another active Chain

• DEACTIVATE turns off the listed Chains and activates yours.
• CANCEL (or the ✕) leaves the listed Chains running and your Chain off. If an edit caused the conflict, such as adding a Node to an active Chain, the edit stays. Press Cmd+Z to undo it. Esc doesn't close this dialog.

Locked Chains get the same dialog, and DEACTIVATE turns them off too. A lock protects structure, not active state.

Inside one Chain

Double-clicking a browser Node does nothing if the selected Chain already uses its Port IDs. Dragging it in adds it switched off. Switch it on and the app deactivates the Chain, marks the conflicting Nodes red, and opens this dialog.

• UNDO reverses the change and restores the Chain.
• LEAVE OFF keeps the change and the Chain off. Until you remove or switch off a conflicting Node, activating the Chain shows CHAIN INVALID.

With a Normal

• DENORMAL turns off the listed Chains and moves the Normal to yours.
• CANCEL leaves the existing Normal in place.

Activating an ordinary Chain never prompts about a normaled one: the Normal breaks and returns on its own. See Normals.

MIDI never opens a conflict dialog: the last note wins. See MIDI Control.

How two Nodes end up on the same Port ID

Conflicts are by Port ID, not Node name. These all conflict:

• Two differently named Nodes assigned to the same Port ID.
• A mono Node on one side of an active stereo Node.
• A duplicated Node or Chain that still uses the original's Port IDs.

Front and rear Port IDs that share a path

On the ProPatch 32, 64, and 200, some front-panel channels aren't extra matrix channels. Each is a second jack on a rear channel's path through the matrix. The pair has two Port IDs, such as FP1 and C1 on a ProPatch 64, but it's one path, so only one of them can be active at a time.

You can assign Nodes to both Port IDs. Activating the second one gives the standard conflict dialog, listing the other Port ID. If both are in the same Chain, the dialog names them: "FP1 and C1 are the same physical channel - they can't both be active." That's how the hardware is built, not a fault.

"none" means the front channel is its own matrix channel and never conflicts with a rear Port ID. On the ProPatch 128, all 16 front channels are their own matrix channels, so no front and rear Port IDs share a path.

When a front-panel patch conflicts with a rack Device:

• Choose which one stays active.
• If both must run at once, move one Device to a channel that doesn't share a path, and update its Node's Port IDs.
• Keep safety-critical and always-on routes on rear channels that don't share a path.

Diagnose a persistent conflict

1. Expand each row in the conflict dialog and note the listed Port IDs.
2. Hold O to compare real Port IDs, not Node names (port overlays).
3. Expand stereo Nodes and check whether a mono Node overlaps one side.
4. Check duplicated Nodes and Chains; copies keep the original's Port IDs.
5. On a ProPatch 32, 64, or 200, check the shared front and rear Port IDs.
6. Fix wrong assignments via the Node's ⋮ › Go to device....
7. If you moved cables, update the Port IDs to match.
8. Activate the Chain again and listen for relay clicks.

Relays click but no audio? The route reached the hardware. See Troubleshooting.