Troubleshooting

Fixes for the common issues: no AI response, helper daemon not starting, MIDI that sounds wrong, plugins not appearing, and activation failures.

Help

Troubleshooting

No response from AI

  • ●Verify your API key is entered correctly (Settings → gear icon next to provider)
  • ●Check that you have a valid internet connection (not needed for local providers)
  • ●Try switching to a different model — some models may be temporarily unavailable
  • ●For local providers, ensure Ollama or LM Studio is running and has a model loaded

Helper daemon not starting (plugin mode)

  • ●The helper auto-launches on your first API call. If it fails, go to Settings → Start Helper
  • ●Ensure no firewall is blocking localhost connections on port 58274
  • ●In Standalone mode, the helper is not needed — Aether calls APIs directly

MIDI output sounds wrong

  • ●Try enabling post-processing (Q button) to quantize and clean up the output
  • ●Check that the key and scale parameters match your project
  • ●Try a different AI model — some models produce better musical output than others
  • ●Use the A/B comparison to check if the raw output is better than the processed version

Plugin not appearing in DAW

  • ●Run a plugin rescan in your DAW's preferences
  • ●Ensure the plugin file is in the correct directory for your platform (see Installation section)
  • ●On macOS, check System Preferences → Security & Privacy if the plugin was blocked

Activation fails

  • ●"No internet" — activation requires a network connection the first time. Check firewall/VPN settings.
  • ●"Invalid key" — verify you've copied the full key with no trailing whitespace. Check the email receipt.
  • ●"All slots used" — you've activated on three machines. Deactivate an unused machine from your account page to free a slot.
  • ●Activation stuck on "Contacting server…" — check your system clock is correct (license tokens are time-sensitive).