Well, not exactly THAT kind of happy ending....
...but a happy ending nevertheless!!
Here's what happened:
I bought an 003 Factory with
a PT9 cross-grade. I was told at the time of the sale that "Strike" drums were included in PT9, which was a big reason why I bought the system. I had no experience with computer DAWs, or recording software, I just told the guy I wanted a good drum program. It's was important to me. I took his word that Strike was a good program (for me).
I did all the install stuff, but couldn't find the "Bomb Factory" plug-ins, or the Strike plug-in.
Turns out that
the NEW installer disks for the PT8 systems don't include the Bomb Factory plug-ins anymore, and they have to be downloaded from Avid. Good to know....I wish someone had given me that heads-up when I bought the system. I thought I was installing the software incorrectly, so I did uninstall/reinstall. Waste of time. I downloaded those plug-ins. No big deal....
The sales dude said again, "PT9 includes Strike drums--look for them." So I did. And did again, and did again.
BIGGER WASTE OF TIME!
I called tech support for assistance.
Me: I can't find the Strike plug-ins included in PT9.
Tech Support: Strike is not included in PT9.
The sales dude did the right thing (IMHO), and I ultimately got the Strike software plug-in authorization to me for no charge ($299 retail!), which was what I had originally bargained for.
Time to get to work!