Windows is blocking something
Windows protects your PC with a few checks. Most of them only show up the first time, and each one has a fix that takes under a minute. Plugin Player has the same steps inside the app: CONTROLS tab → HELP → WINDOWS BLOCKING SOMETHING? When the camera is the problem, a SOMETHING BLOCKED? card opens by itself next to ⧉ INPUT.
| What you see | Jump to |
|---|---|
| Blue box: "Windows protected your PC" | 1 |
| "Smart App Control blocked an app" | 2 |
| Plugin Player vanished, won't start, or a "threat found" popup named it | 3 |
| The controller won't pair, or Windows shows no Bluetooth devices | 4 |
| ⧉ INPUT in warning colours: BLOCKED, DENIED, NO CAMERA, LOST | 5 |
1. "Windows protected your PC" (the blue box)
It shows up when you open the installer, or Plugin Player for the first time.
- Click More info.
- Click Run anyway.
Why it happens: apps carry a digital signature that tells Windows who made them. Plugin Player is not signed yet, so Windows doesn't recognise it and asks you first. Once it is signed, this box goes away.
No More info link? Right-click the file → Properties → tick Unblock at the bottom → OK, then open it again.
2. "Smart App Control blocked an app"
Some Windows 11 PCs have Smart App Control on. It has no "Run anyway" button.
- Download the installer again from your RexAffects link and run the new copy. Windows judges each file on its own, and the next one often goes through.
- Still blocked? Tell us: in Plugin Player go to CONTROLS → HELP → COPY SUPPORT INFO and paste it into your message. If Plugin Player won't open at all, just tell us which file was blocked.
- Please don't turn Smart App Control off just for this. On many PCs Windows can't turn it back on without a reset.
Signing fixes this for good. It is on the way.
3. Your antivirus removed or blocked Plugin Player
You might see a "threat found" popup, or Plugin Player is gone, or it won't start.
Windows Security (built in):
- Start → Windows Security → Virus & threat protection → Protection history.
- Click the entry that names Plugin Player.
- Actions → Restore (or Allow on device).
Another antivirus (Norton, McAfee, Avast, Bitdefender…): open its Quarantine, restore Plugin Player, and add it as an exception (also called exclusion or allow list).
"A second Plugin Player is running" / a hidden Plugin Player process. That is normal. On the first launch (and after an update) Plugin Player starts a hidden helper copy of itself for about a minute: it prepares the heavy scenes in the background so the app never freezes, saves them, and closes on its own. It has no window and does not use the camera or the internet. If your antivirus or firewall asks about it, it is the same Plugin Player.exe from the install folder (%LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\rexaffects-player): choose Allow. If it is blocked, Plugin Player still works; heavy scenes just take a few seconds longer every launch.
Only ever install from your RexAffects / Gumroad download link.
4. The controller won't pair: Bluetooth is off
- In Plugin Player: CONTROLS → Connect a controller → OPEN BLUETOOTH SETTINGS (also in HELP → WINDOWS BLOCKING SOMETHING?). Or Start → Settings → Bluetooth & devices.
- Turn Bluetooth on. Airplane mode must be off.
- Follow the steps for your controller in
CONNECT_A_CONTROLLER.md.
5. The camera is blocked
The scenes keep playing the demo clip whatever happens; nothing goes black because of the camera. The SOMETHING BLOCKED? card opens with the steps for your case and two buttons: OPEN CAMERA SETTINGS and TRY AGAIN. Clicking the red ⧉ INPUT opens it again.
Windows camera privacy is off (chip BLOCKED, Windows said Permission denied by system):
- Click OPEN CAMERA SETTINGS. Windows opens Privacy & security → Camera.
- Turn on Camera access.
- Scroll down and turn on Let desktop apps access your camera. Plugin Player is a desktop app, so it is not in the list of apps above that switch. That is normal.
- Back in Plugin Player, click TRY AGAIN.
Another app is using the camera (chip BLOCKED, Windows said Could not start video source). Windows lets one app use a camera at a time. Close the other app (check the little icons by the clock too). Usually one of these:
- Zoom · Microsoft Teams · OBS Studio · Resolume Arena / Avenue · Discord
- a browser tab on a video call (Chrome, Edge)
- the Windows Camera app
- NVIDIA Broadcast or a camera's own app
Then click TRY AGAIN. Nothing else open and still blocked? Do the privacy steps above.
The permission was refused (chip DENIED): do the privacy steps, click TRY AGAIN. Still no? Quit Plugin Player and open it again.
No camera found (chip NO CAMERA): plug it straight into the computer (not a hub) and wait for the Windows sound. Laptop: some have a camera key (an F-key with a camera icon) or a little shutter. A virtual camera (OBS, NVIDIA Broadcast) only shows up while its own app is running. Then TRY AGAIN.
The camera went away mid-show (chip LOST): plug it back in, then TRY AGAIN or pick it in ⧉ INPUT.
More about the camera: CAMERA.md.
On a Mac: "MAC BLOCKING SOMETHING?"
CONTROLS › HELP › MAC BLOCKING SOMETHING? shows these steps in the app, with buttons that open the right page of System Settings (and nothing else).
- "Plugin Player" cannot be opened (unidentified developer) — the first launch. In Finder, right-click (or Control-click) Plugin Player › Open, then Open in the box (once). No Open button: System Settings › Privacy & Security, scroll to Security, Open Anyway, type your Mac password. The beta is not notarized by Apple yet; once it is, this box goes away.
- Camera — BLOCKED / DENIED: Privacy & Security › Camera → turn Plugin Player on (macOS may ask you to reopen it). Close other apps that use the camera.
- Microphone — the audio reacts to nothing: Privacy & Security › Microphone → Plugin Player on, reopen.
- Bluetooth — the controller will not connect: System Settings › Bluetooth on, pair the controller there; if you said no when macOS asked about Bluetooth: Privacy & Security › Bluetooth → Plugin Player on.
- Screen Recording — only if macOS asked. Plugin Player does not record your screen (REC records its own picture); leaving it off changes nothing.
- Local Network (macOS 15 asks once) — Allow. Said no: Privacy & Security › Local Network → Plugin Player on, reopen. Needed for a phone camera over Wi-Fi; Syphon to Resolume on the same Mac does not need it.