Why Your Extension Doesn’t Load in SAMSON (and How to Fix It)

You’re excited to try out a new SAMSON Extension developed by your colleague—or maybe you’ve returned to your own favorite plugin after a break—only to see that it doesn’t load when SAMSON starts. 😕

This often confuses molecular modelers, especially when the Extension previously worked fine. Most of the time, the culprit is version incompatibility between SAMSON and the SDK version used to build the Extension. The good news? It’s easy to understand and solve, once you grasp how SAMSON checks for compatibility.

Understanding SAMSON SDK Version Compatibility

When launching SAMSON, the software checks the version of each Extension’s SDK and compares it to the SDK version it currently supports. If there’s a mismatch, SAMSON may block the Extension from loading for your safety and stability.

Here’s the simple logic SAMSON follows:

• The major version number of the SDK used to build the Extension must match SAMSON’s current major version.
• The minor version of the SDK must be less than or equal to SAMSON’s minor version.

For instance:

Why this rule? An Extension built with a more recent SDK may use features your current SAMSON version doesn’t support yet. Preventing it from loading avoids errors and crashes.

How to Make Extensions Work Again

Here are a few ways to fix compatibility issues:

• Update SAMSON: The easiest way. Newer versions of SAMSON can load more Extensions. SAMSON also handles Extension updates automatically if you have an internet connection.
• Check the SDK version: If you’re a developer, ensure the SDK version you’re compiling with is supported by your target SAMSON version.
• Don’t downgrade SAMSON if the Extension was built with a newer SDK. Instead, ask the developer to recompile it with an older SDK, or simply update your SAMSON installation.

Your Extensions Will Update Automatically—If Compatible

For convenience, SAMSON automatically updates Extensions during startup if a compatible new version is available on SAMSON Connect. But it only updates to versions that your current SAMSON supports. This makes it easy to stay up-to-date while keeping everything stable.

Here’s a real-world example:

Final Tip

Whenever you’re unsure why an Extension isn’t working, start by checking both the SDK version it was built with and the version of SAMSON you have installed. Compatibility is key—and easy to manage once you know where to look.

To learn more about SAMSON versioning and compatibility, check out the official documentation here:
https://documentation.samson-connect.net/users/latest/versioning/

SAMSON and all SAMSON Extensions are free for non-commercial use. You can download SAMSON at https://www.samson-connect.net