Kontakt 8 plugin unavailable in Logic Pro after system reset

Hello,

Problem is that Logic Pro suddenly can't find a plug-in that was there before the last time I reset the computer.

I'm in Logic Pro 12.2.2 in Sonoma 14.7.5:

I have a project that has been working great, uses 3 plugins (Ivory, Kontakt 8, and Superior Drummer 3).

Playback was suddenly crackling, so I closed Logic, reset the computer, power cycled the Audio Interface (RME) and the laptop came back online. This crackling has happened before, I don't remember but I think just resetting the computer & Audio Interface cleared it up(?)

Next time I opened Logic, I now get the following error 

'The plug-in named "Kontakt 8" isn't available on your system. 

Choose another plug-in, or quit Logic Pro and install the plugin on your MacBook Pro in order to use it in the project’

Kontakt was working FINE until this computer reset. All my plugin libraries (Kontakt, Superior Drummer, Ivory,etc) are on a 4TB external SSD. 

I've confirmed the same Logic project accesses the other two plugins from within the project, so it shouldn't be some kind of issue that it can't be the hard drive.

Mac's Disk Utility shows the external drive just fine. I ejected & re-connected, no change. Drive shows up fine in a Finder window.

The 2021/2 laptop is a beast (64GB RAM, 4TB SSD), has been great for Logic. And Chrome tabs.

I've gone into Logic's Plug-in Manager, and the Kontakt entry is sitting there looking happy, compatible, and in use. So I "Reset & Rescanned Selection", closed/opened Logic, no change. 

So went back to Plug-In Manager and did "Full Audio Unit Reset", closed/opened Logic, no change.

At this point, I'm thinking there may be a corrupted component file, or config file in the Macintosh HD/Library/  folder?

Does anyone have thoughts about cause, and suggestions for fixes please?  

Please don't ask me to upgrade to the latest OS and the latest Logic Pro, because word out about the latest Logic is it's buggy, and I can't upgrade the OS because some of my music interface hardware has not yet confirmed this year's flavor of OS is compatible. So I'm staying with current versions. Thanks!