>> but something prevents the strings channel from generating the Real Track that the drop-down claims it has.

The usual cause of this would be setting the track to "Disable RealTracks for this track" in the RealTracks Picker dialog.
If that isn't the case, please forward file to support@pgmusic.com, with a request to forward the file to me.
Thanks


Have Fun!
Peter Gannon
PG Music Inc.