Sampler pads blank after rekordbox Master DB Restore

I have 2 issues related to Samplers and rekordbox 6.

I have rekordbox 6.7.7 installed on my Windows 11 Lenova Yoga laptop and My MacBook Pro (2018) With Ventura 13.6.1

My scenario is as follows; I store my master database and music folders on a single external drive and I use the Preferences / Advanced / Database / Database Management / Select a Drive option to point to this external drive.

ISSUE#1

On Windows 10 when I made a backup and did a restore the sampler pads came back blank (I use all 64 pads) but all other data seems to be ok (Tracks, Hot cues, Loops, Playlists etc). After doing some checking around I found an XML file called SamplerSettings1.xml under PIONEER/rekorbox6 (on my external drive) that had all the info for my sampler settings. I also know that the Master Database (when stored on the local / Intenal Drive [C:] ) uses the folder /Users/name/Appdata/Roaming/Pioneer/Rekordbox6 and when I place the SamplerSettings1.xml file in that folder ... Eureka! The samples are loaded to the respective performance pads again with all the settings and edits in place. I 1st noticed this around version 6.5 so I simply manage it by copying the file to the local directory whenever I have to do a restore  (I had some internal hard rive problems on my Windows machine, the machine blue screened a couple of times and I had to replace the internal hard drive and resstore an image etc.)

The question therefore is why isn't this file read from the restore of the Master DB folder on my external drive (it's there in the folder) but instead is being read from the local C: drive although my Master DB is on an external drive? (The Master DB setting in rekordbox confirms this)

PS - I've looked through all the Preferences options in rekordbox and the only settings i see related to samplers is Controller/Sampler/Capture/Location of files but the path I see there doesn't seem to be related to my issue at all.

ISSUE#2

The 2nd issue is that the same thing happens when I restore the master database to the Mac, no samples are loaded after the restore (as expected) and I don't know which local file the Mac uses for the loaded samples so ican't just put the XML file in the folder like I do on the Windows Laptop.

Any help on this would be appreciated so i can streamline my bakups and restores going forward.