A backward compatibility issue perhaps.
I've noticed that snapshots I have created in a 3.1.1 environment don't contain direct select info when transferred to aa console running 2.9
running 3.1.1.113 on a windows 11 nomad PC .esf2 file then opened in 2.9.1 build 17 on the same windows 11 nomad PC
What specific Direct Select information are you seeing missing from snapshots? Mapping and paging seems to be working fine for me going between 3.1.1.113 and 2.9.1.17.
in 3.1.1 I created a custom direct select with 9 Focus Pallets, 4 Presents and 5 Effects in a particular arrangement and saved the show in esf3 and esf2 formats. Opening the esf2 in 2.9, the frame arrangement is correct but there are no defined buttons in the direct select tab.
Custom Direct Selects changed in 3.1, so the button mapping is now within a target, rather than stored as part of a Snapshot directly. As such there wouldn't be a way for CDS mapping to carry backwards from 3.1.