Mac OS 10.8 Mountain Lion Compatibility Issues

Hello Everyone,

I just did a full reformat and installed a fresh version of Mac OS 10.8 Mountain Lion GM Preview. This thread is to summarize the compatibility issues I am seeing and hopefully find resolutions.

Steps I Took
1) Install OS Mac 10.8
2) Install Traktor 2.5
3) Install Maschine 1.7
4) Install Komplete 8
5) Download all updates

Note: Default installation paths were used everywhere.

Hardware
MacBook Late 2008
Intel 2GHZ Core 2 Duo
8GB Ram
512GB SSD

Major Issues
There were three major issues I faced.

#1) NI Audio Interfaces not Compatible

The new USB 3.0 Drivers are causing all NI audio interfaces to fail (in my case Kontrol S4 and Audio 2). A comprehensive discussion of the issue can be found in this thread. A temporary work around can be found here, which involves replacing the USB 3.0 Drivers with the older USB 2.0 Drivers from Mac OS 10.7.3.

Also after installing the latest drivers from the service center, they still appear as not installed (which it's possible that they aren't I suppose in relation to the above USB 3.0 issue?)

#2) Unable to Install Komplete Elements 1.7 MK2 Update for Maschine - Komplete_Elements_Mk2_100.iso

This is the update that was delivered via email with a link to the .iso file. It is required to upgrade Komplete Elements to version 1.7 for Maschine integration.

Upon mounting the .iso and launching the installer, the installer just hangs (keeps bouncing in dock but nothing happens). Force quitting is necessary to end the installer process.

Looking into the system logs we see that the installer is crashing:

Reading through the crash report it potentially has something to do with the new sandboxing in Mountain Lion, but it's unclear exactly if that's the issue.

I do not have a workaround to this and so far have been unable to install the upgraded Komplete Elements for Maschine 1.7.

#3) Service Center Randomly Crashes when Downloading Updates
I can reproduce this by downloading the Traktor 2.5 Remix Deck Content Update. However, the crashes are also random and frequent while downloading other updates -- the remix content is the only one I have been unable to fully download without a crash.

There are also crash logs for this:

I've attached both log crash files.


Minor Annoyances

1) To install certain legacy applications, you still need to run the Leopard Installer Patch as explained in this thread. In my case this was necessary to install the "Battery 3 Artist Kits Installer" update.

2) Battery3 content updates are offered in the service center for legacy products I do not own. Battery Update for Synthetic Drums 1 and 2 is one example.

3) Content and Manual updates are not auto-installed into the correct directly and it can be unclear if you have the latest versions since they aren't detected by the service center. In general, I think managing all the updates after a clean reinstall is the biggest pain point of NI software.



Other than the above, it's been a pretty smooth reinstall. Looking forward to getting some fixes, especially for issue #1 and #2.

Keep up the good work NI. You guys seriously do amazing stuff.

 

Follow up resolutions to issues #1 and #2:

This was resolved using the beta drivers released by Native Instruments and available here.

This was resolved using the following tip from NI support:

Everything running smoothly now!

 

Service Center crashing after download here also. Workaround: only download one thing at a time, so you don't get partial downloads of the rest.

Also experiencing general audio glitchiness, even with beta drivers installed.

 

I disagree; the issue is not "resolved" - it's just a patch to make things basically functional. NI is right to call these drivers "beta" - just like any beta software you should not use it unless you absolutely have to.

Here's my experience: I've used my S4 with my 2011 MacBook Air for almost a year now. I decided this week to try it on Mountain Lion because I really want the new features of 10.8. I was hoping the issue might not be there since the 2011 MacBook Air does not have USB 3 ports. But the issue was there: at first try there was a horrible crackling instead of music . So I downloaded the beta drivers. It "worked" in so far as music played instead of crackling - but the quality was horrible compared to under 10.7. The sound was flat. It was like the mids & highs were being compressed while the lows were being boosted by some kind of cheap bass-booster effect. It also seemed like I could hear an underlying distortion in every song. I played a gig tonight and all my levels were set as always, yet the clip lights on the amps were lighting up like never before. The sound quality was embarrassing to me.

So tonight I'm preparing to roll back my system to 10.7.4 (thank you Time Machine) so as not to be embarrassed again this weekend.

I strongly advise Mac users to take caution with Mountain Lion until NI gets the drivers right. This includes postponing the purchase of a new Mac if you plan to use it with one of the known-issue sound cards.

I hope NI is able to get those beta drivers up to NI quality soon!

 

Hi guys !

First of all, sorry for my bad english !

I've read all the topics about the Lion 10.8 issues, and i've got the same problem.

I'm actually having problems when running Traktor Pro with my S4, same as everyone (bad sound and stuff). I've installed the Beta Drivers but it is still the same.

And also, i'm having issues with the CPU, it's always in the red even when i'm doing anything. Is this related with the 10.8 problems ?

Everything used to work fine before the update

I hope Apple won't do the same with every updates !

 

Hey guys... Any updates on this?

 

Hi, nope.

Native Instruments is not responsible (so they say) and Apple does NOTHING, as always... except earning lots of money. It is a problem with the USB driver in Mac OS 10.8 and not NI specific.
Would be great if they could help though they are not responsible.

Cheers, Marc

 

Love this point the finger game, and very hard to understand sometimes compatibility issues. I do this for a living, I answer in 8 hours time on an average of 30 phone calls most of which deal with compatibility issues. I know how it feels trust me... I'm sure it will not be overlooked, but from what I hear, trying to tackle USB compatibility hardware-programming issues is a beastly task. If you need evidence I suggest you think again why we all seem so frustrated on this very particular issue. This is a tough situation because all parties have whats called "Plausible Deniability", as Native Instruments states, "Our products are specific to USB 2.0- It says it right on the box", and PC/Mac hardware vendors state, "USB 3.0 is suppose to be backwards compatible- blah blah blah". IF you think of it like this, the technical teams at these different corporations have a long list of problems that need addressing. I mean that list is incredibly long, and a lot of what needs addressing is very hardware specific. SO they need to combine fixes for a number of different PC/Macs that have different hardware. So, just saying....

 

This is no point the finger game. We are just experiencing "point the finger" between Native Audio and Apple. It does not matter if one party has "Plausible Deniability". It would be best for us, the customers, which are paying the bills of BOTH parties, if all of them would work together and solve this problem.

Compatibilty issues are not very hard to understand. I am a network administrator and know what comptability means. We, the customers from Apple, Native Instruments, Korg, ${whatever company to insert here} are investing thousands of ${currency here} to WORK with their equipment and have the RIGHT that this equipment ist working as expected.

If you buy a car, what would you say if the dealer says "I know, the fuel pump is broken but it is not manufactured in our company, so it is not our problem!"

Excuse my english, I am German.

Cheers, Marc

 

Yesterday OS X 10.8.2 update came out. Included in some notes I am able to see in my job, it included some USB updates. I haven't had a chance to test with my S4, but another poster in another thread stated that after 10.8.2 update the issues in 10.8.1 were resolved. The poster did not mention using the beta drivers.

If anyone gets the chance to test, please post results. Thanks.

 

Hello Everyone,

This is my second post and I'm happy to be a member!
I'm an old analog type of guy and I just bought an iMac (with Mountain Lion), Pro Tools 10 and a Mbox 3rd Gen Pro.

I just pre-ordered Komplete 9 Ultimate.

How are the compatibility issues looking between Komplete 9 and Mountain Lion?
My iMac is two weeks old and is running Pro Tools 10 like a champ.
Is Komplete 9 tuned up and ready to fly on Mountain Lion?
Thanks for your reply! )

 

NI Customer Support sent me an email relating to my question about compatibility with Mountain Lion in the above post:
"You should not have any kind of compatibility issues."

This is great news and I will be able to sleep again!

 

Good news! Komplete 9 Ultimate and Pro Tools 10 are running like a champ on my iMac with Mountain Lion! Woooo Hooooo!