How I got Unisyn to working G5 10.5 > MacPro 10.6

Discussion of issues related to MOTU's Sysex Editor/Librarian program.

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How I got Unisyn to working G5 10.5 > MacPro 10.6

Post by James Steele »

Just in case anybody else has any issues, a couple things that might help.

Recently I got a used Mac Pro 2.66 Quad and moved stuff over using Migration Assistant which was relatively painless for me despite the horror stories. A couple of hopefully helpful tips:

Install Rosetta with Snow Leopard
Just to get this issue out of the way, it's my understanding you must install Rosetta with the Snow Leopard in order for Unisyn to run at all.


Have latest version
I have version 2.1.1 which I believe was the last version. Earlier versions probably won't work.


Authorization
The first issue I encountered was not authorizing. That was purely user error on my part. I'm not even sure I remembered to put the original CD in the drive before I attempted to authorize. Once I did that, it still didn't authorize. Problem was I used the keycode on the inside back cover of the manual, but the keycode was out of date. I found the original sleeve for Unisyn 2.10 update CD and there was a label on it with a newer keycode which began with "US210-". Once I entered that keycode with the CD in the drive it authorized, the Unisyn splash screen came up, and then Unisyn crashed and quit! So... next...


Delete Prefs[/u]
I went here: [username]/Library/Preferences/ and found two files: "Unisyn Prefs" and "Unisyn Setup" and moved them both to the desktop. I was scared to delete them outright, but it ended up being okay. To get this working you just plain have to setup your devices again.

Next time I launched Unisyn, it got past the startup screen and didn't crash. I had to add devices again manually and pretty much all went well.

A couple of extra notes:

1) Be sure that the Device ID set on your MIDI module itself and the "System Exclusive ID" that you see at the lower right when you double click the device in Audio MIDI Setup match.

2) If you're using an MTP AV, launch Clockworks and check that you're not muting System Exclusive events on any MIDI ports for devices you wish to use with Unisyn. That was a real head-scratcher for me when for the life of me I was getting the "No Reply" error. Turns out, in a previous configuration of my studio, I had a different device on that port that I intentionally blocked Sysex messages on the output from the MTP/AV.

3) One bit of trivia. I found Unisyn doesn't care if you've connected up a device in AMS to the MTP for two way communication. It seems to work anyway. Just the same, I connected them up that way.

Hope this helps someone.
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Re: How I got Unisyn to working G5 10.5 > MacPro 10.6

Post by stiefelmusik »

Hi James! Forgive me if this seems like a stupid question, but are you saying Unisyn actually works on an Intel Mac running Snow Leopard (10.6) with Rosetta? The reason I'm asking is that I've read conflicting reports of Unisyn's compatibility with Snow Leopard (10.6). I'm considering purchasing Unisyn (despite it's being on Death Row for ages) because I desperately need a dedicated MIDI synth editor for all of my old hardware synths. I've been using eMagic SoundDiver for years on an old Powerbook running OS 9 but I'm about ready to move on if I can find a suitable replacement. I've tried running the Windows version of SoundDiver on a Macbook using Parallels but it's just not reliable (too many communication errors). Thanks.
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Re: How I got Unisyn to working G5 10.5 > MacPro 10.6

Post by grey »

I also have Unisyn 2.1 working on a 2010 Macbook Pro.
Rosetta is the ticket.
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Re: How I got Unisyn to working G5 10.5 > MacPro 10.6

Post by wdegillio »

According to the MacRumors site, OS 10.7 (Lion) will drop support for Rosetta. Thus Power PC software (which includes Unisyn) may not run in the next Mac OS Version. It seems that the Lion (ha ha) in the sand has been drawn.
I will bet that MOTU- based on its current record of customer responsiveness- will update Unisyn. Since many currently-in-production hardware synths come with some sort of editor-librarian software, its the people like myself, holding onto our vintage boxes, that will benefit.

Call me an optimist if you will- I've been called worse!
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How I got Unisyn to working G5 10.5 > MacPro 10.6

Post by James Steele »

I respectfully think you're wrong here and I base that on the lack of anything being updated with Unisyn for years. I think it will spell the effective end for Unisyn at that point.
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Re: How I got Unisyn to working G5 10.5 > MacPro 10.6

Post by DPINCGK »

I recently upgraded Unisyn to v2.1.1 when I bought a MacBook Pro, running 10.6.6. My previous Mac (if you can believe it) was running System 7.6, which I found to be stable enough to use for MIDI sequencing all of these years, as long as I had a separate DAW machine.

Unisyn seems to work pretty well on this new machine with the exception of a few little flaky things. Mostly it seems to be timing related stuff, which might be my MIDI interface (I am using a MTP AV). Sometimes I need to attempt to get banks from certain devices more than once. For example, my effects units required a few times hitting menu option "Get Selected Items". It produced "The device was busy" or "The device timed out", etc. errors until it worked.

Unisyn is an incredibly useful tool. It integrates with DP very well. I depend on it. I hope MotU pays attention to it and upgrades it in the future!
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Re: How I got Unisyn to working G5 10.5 > MacPro 10.6

Post by James Steele »

DPINCGK wrote:I hope MotU pays attention to it and upgrades it in the future!
I think I need a "hell freezes over" emoticon! :D
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Re: How I got Unisyn to working G5 10.5 > MacPro 10.6

Post by calza22 »

Hello, Someone perhaps sale a copy of Unisyn 2.1?
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