Latest macOS update killed drivers?

[miles_b]

Hi all,

I'm hoping someone can help, as it's been about a week since the last time MOTU support responded to me on this issue. I have an 828es, and a Monitor 8, talking to each other through a MOTU AVB Switch. I did a recording session with this setup that worked just fine. I had the 828es connected to my 2021 MacBook Pro M1 MAX via a Sonnet Echo 11 thunderbolt dock, and I was able to record 8 channels simultaneously into Logic Pro X, while streaming four headphone mixes. This was on macOS Sonoma 14.3.0. Then I updated to macOS 14.3.1, and now the MOTU Discovery app only shows the AVB connections, but doesn't show any locally connected devices. The 828es shows up on the Thunderbolt bus in System Info, but doesn't show up as an audio device in Audio MIDI Setup, or in the Sound pane of System Preferences.

Here's some of the troubleshooting I've tried so far:
-I tried connecting the 828es directly to the computer via Thunderbolt, but that didn't change anything.
-I tried connecting the 828es via USB, and it still didn't show up in MOTU Discovery, but it did show up as a generic 24-in/24-out USB class-compliant audio device with the name "Audio Out" in Audio MIDI Setup, and "Audio Out" also appeared in System Preferences.
-I tried connecting the Monitor 8 via USB, and it did exactly the same thing as the 828es.
-I've done multiple power-cycles and reboots of everything in the system.
-I reset the 828es to factory defaults.
-I verified that all devices have the latest firmware.
-I downloaded a fresh copy of the MOTU software and reinstalled it.
-I searched various discussions on this forum for related issues, and followed instructions I found for manually removing the drivers and reinstalling. The thread in question was from 2020, and the drivers have actually since moved in newer updates. I had to use a terminal command to search for them.
-I also found instructions for some terminal command you have to run from Recovery Mode to add a security exception for MOTU's developer group
-I verified with MOTU support that all of the expected processes are running in Activity Monitor.

As far as I can tell, it looks like I've run into a compatibility issue between the MOTU drivers and this latest macOS update. But so far, I'm not seeing other people reporting similar issues. Please let me know if you have any further troubleshooting advice on this.

Edit: I just pulled an old Intel-based MacBook Pro running macOS Ventura out of storage, installed the MOTU software on it, and it's working fine with the 828es via the original setup I was using, including the thunderbolt dock. At this point, the issue is definitely isolated to software on the M1/Sonoma MBP.

[mikehalloran]

There are some issues with Sonoma 14.4. I have not seen this one but I am using a different driver.

[CharlzS]

Permissions issues? to let the drivers load - and allow the MOTU apps to run in the background.

[mothra]

828x/old driver still working fine in 14.4.. In fact all weekend, my MOTU actually connected every time I turned it on without having to replug it 4-5 times, hopefully that wasn't just luck..

[mikehalloran]

The 828x, like my 828mkII uses a different driver, the MOTU Audio Installer, than the 828es which uses the MOTU Pro Audio Installer.

Have you tried re-downloading and reinstalling it? That's quick, easy and sometimes works.

Screenshot 2024-03-11 at 11.17.28 AM.png (24.56 KiB) Viewed 2694 times

It works over Sonoma but you may have to follow these directions first—even though MOTU says you shouldn't have to if it's been installed before.

https://motu.com/techsupport/technotes/ ... igh-sierra

[miles_b]

The 828x, like my 828mkII uses a different driver, the MOTU Audio Installer, than the 828es which uses the MOTU Pro Audio Installer.

Have you tried re-downloading and reinstalling it? That's quick, easy and sometimes works.


Screenshot 2024-03-11 at 11.17.28 AM.png

It works over Sonoma but you may have to follow these directions first—even though MOTU says you shouldn't have to if it's been installed before.

https://motu.com/techsupport/technotes/ ... igh-sierra

Yes, I tried re-downloading and re-installing it. Since my original post, I verified that the 828es still works on an older MacBook Pro that's running macOS Ventura, and my newer macOS Sonoma machine works with an Apogee interface over Thunderbolt. However, the 828es and Monitor 8 are still not recognized in MOTU Discovery over either Thunderbolt or USB on the Sonoma machine, but both communicate over Ethernet just fine. I have tried every trick that I've found so far. The last time MOTU support responded was weeks ago. The 14.3.1 update seems to be what killed it, and it's still dead under 14.4.

[mikehalloran]

I'd ask for a callback to see if they can talk you through it. I had to remove some conflicting extensions left over from old drivers before it worked properly for me.

[sns]

Hello,

I encountered the same problem as previously described after buying a MacBook Air M3 running Sonoma 14.4 by default, my MOTU AVB Ultralite was not recognized anymore by the Motu Discovery app, while it was perfectly working on my other computers running previous systems.

I re-installed the drivers many times, cross checked everything I could until I figured that since 14.4, you need to manually allow "MOTU" to be able to run in the background (in addition to allowing it to run as described on Motu website). Once allowed, Motu Discovery sees my Ultralite AVB immediately, if I turn it off it stops detecting it.
It is in System Preferences > Opening > Allow in background, then check MOTU and voilà.

I registered on this forum only to post the solution I've found, I hope it can be useful to others too.

Cheers
Simon

[HCMarkus]

Thank You Simon.

[bayswater]

It is in System Preferences > Opening > Allow in background, then check MOTU and voilà.

Simon, can you please clarify where this setting is? Sonoma has "System Setting" rather than System Preferences, and "Opening" does not appear there.

DP has a lot of settings, but I don't see anything corresponding to "Opening"

TIA

[mikehalloran]

until I figured that since 14.4,…

14.4 caused a lot of problems and there are many long threads about that here. Sonoma 14.5, now 14.6.1 fixed a lot of those bugs. Updating to the current macOS is highly recommended!

System Preferences > Opening > Allow in background

is not a DP setting. It's a Security setting as explained in this bulletin from 2017, updated a couple years ago.
https://motu.com/techsupport/technotes/ ... igh-sierra

To enable the MOTU drivers on macOS 13 Ventura or above, follow these steps:

Download and install the very latest installer for your MOTU interface.
After restarting, open System Preferences.
Select Security & Privacy.
In the Security section, click the Allow button.

[bayswater]

System Preferences > Opening > Allow in background

is not a DP setting. It's a Security setting as explained in this bulletin from 2017, updated a couple years ago.

Thanks that clears it up. I was wondering where the command “System Preferences > Opening” might be.

[sns]

until I figured that since 14.4,…

14.4 caused a lot of problems and there are many long threads about that here. Sonoma 14.5, now 14.6.1 fixed a lot of those bugs. Updating to the current macOS is highly recommended!

System Preferences > Opening > Allow in background

is not a DP setting. It's a Security setting as explained in this bulletin from 2017, updated a couple years ago.
https://motu.com/techsupport/technotes/ ... igh-sierra

To enable the MOTU drivers on macOS 13 Ventura or above, follow these steps:

Download and install the very latest installer for your MOTU interface.
After restarting, open System Preferences.
Select Security & Privacy.
In the Security section, click the Allow button.

Hi, sorry if I have not been clear my OS is in French and not in English.
In my case my computer is running the latest Sonoma 14.6.1, and without the following tip it would not correctly detect my MOTU interfaces.

The correct path should be : open System Settings menu > General > Login items > Allow in the background > enable MOTU.

This is different from allowing MOTU drivers to run in the Security section after installing them, as described on Motu website, and this "Allow in the background" option resolves the trouble of not recognizing interfaces on Sonoma 14.4+ (at least it allows my Ultralite AVB and 828mk3 to be detected again).

MOTU_Allow_in_background_Sonoma.png (749.58 KiB) Viewed 1754 times

[bayswater]

The correct path should be : open System Settings menu > General > Login items > Allow in the background > enable MOTU.

Thanks. It’s all clear now.