Getting Pro Audio to work on Big Sur

[tony1278]

This is how you get the pro audio devices to work:

Disable SIP:
Click the Apple symbol in the Menu bar.
Click Restart…
Hold down Command-R to reboot into Recovery Mode.
Click Utilities.
Select Terminal.
Type csrutil disable.
Press Return or Enter on your keyboard.
Click the Apple symbol in the Menu bar.
Click Restart…

Then:
sudo kextload /library/extensions/MOTUProAudio.kext

[milkypostman]

which device have you tested this with?

Lets just say I'm a bit disappointed by the speed with which MOTU has released support for the 8pre-es in Big Sur. There are things I cannot do on my machine that I would like to do (development) because I cannot upgrade yet.

[bengarbi]

I would also be very interested in knowing what device(s) has been tested with this hack.

I am currently checking the Big Sur compatibility page every day, literally, because the 828es driver incompatibility is the only thing holding me back from upgrading to Big Sur.

This is a serious problem for people who are doing other things than using MOTU products with they Mac and who cannot benefit from the latest versions of other software packages, in particular related to development tools.

That being said, I've been using MOTU products for quite some time now and I love it: I bought my first MIDI and audio interfaces back in 2002 (the original 828 for audio and FastLane for MIDI). I even used Performer MIDI sequencer in 1987 on the first Mac SE.

Yet the first developer beta of Big Sur was released 9 months ago and the first public release four months ago.

So knowing the general quality of MOTU products, I have hard time understanding why it takes them so long to release drivers for their Pro Audio interfaces. I can understand that supporting a new processor can be very challenging but then why don't they release their support for Big Sur in two steps : first drivers for Intel machines and later drivers for M1 machines?

The internal system architecture of Big Sur on Intel is not radically different from Catalina, which is probably why the above hack works (at least for some of their hardware products).

[HCMarkus]

How about a dual-boot approach? I've always done that when qualifying upgrades to DP and/or OS.

[mothra]

The internal system architecture of Big Sur on Intel is not radically different from Catalina, which is probably why the above hack works (at least for some of their hardware products).

The overbearing security is about the only glaring difference between the two aside from the GUI changes heh. Im guessing everyone is waiting until they can get the one two punch of both Intel and M1 out at the same time? I cant complain because I have an 828X so its working as it should, but seems weird that MOTU has taken this long to get something out for their flagship line. I got a brand new Sweetwater card last month and after buying my Ferrofish almost picked up a 16A to go with it but then remembered it would be a doorstop..

[bengarbi]

Last updated March 26, 2021 from MOTU: M2 and M4 bus-powered USB audio interfaces are now compatible with M1-powered Macs and macOS Big Sur...

...BUT most pro audio models are still not compatible with macOS Big Sur.

And we are only three months away from Apple announcing the successor of Big Sur and releasing a beta version of it.

[PhireAlly]

I got a brand new Sweetwater card last month and after buying my Ferrofish almost picked up a 16A to go with it but then remembered it would be a doorstop..

Hi All,
As a reminder...
Motu Pro Audio Interfaces are MacOS Class Compliant using either Core Audio (via USB) or AVB (via Ethernet) using Apple's built-in drivers.
So even without a MOTU driver, I have my MOTU 1248 running (via AVB) without any issues on my M1 MacMini and Big Sur.

Hope that's helpful,

PhireAlly.

[DAWdler]

I have gotten my 828ES to work on an M1 Mini for audio using AVB. I still haven’t gotten the MIDI to by recognized by Audio MIDI. Neither the 828 or my Express XT show up. A USB controller does connect. Just the 5 din MIDI devices are out.

[simul]

Hey everyone. I bought an 828es and I'm trying to use it on 11.6 Big Sur. The kext file was not installed after the main installation of the MOTU software/driver. I tried to disable the SIP and followed all the steps but in terminal I got the error I'll attach here in the post. I read some of you guys managed to use it without motu drivers via AVB but I have no idea how to setup it.
thanks

https://www.dropbox.com/s/gvs4skl3bxpq7 ... .jpeg?dl=0