Motu 828 mkII / 8 Pre macOS 11 Big Sur compatibility

[MrFresh]

Since others have it working, no reason to believe you’ll be left out.

Hi Mike,
Happy 2022. I was wondering if you could help. I don't think I missed anything in the above thread, but I was able to get MOTU Audio Setup installed properly on my M1 Mac mini, running Big Sur 11.6, but I can neither get the 828 Mk3 driver or the 828 Mk3 Hybrid driver installed - they both say the developer needs to update the app. Maybe it's the dot version update from 11.5.2 to 11.6 that's the issue. Any assistance would be appreciated. Thanks, Doug

Ok, not sure what you mean by the 828 Mk3 driver or the 828 Mk3 Hybrid driver”. They take the same driver as does the original 828, 8pre, 896 and many other MOTU audio interfaces.

I notice that MOTU has redesigned their downloads site so that you won’t know this by looking at it. There is a driver for only the Hybrid but not for the other. It’s this:

MOTU Audio Installer Mac v89555 | Oct. 13, 2021 MacOS 11 Big Sur, 12 Monterey

Again, it’s the same driver for all similar interfaces of the same class.

Do not confuse this with the MOTU Pro Audio Driver (828es and others). That driver will not work for these interfaces.

https://motu.com/en-us/download/

It allows my 828mkII to work fine over Monterey on my iMac Pro. If I find myself with nothing to do, I may install it on my wife’s MBAir M1, also over Monterey — I guess to see if GarageBand can see it but I have no use for that functionality on her machine and time is a precious commodity. We’ll see.

At the risk of repeating myself ad nauseum, there is only one reason to do this and it’s quite simple: MOTU no longer wants to spend time and resources supporting older interfaces and they don’t want users to expect that they will work—it’s possible that, someday, they won’t. They’ve been moving in this direction for a few years now and this is just the next step. So, for now, the fact that it does work shall be our little secret, ok?

Those who disagree should feel free to line up again and tell me why I’m wrong AGAIN. This does not change anything nor will I respond. I spent too many years in customer support in a few industries to know differently.

Mike,
Thanks for your complete reply. I got it to work. Somehow in the MOTU Read Me for the Audio Installer process, I didn't give the OS permission to load the MOTU extension. I got two alerts when restarting today, followed the instructions and everything loads once the 828M3 hardware is detected.

[papageno]

Motu's latest "hidden" driver is working well with M1 Pro MacBook pro, OS 12.1 and UltraLite mk3 Firewire-only interface.
I am using CalTech TB 3 dock plus two chained Apple adapters.
Daily work, no probs.

[MrFresh]

Motu's latest "hidden" driver is working well with M1 Pro MacBook pro, OS 12.1 and UltraLite mk3 Firewire-only interface.
I am using CalTech TB 3 dock plus two chained Apple adapters.
Daily work, no probs.

What exactly is this "hidden" driver, what is the link to it, and how do I install it? Do I just click and install?? Thank you.

[papageno]

Go to Motu official download sites and select UltraLite mk3 Hybrid as an interface. That leads you to a download page and there is motu audio driver that works with several Firewire only devices also.

[MrFresh]

Go to Motu official download sites and select UltraLite mk3 Hybrid as an interface. That leads you to a download page and there is motu audio driver that works with several Firewire only devices also.

I have the MOTU Audio Setup installed correctly via the MOTU special security steps. Do I have to follow those same steps here? Thank you again.

[papageno]

MOTU Audio Installer
Mac v89555 | Oct. 13, 2021

[MrFresh]

MOTU Audio Installer
Mac v89555 | Oct. 13, 2021

I'm saying above that I have the MOTU Audio Installer installed correctly.

[papageno]

This is the "hidden" driver.
Something else is wrong over there.
Do you see Motu extension in system report?

[MrFresh]

This is the "hidden" driver.
Something else is wrong over there.
Do you see Motu extension in system report?

I got it to work. Somehow in the MOTU Read Me for the Audio Installer process, I didn't give the OS permission to load the MOTU extension. I got two alerts when restarting today, followed the instructions and everything loads once the 828M3 hardware is detected. Thanks for your help!

[mikehalloran]

This is the "hidden" driver.
Something else is wrong over there.
Do you see Motu extension in system report?

I got it to work. Somehow in the MOTU Read Me for the Audio Installer process, I didn't give the OS permission to load the MOTU extension. I got two alerts when restarting today, followed the instructions and everything loads once the 828M3 hardware is detected. Thanks for your help!

It does happen from Mojave through Monterey that sometimes the Mac must be shut down and rebooted before you can add the extensions. It also can affect plugins. If you download and install but they don't load. Restart doesn't do it — has to be shut down and reboot. I have no idea why.

[Dark Goob]

Will that driver work also with M1 Macs to use the older FW interfaces? I really don't like it when companies stop updating drivers. Don't they realize we would gladly pay a reasonable fee for updated drivers, and the only reason we don't buy new interfaces is because we flat out can't afford to? I would love to buy new gear every couple of years but at most this is just gonna force me to use my older MacBook Pro with the older system... and then, when I do buy a new interface eventually, make me think twice about getting another MOTU...

[mikehalloran]

Will that driver work also with M1 Macs to use the older FW interfaces? I really don't like it when companies stop updating drivers. Don't they realize we would gladly pay a reasonable fee for updated drivers, and the only reason we don't buy new interfaces is because we flat out can't afford to? I would love to buy new gear every couple of years but at most this is just gonna force me to use my older MacBook Pro with the older system...

There are many reports that it will work. Since Thunderbolt 3/4 supports much of the FW spec, the right adapters and current drivers should keep this gear running till it craps out from old age (which it eventually will, of course).

That said, MOTU does not want to support old hardware at all. If it's not current, they are not listing drivers that still allow the old stuff to work. Also, they have taken down the old drivers for older systems Until recently, one could download drivers for MacOS 8–9 and Win95—all gone now.

Many business make the decision that supporting old gear is too expensive—besides, if they do, you aren't buying new gear, right? There have been warning signs this was coming for the last year and half and now it's here.

[ouzoman]

Greetings,

I would like to thank this thread for identifying the appropriate driver - my 828mkii is working happily with a newly acquired M1 MacBook Pro running Monterey, and the accompanying MOTU Audio Setup app is behaving properly.

One question - Is there a compatible CueMix FX app? I'm seeing TouchOSC templates in the various MOTU download pages, but . . . any recommendations?

Thanks again
John

[ouzoman]

My apologies . . . I can appreciate the silence on this thread regarding my question . . . didn't even notice a CueMix FX installed along with the audio driver . . . I'm good to go.

[cmfrick]

Hello, I am new to the forum and would have a question. I run BigSur on a mid-2010 Mac Pro with a 3.46 GHZ quad core Xenon. Using the MOTU Audio Driver v1.6.83634, I could make my FireWire-only 828mkII work as described. However, I am getting audio dropouts every couple of seconds. No clear pattern to it but it happens too often to be usable. It would be great to have the old Mac Pro with all the connectivity for my old hardware runnig a modern sequencer programme (Bitwig) while using my trusted old 828mk2s.
Any advcice welcome. Thank you, Martin