I wanted to open my old Maschine projects created prior to travel in 2015. I picked up a second hand Maschine Mk1 for a good price.
There are compatability issues between Maschine Mk1 and macOS Catalina 10.15.7
As this is a second hand product, the old owner has organised a license transfer. Without this step, the Mk1 would just be a glorified MIDI controller.
The old owner has forwarded Native Instruments' (NI's) reply to his support request to me. I head over to http://www.native-instruments.com/complete-transfer/ and paste in my transfer ID.
I already have the Native Access download manager installed, to manage the software for my Traktor controllers. I open it and click Add a serial.
This works but there's no link to download the Maschine software.
Plugging the controller in, there's nothing on its two LCD screens. I think historically it is supposed to show something even when the Maschine software is not running.
Googling this, I find that the Maschine Mk1 controller is not supported by macOS 10.15
This is a WTF moment. Thankfully a bit more hunting reveals more useful information.
I just downloaded the "MASCHINE Controller Driver 2.8.0 - Mac OS X 10.9 - 10.11" Controller Driver software, even thought I am running MacOS 10.15.7 Catalina:
https://www.native-instruments.com/en/support/downloads/drivers-other-files/
After the install process, it fails as described, but I just rebooted the machine. Then I saw the "System extension blocked" dialog pop up and I allowed the extension. After that, opening the "Controller Editor" software from NI caused the Maschine to light up and it's all systems go :)
I follow these instructions and the LCDs now light up to show that the controller is recognised by the system but Maschine is not running yet.
The Maschine Mk1 box comes with installer CDs, but my 2018 Macbook Pro doesn't have an optical drive.
There's also a link somewhere to https://www.native-instruments.com/en/specials/maschine-setup/, which recommends using Native Access to download software.
Native Instruments has now sent me two emails, Download links for your Native Instruments order.
Thanks for your recent purchase or registration of your new product.
Your included software is now available to download via Native Access – just sign in, and you’ll see it waiting for you
All your downloads and your order history are listed in My Account.
My Account page is at https://www.native-instruments.com/en/my-account/my-products-serials-downloads/.
The first email mentions KOMPLETE SELECT Maschine 2 Update for Maschine
The seond email mentions Native Browser Preview Library.
I head over to my account page and download this file, which in hindsight is the wrong one (it's not the 'update'): MASCHINE incl. Komplete Elements - Maschine.iso
This download silently fails in Google Chrome 87.0.4280.141 (Official Build) (x86_64).
There's a Help widget on that page, but it doesn't offer any relevant suggestions. Nor is there any mention of macOS Catalina compatability issues in either the page or the download modal.
However a glance at the developer console shows this message:
Mixed Content: The site at 'https://www.native-instruments.com/' was loaded over a secure connection, but the file at 'http://protected-cdn-ec.native-instruments.com/direct/Maschine.iso?Pp7LNgj2YjR8tgv_mrcYH4xJpGSeQCT4LJe__bZ5wEqItDXTa0GepijeBcNbNaVQWKwgbnt_eVU23sOhRfQX6y9TPzZMXtMSkX9uvwUxrWpF6A&token=6b19890a0fe1ea915e0a16ad174b83dd&tstamp=5fff3ade&_ga=2.9045237.11457054.1610516745-1197670262.1599202269' was redirected through an insecure connection. This file should be served over HTTPS. This download has been blocked. See https://blog.chromium.org/2020/02/protecting-users-from-insecure.html for more details.
This is easily solved by opening a new tab and downloading http://protected-cdn-ec.native-instruments.com/direct/Maschine.iso?... directly.
The file is massive - 5-6GB. Actually, most of this is the Factory Library.
After the download has finished, I launch the installer and after a few steps it fails. The installer does not support my current version of macOS. There is no advice about what to do about this.
I get on to Google and find a helpful post from Marshall Thompson in the NI forums thread. Following these instructions I am able to download Maschine 2 (2.12.1, 252MB) and Maschine 2 Factory Library (1.3.5, 5.63GB) via Native Access.
I recently purchased Komplete 12 Ultimate Collector's Edition and had things working great. Then I had to get a new computer with Catalina installed. After a month (ish) of trying to get Native Access and Maschine running with OS X Catalina, I finally got things to work. I used the following steps:
- Run "sudo spctl --master-disable" in a terminal window to deactivate the macOS X Gatekeeper. (Thanks to Davis Jork, above, for this part)
- Open System Preferences > Security & Privacy > Privacy (tab) and select "Full Disk Access" in the left pane. Check the box for Native Access. See the below screenshot. Screen Shot 2019-11-08 at 6.57.03 PM.jpg
- If your plugins are installed on an external drive, you may need to rename the external drive. My plugins are all installed on a 1TB external SSD, so I had to perform this step to get things working. My drive was called "Marshall 1TB" and I renamed it to "MusicProduction". To rename, right-click on the drive in the left sidebar of finder and select the option to rename.
- Open Native Access and install or repair each plugin / application that requires it.
- Run "sudo spctl --master-enable" in a terminal window to enable the security gatekeeper, again. (Again thanks to Davis Jork)
- Open Open System Preferences > Security & Privacy > General (tab) and select "App Store and identified developers". Screen Shot 2019-11-08 at 7.02.03 PM.jpg
All above steps were necessary for things to work. I was able to repair broken modules and install all remaining modules. Number 7, below, is a personal preference to avoid possible future issues.
- Go back into System Preferences > Security & Privacy > Privacy (tab) and select "Full Disk Access" in the left pane. Check the box for all remaining Native Instruments products. Maschine was actually working before I performed this step, but it makes sense to me to avoid possible issues in the future by allowing all Native Instruments products to access hard disks.
These applications are automatically installed after download, and the installer automatically deletes itself afterwards.
The final hurdle was Maschine 2 could not open my .mprj Maschine 1 projects.
If I double click an .mprj file. Maschine 1 opens. But I cannot save the project as the software is not licensed.
I Google again, and find a thread (??) which links me to this article.
Unfortunately, MASCHINE 1 projects can only be imported in MASCHINE 2 up to version 2.8.7. Please follow these steps in order to temporarily downgrade to MASCHINE 2.8.7 and import your MASCHINE 1 projects in MASCHINE 2:
- Download the installer for your operating system:
- Run the installer and follow the instructions.
- Start MASCHINE 2 standalone from:
Mac: Macintosh HD > Applications > Native Instruments
Windows: C: > Program Files > Native Instruments
- Select File > Import Maschine 1.x Format...
- Navigate to the main folder that contains all of your MASCHINE 1 user content. By default, the MASCHINE 1 user content path is:
Mac: Documents > Native Instruments > Maschine
Win: C: > Users > Username > My Documents > Native Instruments > Maschine
- Select the main Maschine folder and click Choose:
In order to see your imported MASCHINE 1 user content in MASCHINE 2's browser, make sure to select the Library Tab and set the Content Selector to User:
After conversion, each .mprj Maschine 1 project file has been joined by a .mxprj file for Maschine 2.
These .mxprj files load fine in Maschine 2 and I can save them.
Presumably I can upgrade from Maschine 2.8.7 to Maschine 2.12.1 when I don't need to import any more Maschine 1 projects.
It's been 6 years since I used Maschine and I'm quite disorientated. I suspect that the latest software is optimised for the latest controllers and that perhaps it's not very usable on the old gear which NI cannot properly support.
However after a few hours of experimentation and YouTubing I'm starting to get the hang of it again. This controller may not be the latest and greatest, but it's still fun - and most importantly it works :)