Ventura Hack for FireWire Core Audio Support on Supported MacBook Pro and others...

Media Technologies General FWAUserLib Core Audio Core Audio Kit

emihatov OP

Created Dec ’22

Replies 40

Boosts 7

Views 16k

Participants 55

Hi all,

Apple dropping on-going development for FireWire devices that were supported with the Core Audio driver standard is a catastrophe for a lot of struggling musicians who need to both keep up to date on security updates that come with new OS releases, and continue to utilise their hard earned investments in very expensive and still pristine audio devices that have been reduced to e-waste by Apple's seemingly tone-deaf ignorance in the cries for on-going support.

I have one of said audio devices, and I'd like to keep using it while keeping my 2019 Intel Mac Book Pro up to date with the latest security updates and OS features.

Probably not the first time you gurus have had someone make the logical leap leading to a request for something like this, but I was wondering if it might be somehow possible of shoe-horning the code used in previous versions of Mac OS that allowed the Mac to speak with the audio features of such devices to run inside the Ventura version of the OS.

Would it possible? Would it involve a lot of work? I don't think I'd be the only person willing to pay for a third party application or utility that restored this functionality.

There has to be 100's of thousands of people who would be happy to spare some cash to stop their multi-thousand dollar investment in gear to be so thoughtlessly resigned to the scrap heap.

Any comments or layman-friendly explanations as to why this couldn’t happen would be gratefully received!

Thanks,

Answered by EuroGuybrush in 739342022

Same here, really not happy with Apple on this one. Planned obsolescence on perfectly working hardware

Boost

mildavw OP

Aug ’23

Thank you, @matt9! Adding the extension worked on my MacBook Pro 13-inch, M2, 2022 running Ventura 13.4.1 (c) with an original Presonus Firepod and GarageBand.

The install claimed it failed, and the System crashed a few times at first, but eventually restarting with the interface plugged made it stable.

DynamoBen OP

Oct ’23

Has anyone tried this on Catalina? I have some audio devices that I'd really like to "recover".

DynamoBen OP

Oct ’23

Any hacks for Catalina? I'm in the same boat with my audio gear :(

loukash OP

Oct ’23

Catalina is not really a problem, is it? I mean, I can use my old Alesis io26 on Catalina just fine. It's just the Alesis HDM app that won't work because it's 32-bit so the io26 channel routing can only be changed when booting from an earlier OS partition, in my case El Capitan.

I couldn't make the io26 run on Ventura though.

TwistedWrist OP

Dec ’23

Hey all, Matt's fix has worked to get my Onyx 1640i working with my new M2 Air (Ventura); however, anytime I power on the mixer the laptop screen goes purple and it crashes and restarts within a minute. Usually after the restart it will proceed without error. It also would crash if I booted up the laptop with the mixer already connected and powered. Anybody experience this and have a fix?

Fran81 OP

Dec ’23

Hi, @matt9 the AppleFWAudioVentura.pkg, for some reason (perhaps due to permissions), doesn't fully work on macOS Sonoma 14.2.

However, it successfully copied /Library/Extensions/AppleFWAudio.kext into the system.

To fully install the AppleFWAudio.kext extension you must:

Fix file permissions: sudo chown -R 0:0 /Library/Extensions/AppleFWAudio.kext/
Manually load AppleFWAudio.kext: sudo kmutil load -p /Library/Extensions/AppleFWAudio.kext
Reboot

Finally, Sonoma 14.2 fully supports my Edirol FA-66 on my DAW.

Thank you again for your support.

otherone23 OP

Dec ’23

Re-enabling SIP after install breaks this? Do I have that right?

Hoganash OP

Jan ’24

Not a very smart move from Apple to remove Firewire support. Even removing support for 32 bit audio was foolish. And now even TB2 as I´ve read somewhere... Since one must assume all these decisions are made thinking in what way to sell more Mac computers, the result is when - like me anyway - one has invested in hardware (Ive got 3 TC Konnekt48 units connected to a Mac Pro 5.1. I was planning on being a new M3 Mac, either Studio Mac or MacBook Pro. But with no support (even for thunderbolt 2) I hesitate and am actually thinking of going back to PC. I can get my Audio Units working on a PC. Partly because of TC but anyway.

The funny thing is I get the units working and even without the "hack" in this thread Open Core patcher gets it working in Sonoma, but ONLY the inputs. Audio out I have to use internal digital out connecting an optical cable from the Mac to one of the Konnekt48:s. This actually works just fine. Until I want more than stereo out off coarse, or if I want to use my outboard gear as inserts.

I was hoping this hack would give me the outputs back, but not yet anyway. They did. work in Catalina and that´s the reason I haven't given up yet. I have seen some other people having this audio out problems with other FW interfaces so I´m not alone there.

But to buy a M3 I seem to need a TB3 interface and that would mean at least two Apollo 8p´s. That's the price of two Macs more, and I´m note even sure yet they are TB3. Are they? And when will Apple abandon TB3? If I wait for M4 maybe that´s gone too.......??

I heard the PC people are looking to match the M chips so...

positron OP

Jan ’24

Just adding a + one from me.

Apple are pushing out their loyal pro (audio and video) users though continual dropping of backward support like this and numerous other significant core features. It's no longer the case that Apple are the only player in these domains. We can jump to alternate platforms easily and cheaply. As Apple drops pro features they risks loosing vital trickle down capabilities that enrich their mass market product sets. A good example is Logic to Garage Band etc. The same will happen with their pro compute products. If they don't have the compatibility or the following who's going to buy these expansive products? They risk becoming just another consumer company.

We've put up with the lack of I/O, upgradeability, expensive hardwired resources (that cost an order of magnitude above OEM alternatives), deprecated support for not very old hardware, deprecated core components (like firewire), lack of 32bit support (that is a nightmare when you need to open older client files that use old 32bit plugins) etc etc. I'm also resist a long rant on challenges with older media access (like floppy, SCSI, CDROM especially in alternate formats like sampler images etc). Even Logic not supporting older project file versions (***? That is totally unacceptable - and yes I am aware you can import some items but come on - this is just lazy). How many times are we expected to just wear this in the name of "progress". Personally I run multiple platforms/images with various OS and hardware combinations - just so I can load my historical sessions, projects and media. Windows is far more forgiving with backwards support and broad compatibility.

APPLE Please listen to your community. We are begging you to consider the impact of dropping backward support and please consult with us. You can start with reinstating Firewire support. PLEASE

AnakChan OP

Feb ’24

@matt9 or for any other members. Does anyone know if this AppleFWAudio.kext is enough for Firewire scanners? I've successfully installed @matt9 's AppleFWAudio.kext and I can see in my SystemReport Firewire there, except my Minolta dImage Scanner has come up as Uknown.

Looking at some really older MacOS installations (from Panther onwards) I noticed there's also the IOFireWireFamily.kext. Is this needed? Is there any way to get the Monterey version of IOFireWireFamily.kext if it's needed?

SilverBeats OP

Mar ’24

It's a shame. Anyone with Apogee Rosetta on M2 Mac Mini? Is it working?

daneover OP

Apr ’24

Looking to get my Mackie Onyx 1620i working in the latest Sonoma, wondering if there are any updates to @matt9's method (especially in regards to crashing upon waking/sleep)? Found this, and doubt it's related, but would be nice if there was a backdoor terminal command to re-enable CoreAudio firewire support:

https://support.apple.com/en-jo/108387

What's the procedure for CoreAudio firewire hack on Sonoma? What are the caveats?

hyperphonic OP

May ’24

@matt9 - Thank you for taking the time to share your hack. I am deeply grateful for your generosity. Confirmed to be working on a M2 Mac Studio, Ventura 13.6.4 with a Roland Edirol FA-101 interface. It took about 5 reboots and various attempts in the terminal to fix the file permissions and manual load using kmutil AND allowing the FW .kext kernel permissions in System Settings > Privacy & Security. I experienced a few kernel panics during the 5 reboots which were a worry, but once every was signed and loaded properly, my system is stable with no more random crashes. AND my firewire interface is running very happily with Logic Pro, which is a godsend for my work. Thank you thank you!!

tropdetremblay OP

Hi, I don't use my interface often, so I was already running Sonoma when I realized the issue. Tried everything matt9 explained, but the .pkg installation ended with a failure. I guess it's because I'm not running Ventura anymore. Anybody else looking to perform this hack on Sonoma ??

DJFeu OP

I also encountered a problem today.

sudo kextload /Library/Extensions/AppleFWAudio.kext Executing: /usr/bin/kmutil load -p /Library/Extensions/AppleFWAudio.kext Error Domain=KMErrorDomain Code=29 "Authenticating extension failed: Kext jjos.com.apple.driver.AppleFWAudio v270.19.2 in executable kext bundle jjos.com.apple.driver.AppleFWAudio at /private/var/db/KernelExtensionManagement/Staging/jjos.com.apple.driver.AppleFWAudio.3nHPxy/AppleFWAudio.kext:

Authenticating extension failed: Bad code signature" UserInfo={NSLocalizedDescription=Authenticating extension failed: Kext jjos.com.apple.driver.AppleFWAudio v270.19.2 in executable kext bundle jjos.com.apple.driver.AppleFWAudio at /private/var/db/KernelExtensionManagement/Staging/jjos.com.apple.driver.AppleFWAudio.3nHPxy/AppleFWAudio.kext: