Getting MIDI to work on an M2 Ventura iMac

Question

Getting MIDI to work on an M2 Ventura iMac

The Midi device I'm using is Midi 1 , not Midi 2. It's always been sort of easy to install Midi in Past OSX versions but the M2 Ventura I have now is rejecting my MOTU midi express 128, a still supported device from Mark Of The Unicorn I've been using for 15 years or so. Transitioning to the M2 has brought midi to a stop. I can to set up the Apple midi studio to make it work because the latest MOTU driver doesn't not seem to be actually loaded at all even though it shows up in the System Settings / Login Items as "on".

Does anybody here have any experience with getting the Apple midi studio to work in the OS Ventura/Mac Studio/M2 environment?

Richard Strachan’s iMac

Posted on Jul 23, 2023 12:34 PM

Reply

Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

martinnichols

Level 1

9 points

Oct 30, 2023 8:41 AM in response to Richard Strachan1

This reply received from MOTU - it worked for me!

"I'd like to start by removing all MOTU MIDI driver components and doing a fresh install of the driver to see if there's a difference. Make sure that the 128 is off before removing these items, and that you go to System Settings (on macOS), search for Login items, and disabled the MOTU item.

Here's a list of all directories/items you'll need to seek out and remove:

/Applications/ClockWorks.app

/Applications/MOTU USB MIDI System Extension.app

/Library/Audio/MIDI Drivers/Motu USB MIDI Driver.plugin

/Library/Audio/MIDI Drivers/Motu MIDI Driver.plugin

/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.motu.driver.usbmidi.dextproxy.launchd.plist

/Library/Application Support/MOTU/MIDI/com.motu.driver.usbmidi.dextproxy.xpc

/Library/Extensions/Motu MIDI Driver.kext

Note: There may be some items that are not on your machine listed above. That's ok, just ignore it if you don't see one, and move on.

Once you have removed these items, restart the computer. Then re-download the latest driver and reinstall it. If you are prompted to allow the driver through the security system in Privacy & Security, ignore this and restart your computer when prompted.

After the computer restarts, do the following:

1. Go to System Settings > Privacy and Security > Security section

2. Look for a message mentioning 'MOTU' followed by an Allow button

3. Allow this through, then turn on your 128"

Reply

Answer 2

dialabrain

Level 10

124,799 points

Jul 23, 2023 2:52 PM in response to Richard Strachan1

You're welcome. I suspect the issue is the MOTU midi express 128. Looking on the site it appears to be a very old model and I couldn't find recent software for it. I didn't look that hard however.

Someone may still reply here.

Reply

Answer 3

Jul 23, 2023 3:38 PM in response to dialabrain

Yes, That's true. I fondly remember it because I did not have these problems! But the thing that's got me wondering is how "no driver is needed", and how that Big Sure info seems to be describing a down-rated performance for that old software. I don't understand how I control my keyboard without a silicon-compliant driver that links midi from the keyboard to the computer. Midi 1 is old itself, and the Mac studio has 2 USB 1 ports. One of them is already connecting the 128 unit to the Mac Studio. The problem (at least for me) is that to connect the keyboard to the Mac Studio I would have to have cords that a T-bolt on one end and 1/4" mono cable the other. Well, Monday is coming and I'll let you know if I get through to tech support. Thanks Dial!

Reply

Answer 4

Oct 14, 2023 9:45 AM in response to songsurgery

Hello song surgery, the way I solved this problem was to abandon MOTU. I wasn't using a lot of midi anyway and I asked around, who's using what? I got a suggestion try iConnectivity's MIO 1/1 usb MIDI interface. So you can see I downsized quite a bit. I tried a bunch of these 1x1 interfaces and the cleanest one was the MIO. They also make rack mount units comparable to the MOTU 128. I've had no trouble so far with this hardware. Hopes this helps. I don't mean this to be an advertisement, I just started trying other things until I found one that worked. MIDI has always been one of the weaker links in my studio. Things like this can be so frustrating because the software just kills the inspiration of the moment. I'm getting to the point if an app fails twice , it's gone.

Reply

Answer 5

Oct 15, 2023 5:17 PM in response to songsurgery

ok here is what i have discovered so far. My Macbook Pro M2 works fine. I have Ventura 13.6 as the OS and downloaded the latest MOTU drivers and the key thing was that i was asked to ällow"access in the Security and Privacy panel via System Preferences.

When i try the exact same process on the Mac Studio M2 , i get nowhere and i don't get asked the same Ällow"questions via Security and Privacy control panel. Same 13.6 Ventura OS on the mac studio.

I previously had it all working with my Mac mini M1 and Ventura 13.6.

It's something to do with the MAC Studio M2 itself.

Reply

Answer 6

Oct 15, 2023 8:22 PM in response to songsurgery

OK song surgery, I also have an m2 iMac Studio with Ventura 13.5.1, big leap for me with some real trouble spots in the transition. I was prepared for the "allow" questions. I'm using an UA Apollo x8p for my Daw, also a big leap after years with my Apogee Ensemble. All of the UA stuff required that the "allow" questions be permitted during the downloads of the software. My memory of this is that UA required the permissions be granted before the download of the remaining parts of the software.

In your example, maybe the thing to try is reverse the order of the download, with permissions first if you can, and then download the balance of the MOTU driver.

Reply

Answer 7

Oct 28, 2023 3:31 PM in response to Richard Strachan1

Hi All,

I've raised a support ticket with MOTU because I'm having the same issue with a mac pro 2019 and the Express 128. It all worked fine under Monterey, but the upgrade to Ventura has broken things. I too downloaded the latest MOTU driver, which turns out to be the same one I needed for Monterey, so already installed.

Opening Audio Midi Setup, and the Midi Studio window, the 128 appears, but is greyed out. Double clicking on it's icon shows that the 'online' box is NOT checked and is also greyed out.

The MOTU website suggests a few things - trashing preferences being one, but no improvement. Tried re-installing the driver package again, no difference, and no need to 'allow' the software in Security & Privacy. It's also allowed in 'Login Items'.

So, it appears to be a Ventura issue (I'm now on 13.6.1, but it was the same under 13.5.2), and nothing to do with Apple Silicon as opposed to Intel.

I'll post if I get a solution from MOTU.

Reply

Answer 8

Jul 23, 2023 3:13 PM in response to dialabrain

It is old, but it's still kicking. I may not be able to post a long answer but here is the download page and login/generalwhere you can see it.

Reply

Answer 9

Jul 23, 2023 3:25 PM in response to dialabrain

An article from Motu dated June 23 2023 says this:

Reply

Answer 10

dialabrain

Level 10

124,799 points

Jul 23, 2023 12:39 PM in response to Richard Strachan1

I would ask MOTU Support.

Reply

Answer 11

Jul 23, 2023 2:47 PM in response to dialabrain

Thank you, that is one of the first things I did, but they are closed on weekends and open for only a few hours during M-Fr. I was hoping somebody here has some knowledge of Apple's midi for M2.

Reply