Symlinks pointing to Audio Units don't work in High Sierra

Question

Level 1

8 points

Symlinks pointing to Audio Units don't work in High Sierra

I'm running Logic Pro X on a mid 2013 MacBook Air (High Sierra 10.13.3).
I have used symlinks since OS X El Capitan, at first poiting to /Library/Audio; later pointing to /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components, and finally pointing to each individual Audio Unit placed at the Components folder. Replacing each Audio Unit by symlinks used to work perfectly, but in High Sierra Logic doesn't detect the symlinks - the replaced Audio Units don't show up at Logic's plug-in manager.

Is it still possible to use symlinks at the Components folder in High Sierra? I couldn't find a categorical answer to this question.

Thanks.

MacBook Air, macOS High Sierra (10.13.3)

Posted on Mar 19, 2018 10:21 AM

Reply

Answer 1

Kappy

Level 10

362,173 points

Mar 19, 2018 11:25 AM in response to Herr Mahr

Have you tried deleting the old symlinks and making new ones? Have the locations of folders changed? Are you using soft links or hard links?

Reply

Answer 2

Herr Mahr Author

Level 1

8 points

Mar 19, 2018 2:29 PM in response to Kappy

I've done a clean installation when upgrading to High Sierra, so there were no symlinks left. I tried to create soft links - "sudo ln -s <source> <target>".
I guess I could try hard links. The command woul be "sudo ln <source> <target>" and I can't hard link directories (because of APFS), right?

Reply

Answer 3

Herr Mahr Author

Level 1

8 points

Mar 19, 2018 4:10 PM in response to Kappy

That's what I'm willing to try later - hard links. From what I have just learned, APFS doesn't allow directories to be hard linked:

https://developer.apple.com/library/content/documentation/FileManagement/Concept ual/APFS_Guide/FAQ/FAQ.html

"Directory hard links are not supported by Apple File System. All directory hard links are converted to symbolic links or aliases when you convert from HFS+ to APFS volume formats on macOS."

Thanks!

Reply

Answer 4

Herr Mahr Author

Level 1

8 points

Mar 21, 2018 10:27 PM in response to Kappy

Yes, I see the redundancy now.
Well, I tried to create a hard link pointing to an audio unit and got this message: "/Doppler Dome.component: Is a directory". This means I can't hard link an AU because the OS perceives it as directory, and if I soft link the /Components folder, Logic doesn't detect the AUs - nothing shows up at the plugin manager.
The weird thing is that soft linking the Components folder or the individual AUs worked perfectly before High Sierra.

Reply

Answer 5

Kappy

Level 10

362,173 points

Mar 19, 2018 3:09 PM in response to Herr Mahr

Hard links only work on files. If you need symlinks for folders then you have to use soft links unless you want to make hard links for every file in the folder (like Time Machine does.) This has nothing to do with APFS as far as I know.

Reply

Answer 6

Kappy

Level 10

362,173 points

Mar 22, 2018 10:25 AM in response to Herr Mahr

I'm sorry that I don't have a solution. I use a few soft links on my system to maintain my DropBox backup of a few folders in the /Home/Library/ folder. They seem to work just fine. But then your issue is quite specific to Logic, I think. FWIW, Time Machine works fine with hard links.

Reply