RME Audio Hammerfall HDSP AES-32, User Manual

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User's Guide HDSP AES-32
© RME
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20. Mac OS X FAQ
20.1 Round about Driver Installation
The driver with the file suffix
gz provided by RME is a compressed TAR archive. TAR bundles
multiple files and folders into one file, but does not save memory space nor download time.
Both TAR and gz are supported natively by OS X, a double click on the file is all you need to do.
Older browsers do not recognize
gz as an archive, loading the file as a document. This results
in a cryptic looking text within the browser window. Downloading the file can be done via the
right mouse key,
Save Target as . Despite this procedure, some older browsers like Netscape
4.78 will not save the file correctly - the archive will be corrupted.
The driver consists of a package file (pkg), which contains various folders and files, similar to
TAR. A double click will start the OS X installer. To save you the hassle of installing both audio
and MIDI drivers separately, the HDSP driver contains an additional
meta package (mpkg),
that points to the single packages. Those single packages are not shown in the Finder, as they
reside within the invisible folder '.contained_packages'. Only the mpkg is visible. Important: an
installation can only be done with the
complete folder. If only the mpkg is copied to a different
place, it will not find the single driver packages!
The actual audio driver appears as a kernel extension file. The installer copies it to
>System/
Library/ Extensions< . Its name is HDSPMADI.kext . It is visible in the Finder, allowing you to
verify date and driver version. Yet, in fact this again is a folder containing subdirectories and
files.
Nonetheless, this 'driver file' can be removed by simply dragging it to the trash bin. This can be
helpful in case a driver installation fails. An incomplete installation can currently (10.3.2) only be
detected indirectly: The installation routine does not open a message window with a note about
a restart of the computer. This indicates that the driver file was not copied and the driver was
not installed!
Several users have observed that the installation routine occasionally stops and no longer
works correctly. This can be fixed by removing the corresponding extension file prior to installa-
tion. In some cases, also (or only) a repair of the
disk permission will help.
We have also received reports saying the driver update could not be installed on the system
disk - shown red crossed during the installation. Repairing permission may also help here. If
not, we're sorry, but have to recommend to contact Apple. Our driver has no knowledge of fold-
ers, disks etc., the installation is handled completely by the OS X installer.
20.2 Repairing Disk Permissions
Repairing permission can solve problems with the installation process - plus many others. To do
this, launch
Disk Utility located in Utilities . Select your system drive in the drive/volume list to
the left. The First Aid tab to the right now allows you to check and repair disk permissions.