Hi. Just joined the forum. I’m keen to get a Digitakt but read that my Xeon loaded Mac Pro isn’t supported for Overbridge. I can’t see any recent news on this issue, so can anyone tell me if there is likely to be a fix? The old Pro is still too good to ditch for a new Mac.Thanks
Where does it list that?
Manual states:
5.1 SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
The following items are required for you to start using Overbridge:
• An Overbridge compatible device with the most recent OS installed.
• A computer running either Windows (7 SP1, 8 or 10.1) or Mac OS (10.8 - 10.12) and that also supports
OpenGL 3.2 or above.
• A monitor with a resolution of at least 1280 x 768 pixels.
• An A-to-B USB cable
Ugh, that should be listed in the official documentation then.
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Haven’t seen it in Elektron’s system requirements, but it’s in posts from a while back (2015), as PeterHanes says. I really just want to know if a fix ever happened
I’d have to disagree with this. My Xeon has had no problems running Overbridge until very recently.
And even now it works but only when I use specific USB ports. I’ll leave this tale here in case it helps.
TLDR; Sierra has somehow disabled Overbridge from working with in-built USB ports but not with external USB ports
I have a 2009 Mac Pro Dual CPU
It runs current version of OS X 10.12.5
My computer is a custom build. It runs the netkas firmware hack that allows older Xeon mac pros (2009 and 2010) to run 2012 Mac Pro hardware. Basically it means you can swap out the CPUs and use the faster RAM found in the 2012 machines. The reason being that the hardware in all of them is identical. Thanks Apple!
So despite being originally a 2009 4-core, my Mac runs as a 2012 12-core Mac. It also accepts 1333 MHz memory over the 1066 MHz memory of the older Macs.
Anyways I’ve been using OB since beta days. Never had any major trouble with it. My first trouble with Overbridge started after clean boot installing Sierra a few weeks ago. My AR and A4 were both recognised by the OB Control Panel but would not sync correctly with the VST plugin. I was getting the ‘‘You have connection problems with the machine’’ error in the plugin. This was really annoying because this would be the first time OB hasn’t worked with my setup.
I decided to do some rearranging of my gear and troubleshooting with OB last Sunday. The result was interesting to say the least.
First of all I installed Yosemite on dual boot and tested OB with this and Ableton 9.7
Worked perfectly. So I assumed it must be Sierra that was the problem. So I booted back into Sierra and tried the AR and A4 on all the different USB ports on the Mac Pro (there are 5 of them in total built in to the chassis) and none of them worked.
Now… I use an 24" Apple Cinema Display to see what I’m doing. It connects to my Mac via the display port on the graphics card and uses one of the 5 USB ports to power it’s own set of USB ports. So there are 3 USB ports at the rear of the display
And guess what…
All of the USB ports on the rear of the display work flawlessly with Overbridge and Sierra.
So it seems the problem is not just Sierra but a combination of Sierra and certain USB ports.
I have absolutely no idea why this would be the case
But seeing as how the USB ports on the Mac chassis work perfectly under Yosemite then it has to be something Sierra has done to the in built USB ports. But not the USB ports of the display ??? Weird
Now… presumably Overbridge ‘‘thinks’’ my Mac is a 2012 model but it isn’t really. But it is a Xeon and Overbridge has always worked for me and now also works again… so make of that what you will
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This is not directly contributing to the discussion, but I would speculate that different chip sets are used for the internal USB ports and the USB ports in the display (does it show up as a USB hub in System Information?). It is quite possible that the kernel extensions (KEXT) for the internal ports have been changed between Yosemite and Sierra, but that the KEXT for the external USB hub inside of the display are still the same in Sierra…
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Well it is contributing if it manages to help someone with a Xeon Mac Pro get Overbridge to work. I find it funny that the official word is that it is not supported. When it clearly is.
As for the ports, I’ll check system info later. Pretty sure the whole display appears only once under display
If it is like you say a kext that has been updated by Sierra, then the same kext on newer macs (like my 2012 laptop) running Sierra, has no trouble at all with Overbridge.
Either it’s a good example of apple making perfectly good hardware redundant through incremental updates (planned obsolescence) or Elektron have decided to drop support for it. I know which one I’d put my money on
Thanks for this @Cocker. Sounds like a serious bit of detective work but it might help me, so I’ll give it a go. I have had other instances of USB ports working on the front of my Pro but not on the back, so I might investigate those a bit further too.
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What year is the Mac Pro you have?
If it’s 2009 or later the Netkas firmware should work.
Or some sort of external USB hub (like my display) or PCIe card could be another solution
Both fairly cheap these days
Sierra has disabled a lot of things and is not worth installing if you use the Mac for anything more technical than web browsing, facebook and word processing. If you do music on the Mac, updating to the latest MacOS has always been a big risk. I don’t understand why people are so keen to follow Apple on the route to obsolescence. All Apple wants at this point is for everyone to have to buy a new Mac and a new iDevice as often as possible. Their computers are (or were) built to last for many years but they make them obsolete via software updates at an increasing rate.
It is not even possible to install an older Mac OS any more unless you manage to find a disk image on the torrents!! This is how Apple “thinks different” these days… Your “legacy” device is no longer supported, chum. 
Anyway you don’t need Overbridge! It’s not exactly rock solid either.
Are those Xeon processor working with Overbridge now?
I’ve got a iMac from 2011 so a iMac Pro is something I look out for.
The topic is about Mac Pro not iMac Pro.
Anyway I can’t find a way to make Overbridge work on a Mac Pro 5.1 Xeon with El Capitan.
Devices show up in the OB panel but it reads “fault”. MIDI play/stop works in Ableton, but no audio stream