User`s guide

User's Guide HDSP MADI © RME

19. Mac OS X FAQ

19.1 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.

19.2 MIDI doesn't work

In some cases the applications do not show the MIDI port. The reason for this is usually visible

within the Audio MIDI Setup. It displays no RME MIDI device, or the device is greyed out and

therefore inactive. Mostly, removing the greyed out device and searching for MIDI devices again

will solve the problem.

The HDSP MIDI driver is a plugin. During installation it will be copied to >Library/ Audio/ MIDI

Drivers<. Its name is HDSP MADI MIDI.plugin. The file can be displayed in the Finder and

also be removed by simply dragging it to the trash bin.

19.3 Supported Sample Rates

RME's Mac OS X driver supports all sampling frequencies provided by the hardware. This in-

cludes 32 kHz, 64 kHz and even 96 kHz.

But not any software will support all the hardware's sample rates. The hardware's capabilities

can easily be verified in the Audio MIDI Setup. Select Audio devices under Properties of:

and choose the Hammerfall. A click on Format will list the supported sample frequencies.