Success! Firestudio 26x26 and OSX 10.10.x through 10.15.x Catalina
Posted: Sun Nov 13, 2016 6:52 pm
EDIT: 11/18/2018 - This is also working for OSX 10.13.x (High Sierra) and 10.14.1 (Mojave)
EDIT : 12/3/2019 - Tested and working on macOS 10.15.1 Catalina
EDIT : 05/09/2020 - Tested and working on macOS 10.15.4 Catalina (See update notes at the bottom)
Edit: 1/04/2023 - Test installing Firecontrol on M1 Mac Studio running macOS Ventura and Monterey. Install for Firecontrol and Firestudio drivers not successful.
****** I cannot be responsible for any issues you may have so try this at your own risk******
Hi folks. I just wanted to chime in and fill you guys in on what I have found in my downtime with the 26x26 unit and the new Mac OS version.
Im glad to report that I have my trusty 26x26 running solid on both OS X El Capitan and Sierra.
Here is how I made it happen. Feel free to chime in with any info you may have on this subject.
Now lets get down to business!
1: (Super important) Start with a clean install of OS X either 10.11.X (El Cap) or 10.12.X (Sierra)
This means wiping your current system drive or testing with a spare drive you have lying around. Either way you are going to need to start the OS install from scratch.
2: Once you have OS X installed then go out and download/install all updates for the OS. lets get these updates installed and out of the way of making our trusty Firestudio 26x26 the king on this system. Update/reboot...repeat until all OS X updates are installed.
*****Please do not install any DAW software or hardware drivers yet********
3: Here is the technical part but it is very simple if you follow the instructions. We are going to disable "SIP" in OS X. This is the security feature that has been in OS X that keeps system files/folder secure unwanted or malicious applications.
Here we will disable SIP.
Restart your Mac.
Before OS X starts up, hold down Command-R and keep it held down until you see an Apple icon and a progress bar. Release. This boots you into Recovery.
From the Utilities menu, select Terminal.
At the prompt type exactly the following and then press Return: csrutil disable
Terminal should display a message that SIP was disabled.
From the menu, select Restart.
***** Incase you want to re-enable SIP but you will not need to as it is the issue******
(You can re-enable SIP by following the above steps, but using csrutil enable instead.)
Boom, that pesky SIP is now disabled and we can start to install our great 26x26.
Plug in the 26x26 unit to your mac via firewire. Power on the unit once it is plugged in.
Now head over to the Legacy products of Presonus website and download the FireControl for Lion installer. (Fire Studio 26x26)
Run the Fire Control installer while the 26x26 in plugged in and powered on to the mac.
Reboot the when the installer is complete. Do not try to access Fire Control surface before the reboot.
After the mac has booted back up and you have your trusty 26x26 plugged in to the mac and powered on and the sync light on the unit is solid blue you can now open Fire Control.
If Fire Control surface loads up and you can see the status and faders/ins/outs of the 26x26 unit you are in the house!
From here you can now install your DAW of choice and then plugins and so on.
I have my old 26x26 running flawlessly on my mac pro 3,1 8 core running 10.11 (El Cap) doing just this process.
I have this also working on my mac pro 5,1 running 10.12 (Sierra) with this very process.
Cheers and happy hacking to keep this great old workhorse (NAYYYY....26x26) trucking along.
-TK-
=======================================================================
UPDATE 5/9/2020:
If having issues installing this driver package on macOS 10.15.X make sure you 1: disable SIP first. 2: After disable SIP and rebooting once the mac is back up and you are logged in. Run a terminal session and type the following commands.
Type:
sudo mount -uw /
Then hit enter and you will be required to type in your mac's password.
Next type:
killall Finder
You should see all finder windows close quickly and reopen. After this you will get the message to "Install Anyway" when running the FireControl driver install. Reboot after install and enjoy running the Firestudio 26x26 on the latest macOS.
=======================================================================
Update 1/4/2023:
I picked up a new Mac Studio to replace the old MacPro over the weekend. It appears macOS 11, 12, 13 will not allow the Firecontrol package to install so it looks like the Firestudio 26x26 has officially retired.
I had a good run with the FS 26x26 unit for over 15 years so I will miss it. Now it is a M1 Mac Studio and a Studio 18|24c which work amazing together so far.
Thanks to everyone that has commented and I hope this helped you get some life out of your old FS 26x26 units.
-TK-
EDIT : 12/3/2019 - Tested and working on macOS 10.15.1 Catalina
EDIT : 05/09/2020 - Tested and working on macOS 10.15.4 Catalina (See update notes at the bottom)
Edit: 1/04/2023 - Test installing Firecontrol on M1 Mac Studio running macOS Ventura and Monterey. Install for Firecontrol and Firestudio drivers not successful.
****** I cannot be responsible for any issues you may have so try this at your own risk******
Hi folks. I just wanted to chime in and fill you guys in on what I have found in my downtime with the 26x26 unit and the new Mac OS version.
Im glad to report that I have my trusty 26x26 running solid on both OS X El Capitan and Sierra.
Here is how I made it happen. Feel free to chime in with any info you may have on this subject.
Now lets get down to business!
1: (Super important) Start with a clean install of OS X either 10.11.X (El Cap) or 10.12.X (Sierra)
This means wiping your current system drive or testing with a spare drive you have lying around. Either way you are going to need to start the OS install from scratch.
2: Once you have OS X installed then go out and download/install all updates for the OS. lets get these updates installed and out of the way of making our trusty Firestudio 26x26 the king on this system. Update/reboot...repeat until all OS X updates are installed.
*****Please do not install any DAW software or hardware drivers yet********
3: Here is the technical part but it is very simple if you follow the instructions. We are going to disable "SIP" in OS X. This is the security feature that has been in OS X that keeps system files/folder secure unwanted or malicious applications.
Here we will disable SIP.
Restart your Mac.
Before OS X starts up, hold down Command-R and keep it held down until you see an Apple icon and a progress bar. Release. This boots you into Recovery.
From the Utilities menu, select Terminal.
At the prompt type exactly the following and then press Return: csrutil disable
Terminal should display a message that SIP was disabled.
From the menu, select Restart.
***** Incase you want to re-enable SIP but you will not need to as it is the issue******
(You can re-enable SIP by following the above steps, but using csrutil enable instead.)
Boom, that pesky SIP is now disabled and we can start to install our great 26x26.
Plug in the 26x26 unit to your mac via firewire. Power on the unit once it is plugged in.
Now head over to the Legacy products of Presonus website and download the FireControl for Lion installer. (Fire Studio 26x26)
Run the Fire Control installer while the 26x26 in plugged in and powered on to the mac.
Reboot the when the installer is complete. Do not try to access Fire Control surface before the reboot.
After the mac has booted back up and you have your trusty 26x26 plugged in to the mac and powered on and the sync light on the unit is solid blue you can now open Fire Control.
If Fire Control surface loads up and you can see the status and faders/ins/outs of the 26x26 unit you are in the house!
From here you can now install your DAW of choice and then plugins and so on.
I have my old 26x26 running flawlessly on my mac pro 3,1 8 core running 10.11 (El Cap) doing just this process.
I have this also working on my mac pro 5,1 running 10.12 (Sierra) with this very process.
Cheers and happy hacking to keep this great old workhorse (NAYYYY....26x26) trucking along.
-TK-
=======================================================================
UPDATE 5/9/2020:
If having issues installing this driver package on macOS 10.15.X make sure you 1: disable SIP first. 2: After disable SIP and rebooting once the mac is back up and you are logged in. Run a terminal session and type the following commands.
Type:
sudo mount -uw /
Then hit enter and you will be required to type in your mac's password.
Next type:
killall Finder
You should see all finder windows close quickly and reopen. After this you will get the message to "Install Anyway" when running the FireControl driver install. Reboot after install and enjoy running the Firestudio 26x26 on the latest macOS.
=======================================================================
Update 1/4/2023:
I picked up a new Mac Studio to replace the old MacPro over the weekend. It appears macOS 11, 12, 13 will not allow the Firecontrol package to install so it looks like the Firestudio 26x26 has officially retired.
I had a good run with the FS 26x26 unit for over 15 years so I will miss it. Now it is a M1 Mac Studio and a Studio 18|24c which work amazing together so far.
Thanks to everyone that has commented and I hope this helped you get some life out of your old FS 26x26 units.
-TK-