Guide to installing POD HD500x on OS X Mojave

[bluekanoodle]

Seems like a lot of folks are having problems with HD500x Edit and Mojave. I wrote this guide, using pieces of information collected around the net and it fixed my problems. Hopefully, it gives everyone some help for how to get this to work.

 

Installing the Driver

 

In OS X 10.13 and 10.14 Apple changed the Security Model to not allow unsigned drivers to load. This causes the Line 6 Monkey Program to not work correctly, as the install will run but it will not load the driver correctly, even after a restart.

 

First, follow instructions here for getting driver install. 

 

https://line6.com/support/page/kb/recording/computer-audio-set-up-and-troubleshooting/macos-high-sierra-1013mojave-1014-driver-installation-change-r879/

 

This should the Line 6 driver to load and your HD500x should now function as an Audio Interface

 

 

Installing HD500x Edit

 

First off, Line 6 seemed to have removed HD500x from the download list. I was able to find a copy here

 

http://line6.com/software/readeula.html?rid=5685

 

 

However, once downloaded, I could only get part way through the installation until the section where it asked me to choose which hard drive to install the program on, in which case they would all have an explanation point over the drives and have a message saying it could only be installed on computers running 10.5 or above.

 

Basically Line 6 seems to have fallen for the same trap as the Y2K bug, in that the installer seems to check the Mac OS X version number by checking this file here /System/Library/CoreServices/SystemVersion.plist but only check the first 4 characters in the version number contained in this file (ie 10.14 would be read as 10.1 and since this is less then 10.5, it fails.

 

To fix this we can temporarily change the version number in this file to 10.5, run the installer and then change it back to 10.14. Unfortunately, Apple has something called System Integrity Protection to prevent changes to this file, even by an administrative user. To get around this we need to disable System Integrity protection, restart make the version number change, run the installer, change the version back and then turn System Integrity Protection Back on

 

WARNING * While this should not harm your system if done correctly, do so at your own risk* 

 

 

1. Restart your Mac in Recovery Mode by turning the computer off. While turning back on, hold down the Command and the R key at the same time until you see the Apple Logo as described here:

ttps://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201314

 

2 .Once you have entered recovery mode, and are staring at the recovery splash screen, click Utilities in the top menu and choose terminal. In the terminal windows that pops up, type in

csrutil disable

(Explicit in instructions here. https://www.imore.com/how-turn-system-integrity-protection-macos)

 

3 .Restart your Mac.

 

4. Once booted up again, click Command space to open Spotlight, and type terminal to find the terminal command again and open it.

 

5. In the terminal window, type

sudo nano /System/Library/CoreServices/SystemVersion.plist

   (it should ask you for your password )This will open the system version file in the Nano Text Editor as the root user. Change the two line with the version of 10.14 to something like 10.54. Hit CONTROL-O then ENTER  to save the file, Then CONTROL X to quit   Nano.

 

6. Run the installer. It should work now

 

Now reverse the steps to undo the changes you just made. 

 

1. In the terminal, type

sudo nano /System/Library/CoreServices/SystemVersion.plist

  change the version back to 10.14, hit Hit CONTROL-O then ENTER  to save the file, Then CONTROL X to quit   Nano.

 

2. Restart back in Recovery Mode,

 

3. Open Terminal and type

csrutil enable

to turn System Integrity Protection back on.

 

4. Restart

 

5. ROCK OUT!

 

 

Hopefully, this helps someone!