Helix Native compatibility issue with M1 Mac?

[vadar1]

I recently purchased a set of M1 iMac and had it Logic Pro X installed. This M1 iMac is Big Sur based computer, by the way.

Along with also newly purchased Symphony Desktop from Apogee, I tried to use my Helix Native, version 3.1.1, which I had been using on my Intel Macbook Pro as well.

Only problem is, while, plug-ins provided by Apogee for Symphony Desktop seems to work fine on my M1 iMac, I just cannot load the Helix Native 3.1.1 in Logic.

So, I went back and forth, uninstalled the Helix Native plug-in from my M1 iMac, and reinstalled, but I got a message saying, it "couldn't be opened" in the plug-in manager.

 

I just want to confirm, that I am not the only one with this issue. I mean, I just want to know if this is a on-going issue, i.e. Helix Native 3.1.1.'s compatibility issue on M1 Macs.

If not, I would really appreciate a word of advice on this.

[ju5tntime]

I’m sorry to say Helix Native does the exact same on my M1 Mac, and I could find next to no information on working around it. Another dude out there claimed he was somehow managing to route it through to Rosetta, which made it run, but it was super slow, and seemed not worth it. I think that guy was on YouTube, but he sure didn’t share how he did it. I wouldn’t bother.

 

I just bought a Helix so I wouldn’t have to deal with this. I wanted one anyway.

[datacommando]

3 hours ago, vadar1 said:

I just want to confirm, that I am not the only one with this issue.

 

A quick check would reveal that you're not alone.

 

One solution offered was to run using Rosetta, which seemed to do the trick until Apple updated Big Sur once more, and that brought the whole house of cards tumbling down again. The thing about Logic Pro not recognising/validating the Native plug-in has also been noted many times, and it seem that if you tick the option to "Use" that will get it to function.

 

Heres  a link.

 

 

Hope this helps/makes sense.

[vadar1]

15 hours ago, ju5tntime said:

I’m sorry to say Helix Native does the exact same on my M1 Mac, and I could find next to no information on working around it. Another dude out there claimed he was somehow managing to route it through to Rosetta, which made it run, but it was super slow, and seemed not worth it. I think that guy was on YouTube, but he sure didn’t share how he did it. I wouldn’t bother.

 

I just bought a Helix so I wouldn’t have to deal with this. I wanted one anyway.

 

Thank you an update. I really wanted to find out if I am the only one with this issue, as you had mentioned it, someone had find some sort of solution to this.

[vadar1]

15 hours ago, datacommando said:

 

A quick check would reveal that you're not alone.

 

One solution offered was to run using Rosetta, which seemed to do the trick until Apple updated Big Sur once more, and that brought the whole house of cards tumbling down again. The thing about Logic Pro not recognising/validating the Native plug-in has also been noted many times, and it seem that if you tick the option to "Use" that will get it to function.

 

Heres  a link.

 

 

Hope this helps/makes sense.

 

There aren't many recently made threads on this issue, as my limited search only had shown someone talking about this back in April. So I had to assume someone may have found solution, or no one is having this issue. Well, given the fact that M1 Mac has only been around in the market less than a year, not many people seemed to use this machine with the Helix Native.

 

Again, thank you for that link anyway. I will try though.

[batflash]

I'm experiencing the same thing here. I had tried out Native a few months back only to find it was very sluggish on my system. Fast forward to now, recently purchased it because I read that they had ironed out the bugs on M1 Mac and now it wont load in Logic. 

 

I've reinstalled. Rescanned plugins several times. Rebooted. No luck. Thoughts?

 

 

Running the latest download of Native as of 5 days ago. 

Mac Mini M1

HX Stomp & Floor plugged in

Apollo x4

 

[batflash]

Ok. Figured it out, thanks to another post on the forum. It requires you to run Logic in Rosetta, validate the plugin while in Rosetta mode, then you can Un-Rosetta it and run Logic in non-rosetta mode. 

 

1. Close Logic. Install Native

2. Open up Applications folder, right click Logic, click Get Info, check Rosetta.

3. Open Logic, open plugin manager, rescan Native to validate. If it says "validated". Exit Logic.

4. Open Applications folder, right click logic, Get info, uncheck Rosetta. 

5. Run Logic and verify plugin is still validated and works. 

 

Note the I'm running the latest version of Big Sur as well, so this fix works on 11.4.

 

@vadar1

 

 

[vadar1]

Just for those whom seeking an answer on this topic, I went on with what data commando replied and it seems Helix Native runs fine at the moment.

 

Checked several presets, and the sounds are different, so I assume it works.

 

I cannot guarantee its compatibility, as Helix Native plug-in in the Logic is classified as "incompatible", but seems to do the job the same way it did in other intel based computers.

 

For the moment, I will see that this is the solution.

 

Thanks guys.

 

[datacommando]

On 7/9/2021 at 11:12 AM, vadar1 said:

For the moment, I will see that this is the solution.

I hope that you, and everyone else using the new models, will be prepared for all this to start over again - Apple are getting ready to release macOS “Monterey” v.12

 

https://www.apple.com/macos/monterey-preview/

Good luck.

[krimple]

I don’t think the next OS will be a problem like Big Sur. First of all, the issue now is recompiling/running on ARM, and whatever they did in 10.6.2 must have made Rosetta-based execution of something on ARM chips crash the plugin. It’s not like other plugins behave this badly - running Helix Native IMMEDIATELY brings down any DAW I use. Maybe they use an undocumented API or the OS is more protective of resources than it was before. 

 

If other plugin vendors can get their stuff working, so can Line 6. I would really just prefer the team announces a timeline. This is going to be the hardware platform for Macs in the future. Even if it is “not this year” I would like to know. I had planned on using Helix Native to record and Helix LT for performing and it would be nice to share presets like I did before. It is not a disaster for me (music is a hobby, not my career) but it is money spent on something I can’t use right now because of a laptop and OS choice. Thanks to the team who I am sure is very busy and constrained. I applied to the beta program and would be happy to help.  

[phil_m]

Native runs fine on Reaper on my M1 Mac Mini. Prior to the 3.11 update, the graphics were really slow, but now that seems to be cleared up. So I’m not sure what’s different with Reaper on the Macs (other than perhaps I am using the VST3 version of Native).

 

Now if only Izotope would release M1 compatible versions of their stuff, I’d be about all set.

[krimple]

Interesting. I wonder if it's some sort of display bug when it tries to restore the UI view. It comes up as a small square box, then when it resizes it immediately crashes. Maybe my settings somehow created a condition where this crash happens. It seemed to start when the rectangle of the view went off the side of the screen, and then I can't ever get it to load again.

 

I wonder how I can reset the settings of the plugin so that the default sizes are restored. I tried removing the Audio Unit and the VST3 plugins but couldn't find a property file / settings / preference file to delete.

 

Ken

 

[krimple]

OK! I fixed MY problem. IF you have the situation that I did:

 

1. You installed Helix Native

2. It worked for a while

3. Suddenly you can't bring it back, no matter what

and 

4. You don't care about your old patches, because you backed them up

 

To fix: you can (do not blame me for anything that happens, you have been warned, and BE SUPER CAREFUL!!!):

 

1. Open up a Terminal

2. Use the command below to switch to the directory that houses the preferences for the plugins:

   cd ~/Library/Application\ Support

 

3. Rename the Line 6 directory to something else like Line 6 Backup - YOU WILL LOSE YOUR SETTINGS - I don't care as they're backed up from the Helix LT:

   mv Line\ 6 Old\ Line\ 6.  (the backslashes are important, they escape the space in the directory name...

4. Restart your DAW, et viola!

 

Note- if you're not a Terminal user, you can run Finder, then hit CMD-SHIFT-G, then enter ~/Library/Application Support in the box that shows up, then rename Line 6

to Line 6 Old 

 

It brought it right back - said that it was the first time the plugin had started - but it didn't lose my license activation.

 

Thanks for the posters who said they have been able to get the plugin working on an M1 mac. This shows me it's an issue with a configuration corruption or setting problem, not necessarily with a binary compilation problem with plugin not properly running at all.

 

 

 

 

[krimple]

Oh, and I'll be sending my bad Line 6 folder to Line 6 so they can hopefully reproduce my issue.

 

Best,

 

Ken

 

[Seanhartt]

I can confirm I'm currently running Helix Native 3.11 on my M1 MBA running Monterey Public Beta 1 in Logic 10.6.3.

 

Installed Logic

Installed Helix Native

Opened Logic in Rosetta mode, ignored warning about incompatible plugin, tested HN all good

Closed Logic, unchecked Rosetta

Opened Logic, all is working

 

Runs great, about the same as it did under Big Sur with the same process followed. Way better than my 2019 Intel MBA ran it in Big Sur. 

[batflash]

Well, 

 

Now Native crashes with the latest revision of Logic, 10.6.3. Sigh. I wish I could revert back, unfortunately I can't. I'm going to try a manual uninstall and reinstall of Native. ARRRARARRG!!

[batflash]

The uninstall/reinstall of Native didn't work. Going to try to find a copy of Logic 10.6.2 floating around the net. Ugh.

[krimple]

For me it seemed to go south when I resized the Helix plugin window. That was fixed by removing the Line 6 folder from the Library/Application Support folder inside of your home folder and letting Helix Plugin rebuild its metadata. I don't dare resize the plugin after it worked again.

 

Ken

 

 

[kenrash]

Absolutely not working here, Logic/Mac Mini/M1/Big Sur.  The best I can manage is the app opening, then saying can't connect to DSP engine.  Other times, it just crashes Logic.

[dtaddis]

Just wanted to say thanks to @batflash - the method for temporarily using Rosetta worked for me with Logic 10.6.3 and Helix Native 3.11 on my M1 Macbook Air. It was a fresh install and all working ok for input monitoring, recording and mixing down.

 

[HOPEBA]

Okay, I can confirm…it works without Rosetta!  I use Logic Pro as my DAW on a brand new MacBook Air M1, and when you first launch LP, a window will pop up with two buttons; one will ask you to ignore and continue, the other will say there is a problem…click on that button.  You get a window that shows all of the plugins running in LP on the left side (Focusrite, Line6, etc…), basically the manufacturer of the plugins.  Click on Line6 and on the right you will see the line entry for Helix Native.  Scroll a bit to the right and that line item will have a “use” checkbox.  Click it to put a check in the box, and hit “Done”.  That’s it, it will work.  When you create a track, say for guitar, open the mixer and click on “amp” for that track.  Line6 appears as an option, that’s Helix Native.  I also plugged in my Helix floor unit, opened Helix Edit, and drug all of my IRs and presets into Helix Native so I have those as options as well.  Works like a champ!!

[HOPEBA]

Forgot to mention, that first window will continue to pop up when you open LP…just hit ignore, it’ll still work like it’s supposed to.

[amsdenj]

I have Helix Native working on a Mac Mini with macOS 11.6 and Logic Pro X running natively on the M1 chip. I did have to delete the Application Support/Line 6 folder to stop the crashing, and do still have to ignore the warning about incompatible audio units on Logic startup - but it seems to be working ok. 

 

Except the knob and switch automation as controlled by MIDI controller assignments don't work when running on the M1. I have to run Logic under Rosetta to get the automation to work. 

 

Looks like Helix Native for macOS needs to work. 

[kitemonkey]

Just as a further followup on  this, thread, I can get mine to validate as a plugin, however I still get the following as an error message and nope, it doesn't work at all.  I've gone through all of the suggestions above a few times and while it's close.... Ah well!

 

Mac specs :  Macbook Pro M1 MAX, running monterey.

 

 

[datacommando]

14 hours ago, kitemonkey said:

I've gone through all of the suggestions above a few times and while it's close.... Ah well!

Hi,

 

As you seem to have exhausted the suggestions given here, then the best thing to do is raise a ticket with Customer Support.

 

They cannot fix issues that they don’t know about.

 

Hope this helps/makes sense.

[mikeybaker1]

On 7/6/2021 at 9:45 AM, batflash said:

Ok. Figured it out, thanks to another post on the forum. It requires you to run Logic in Rosetta, validate the plugin while in Rosetta mode, then you can Un-Rosetta it and run Logic in non-rosetta mode. 

 

1. Close Logic. Install Native

2. Open up Applications folder, right click Logic, click Get Info, check Rosetta.

3. Open Logic, open plugin manager, rescan Native to validate. If it says "validated". Exit Logic.

4. Open Applications folder, right click logic, Get info, uncheck Rosetta. 

5. Run Logic and verify plugin is still validated and works. 

 

Note the I'm running the latest version of Big Sur as well, so this fix works on 11.4.

 

@vadar1

 

 

You sir just made my day! Running Logic on a new 2021 M1 Macbook Pro (Montery) and the only thing I didn't like about my new machine was Native not being available, even tho older projects that used Native loaded fine. Uninstalled, re-installed, tried this and it's now 'validated' without running Logic in Rosetta. Thank You!!!

[batflash]

8 minutes ago, mikeybaker1 said:

You sir just made my day! Running Logic on a new 2021 M1 Macbook Pro (Montery) and the only thing I didn't like about my new machine was Native not being available, even tho older projects that used Native loaded fine. Uninstalled, re-installed, tried this and it's now 'validated' without running Logic in Rosetta. Thank You!!!

 

 

So no issues with Monterey, eh? That's good to hear. After I'm done working on a couple of these projects I may try to update OSX to Monterey in hopes to resolves some hardware quirks with bluetooth, mouse, keyboard, and drive issues. I have my doubts  if it'll help though. 

 

Good luck and enjoy! 

[teppah]

Unfortunately - Rosetta doesn't work for me.

 

(MBP M1 Pro, macOS 12.1)

 

When I start Logic Pro in Rosetta mode it properly validates Helix Native but it crashes LP as soon as enable Helix Native on my audio track - so no luck there.

Later when I start Logic Pro in non-Rosetta mode it doesn't complain about the plugin, it actually lets me assign Helix Native to a track - but then it quits with "An Audio Unit plug-in reported a problem which might cause the system to become unstable. Please quit and restart Logic Pro." message.

 

I'm very disappointed, M1 has been available for a year now and still there's no support. :(

[datacommando]

On 1/4/2022 at 12:06 PM, teppah said:

I'm very disappointed, M1 has been available for a year now and still there's no support. :(

Hi,

 

If you have tried all the suggested solutions provided here without any success, then the best thing to do is open a ticket with Customer Support. This a user group and is very rarely visited by Line 6 staff, therefore there is little, or no chance of your issue been seen by anyone who can implement any changes.

 

Furthermore, as you say - the M1 units have been available for a year now. Have you considered raising this issue with Apple? After all, Helix Native seems to have been perfectly functional on the Mac platform, before Apple decide to change everything (and upset the Apple cart, as it were). I have no issues at all with Native running on Catalina. I do realise that you may have had no option other than to buy a new Mac M1, but they (Apple) made the changes that seriously affected all in the music industry who were using their platform, and lots of people got very upset. Mmm… looks like some still are!

 

Hope this helps/makes sense.

[hkremer]

Actually, developers have had access to the M1 dev kit since July 2020, so it's been about 18 months. The second iteration of M1 chips has been released. We have a few. I work on a 16" M1 Max, which is blazingly fast and efficient. No way we're going to run Logic in Rosetta for some random guitar plugin that is merely pretty good. The more developers drag their feet on current technology, the more it's made me appreciate a) the developers who do keep up - Waves, Arturia, Valhalla, etc.  b) Logic plugins - reverbs and compressors in particular  c) how unbelievably good the Strymon Iridium with a couple dirt boxes in front of it sounds. We often mic guitars, but the Strymon sounds as good or better than mic'd.

[ozanerkal]

Please Read For M1 Pro + Monterey Related Problems:

(I posted this under another thread but this thread also seems to be related)

 

SOLVED... & it was so easy.. ONLY ONE STEP (OK, two.. no uninstalling or reinstalling or re-downloading needed)

Thanks to you all, so I had to post it here:

 

System: Macbook Pro w/M1 Pro + Monterey.

Problem was: New computer came with Monterey, migrated everything from old Macbook w/M1 + Big Sur, all but Native worked.

Solution:

1. (Not sure if this step is necessary but probably it helped) Run Logic, go to Plugin Manager and if Helix Native isn't validated, quit, run again in Rosetta, go to Plugin Manager, select Native and "rescan selection" and see it get enabled.. then quit Logic.

2. In Finder top menu bar, click Go, press the Option/Alt Key to reveal "Library". Under Library > Application Support > Line 6 find "Helix Native" folder and rename or delete it (rename is better just in case) That's it. NOTE THAT YOU'LL LOSE ALL PRESETS AND IR'S AND SETTINGS.. I had them on my Helix Floor..

 

Now run Logic WITHOUT Rosetta, check if Native's still "enabled".. and then in a new track, insert Native and VOILA!

 

Just like I guessed, an existing setting or preset must have caused the problem and it was located in that folder that I renamed. Once it was renamed or deleted, Native recreates that folder this time without the problem.

 

I didn't have to delete Native at all, I just luckily found where the problem was and it's gone.. Finally I can use Native after 2 months.. All the posts here helped, so thank you, hope this works for others :)

 

[kitemonkey]

5 hours ago, ozanerkal said:

SOLVED... & it was so easy.. ONLY ONE STEP (OK, two.. no uninstalling or reinstalling or re-downloading needed)

 

 

 

I got all excited by this, ok, finally, a way to make it work! BUT, alas, it did not make any difference in my case, the same message about failing to connect to the DSP. BUT #2  I dug a little deeper this time and went the route of deleting all traces of Helix Native (https://uk.line6.com/data/6/0a020a410ad46078912adaa0e/application/pdf/Helix Native Pilot's Guide - English .pdf  - search for remove) and then reinstalled and voila, Logic 10.7.2 and Helix Native are now nicely playing together on a 16" Macbook Pro M1 Max. Hoorah! That made my Sunday. Thanks to all who have weighed in over the months.

[ozanerkal]

On 1/24/2022 at 1:32 AM, kitemonkey said:

 

I got all excited by this, ok, finally, a way to make it work! BUT, alas, it did not make any difference in my case, the same message about failing to connect to the DSP. BUT #2  I dug a little deeper this time and went the route of deleting all traces of Helix Native (https://uk.line6.com/data/6/0a020a410ad46078912adaa0e/application/pdf/Helix Native Pilot's Guide - English .pdf  - search for remove) and then reinstalled and voila, Logic 10.7.2 and Helix Native are now nicely playing together on a 16" Macbook Pro M1 Max. Hoorah! That made my Sunday. Thanks to all who have weighed in over the months.

 

Oh, so my method didn't work.. well I actually didn't mention my previous attempts in my last post as I had no success with them, but now I think maybe they paved the path..

 

What I did previously:

1. Delete all traces of Native like you did, as told in the Manual (which didn't include my last step)

2. Re-download and reinstall Native

 

So now I think these two steps, combined with the last (deleting/renaming the Library > Application Support > Line 6>Helix Native folder) do the trick.

BTW, I'm sure a clean install on a new computer would work OK. We had problems because we were migrating from older systems.

 

Thanks for the feedback.

[robhepler]

On 1/23/2022 at 10:36 AM, ozanerkal said:

Please Read For M1 Pro + Monterey Related Problems:

(I posted this under another thread but this thread also seems to be related)

 

SOLVED... & it was so easy.. ONLY ONE STEP (OK, two.. no uninstalling or reinstalling or re-downloading needed)

Thanks to you all, so I had to post it here:

 

System: Macbook Pro w/M1 Pro + Monterey.

Problem was: New computer came with Monterey, migrated everything from old Macbook w/M1 + Big Sur, all but Native worked.

Solution:

1. (Not sure if this step is necessary but probably it helped) Run Logic, go to Plugin Manager and if Helix Native isn't validated, quit, run again in Rosetta, go to Plugin Manager, select Native and "rescan selection" and see it get enabled.. then quit Logic.

2. In Finder top menu bar, click Go, press the Option/Alt Key to reveal "Library". Under Library > Application Support > Line 6 find "Helix Native" folder and rename or delete it (rename is better just in case) That's it. NOTE THAT YOU'LL LOSE ALL PRESETS AND IR'S AND SETTINGS.. I had them on my Helix Floor..

 

Now run Logic WITHOUT Rosetta, check if Native's still "enabled".. and then in a new track, insert Native and VOILA!

 

Just like I guessed, an existing setting or preset must have caused the problem and it was located in that folder that I renamed. Once it was renamed or deleted, Native recreates that folder this time without the problem.

 

I didn't have to delete Native at all, I just luckily found where the problem was and it's gone.. Finally I can use Native after 2 months.. All the posts here helped, so thank you, hope this works for others :)

 

This worked on My iMac 24" running Monterey 12.5.