Ventura Hack for FireWire Core Audio Support on Supported MacBook Pro and others...

I did all the procedure on Mac Mini M1 2020 Sonoma and worked great. However, I'm trying to do the same on an external drive, I could install the kext file, but when rebooting, it asks to allow extension to be used, and then reboot to apply changes. But after rebooting, it asks the same thing, "Open Privacy and Security to allow extensions" and this never ends. My Mac Mini is 256 Gb, and as music producer I need to work in a bigger disk, so... Any advice?

@RicMX Whoa, boy. Ok. Rant warning - Ok, so about that... Seems that none of this (and a lot of other things) will work when you boot off an external HDD. This is due to the security regime that Apple uses that is hard-wired into the SSD that is soldered onto the motherboard. I went through this for months with Apple, even getting senior people in on the conversation, and they were all very tight lipped about how it worked and why what we're trying to do won't work when booting off an external drive. In a nutshell, you MUST boot the Mac OS off the internal drive, whether you like it or not. Google how to move your profile account to an external drive and do that. You can also set yourself up to run external apps off an external drive and it works for the most part, although it can be tricky to maintain, so much more so than having everything in a "vanilla" Mac OS installation, and Apple only really want to support that, ie: OS, account, apps, etc, on the internal HDD. They say it's for "security", and I guess it is mostly, but it's also to force you to pay the Apple Tax on the internal storage options. It's a pretty elaborate scam, but they end up getting two Mac purchases off you. One for the small internal HDD, with you there thinking you can simply boot off an external one, spend a month or to fluffing around trying to get it to work, and then the second one where you throw your hands up in the air, give up, and buy a second one with a larger internal HDD.

FWIW - I've upgraded to Sequoia 18.2 just now. Unplugged my FW Onyx. Restarted. Re-installed the AppleFWAudioVentura.pkg. Restarted. Allowed the Mac to boot. Plugged my device back in, and all seems well again. This fix is a gift that just keeps on giving! Thank-you!

How to Successfully Boot macOS with Your Audio Interface Connected Without Crashes

Hello everyone! A huge thank you to matt9 and all of you. Thanks to your help, I was able to install my Prism Sound Orpheus on Sequoia successfully! YES It works on Sequoia

I have found a way to restart the computer or boot without having to disconnect the interface.

Prevent IOFireWireAVC.kext from Loading

Steps to Block the Kext:

Open Terminal and create a configuration file to block the kext:

sudo nano /Library/Extensions/BlockFireWireAVC.conf

Paste the following line into the file:

Restrict com.apple.iokit.IOFireWireAVC

Save the file by pressing CTRL + X, then Y, then ENTER.

Block the kext from loading at boot using nvram:

sudo nvram boot-args="kext-dev-mode=1 kextblock=com.apple.iokit.IOFireWireAVC"

Restart your Mac normally with the FireWire audio interface connected.

Your FireWire device should now work without needing to be unplugged when rebooting, while also avoiding Wi-Fi issues and system crashes.

If you encounter any issues, you can reset the changes using:

sudo nvram -d boot-args

The only remaining issue is that when the computer goes into sleep or standby mode, it crashes after about one minute upon waking up. Therefore, it is recommended to disconnect the interface before waking the computer.

For those who have experienced issues installing the matt9 pkg and its kext AppleFWAudio.kext, very important: The operating system must be installed on an internal disk, not on an external SSD. If you want to keep your current system running, you can create a new volume using Disk Utility and install macOS Sequoia there, keeping both systems separate.

I installed the kext and the "Firewire" report on "System Profile" showed a device called "Venice".

But on "Audio Midi Settings" no inputs and outputs showed up.

I then tried installing the drivers for MAC for the Midas F32 and it just made things worse, now "Firewire" appears but not the Venice.

So i guess it's a dead end for me as i don't have much time left to spend on this.

Apparently it's a TC Electronics chip that does the firewire thing on the Midas, so if we could find a driver for it it could potentially work.

If anyone find a solution or would like to try things together, please get in touch. my username on the email is "mail" and my email domain is "hems.io", so please send me an email there if you find anything for the Midas Venice 32 ( aka Midas F32 ), it would be magical if it works on the Apple Sillicon!

Peace and good luck to everyone!

Still working here on 2018 Intel i9 MacBook Pro running Sequoia 15.4. Any time there's an OS update, you've just gotta re-install the hack. I've never had any problems with waking from sleep or restart crash loops though. Or I think I got into a crash loop once, immediately after re-installing the hack and restarting, or something like that. But it mostly hasn't ever been an issue for me. I generally don't really leave the interface on, just power it up and use it when making music (Mackie Onyx 1620i).

Here's my step by step guide I made to remind myself each time I have to re-install:

================================
1. DISABLE SIP IN RECOVERY MODE:
================================

	1. Restart computer in Recovery mode (Restart, holding Command+R)
	2. Launch Terminal from the Utilities menu
	3. Disable SIP by running the command:

csrutil disable

	4. Quit Terminal
	5. Utilities > Statup Security Utility (This might look different depending on OS version and Intel/Apple chipsets)
		5a. Intel - 
		5b. Apple Silicon - Permissive Security > Allow user management of kernel extensions from identified developers > OK
	6. Restart computer

=========================
2. RUN INSTALLER PACKAGE:
=========================

	1. Run AppleFWAudioVentura.pkg to install the kext file
	2. You should be prompted to allow the kernel extension in System Settings
	3. If not, check System Settings > Privacy & Security > Allow
	4. Installer might report that it failed... that's ok. Just check to make sure 'AppleFWAudio.kext' was installed at /Library/Extensions/
	5. Restart computer

===============================
3. FIX PERMISSIONS & LOAD KEXT:
===============================

	1. Launch Terminal
	2. Run to fix file permissions:

sudo chown -R 0:0 /Library/Extensions/AppleFWAudio.kext/

	3. Run to manually load AppleFWAudio.kext:

sudo kmutil load -p /Library/Extensions/AppleFWAudio.kext

	4. Turn off/disconnect Firewire device
	5. Restart (will reboot twice)
	6. FireWire device should now be available / working

================================
4. RE-ENABLE SIP (WITHOUT KEXT):
================================

	1. Restart computer in Recovery mode
	2. Launch Terminal from Utilities menu
	3. Enable custom SIP by running command:

csrutil enable --without kext

	4. Warning message will display ~”csrutil: requesting an unsupported configuration. This is likely to break in the future and leave your machine in an unknown state.”. Just ignore it :)
	5. Reboot and check that FireWire device is still recognized. If it's not, check again that 'AppleFWAudio.kext' was installed at /Library/Extensions/, and re-run from step "3. FIX FILE PERMISSIONS". Hopefully that will fix it

Just curious if anyone has this working on MacMini M2 Pro with Sequoia? I, too, have a Mackie Onyx 1220i and am really missing the FW support! TIA!

I have been trying this procedure on a brand new 2023 MacBook Pro M3 with Sonoma 14.1, and when I try to install the AppleFWAudio pkg, it still gives me a pop-up that it can't be installed because it's from an unknown developer. Am I missing something with that install? When I try the next step (sudo chown ... ) in terminal (in either normal or recovery mode) it says it file doesn't exist.

Really hoping I can get this figured out. I have a Mackie 1620 that I enjoy using for drums, and I need the 8 channels. Thanks for any help!

Apparently on my previous tries, I must have had an error of some sort. Thanks now to @daneover and the great step-by-step guide they provided, I'm now listening to some tunes on YouTube, via my Mackie Onyx-1220i 's Firewire connection!!

Mac mini 2023 with M2 Pro | 32GB RAM MacOS Sequoia 15.6.1

Followed the instructions in sections 1, 2, and 3. No apparent issues installing the FW kext from the AppleFWAudioVentura.pkg. Downloaded the ZIP file & extracted the .pkg to my desktop.

Note: One thing I did not do is have the Mackie connected to my Mini via FW during the whole install/config. I waited until the last step in part 3 (after double reboot) to finally get connected.

Also of note, I have had success via 2 different ways to connect to my Mini. In previous attempts, I tried the "dongle daisy chain" method with a FW800 (male) > FW400 (female) adapter connected to the Apple FW800 > TB2 adapter, and finally the TB2 > TB3 adapter. This time around, that collection of adapters is working great.

Prior to buying the Mini M2 Pro, I was deeply involved in the "Tonymacx86.com CustoMac" community, and recently uncovered an old Belkin F5U504 - FW400 3-port PCIe card - just like this one... https://www.hardwarejet.com/belkin-f5u504.html?srsltid=AfmBOor77YlzKP4ebugD3tNbx-x0UfVNRgtuCS5Cn1GMU4hNTsPrrDcY, along with my Blackmagicdesign Intensity Pro 4K video capture card that were running successfully in my most recent "hack-intosh."

So Friday I found a reasonably priced Thunderbolt 3/4 PCIe enclosure on Amazon (search Amazon for ANQUORA Thunderbolt External Enclosure TD1). Popped the Belkin card in the enclosure, connected power & TB4 cable to enclosure, and finally connected my FW400 cable from the Mackie to the Belkin card. BINGO! Again, beautiful (no snap/crackle/pop) audio playback.

Have yet to test recording using the mic inputs, but I have no reason to suspect any issues.

For now, my Mackie mixer lives to fight another day via Firewire! Again, huge thanks to everyone who's chimed in on suggestions, troubleshooting, and to the folks who meticulously documented the process.

This hack is still working on latest Sequoia 15.7, running 2018 Intel MacBook Pro, just follow my instructions above. Would be curious to know if this is working for Apple Silicon people

@gmdavis You just need to allow the installer to run in System Settings > Privacy & Security. At the bottom choose 'Allow applications from: App Store & Known Developers'. Now try opening the installer via 'command+click > Open'. A prompt should appear in that Privacy & Security pane that allows you to choose to run the installer anyway

For A&H ZED-R16 on M3, Sonoma 14.7.6, it's not flying.

1. the kext is not loading on boot (or device connect, or whatever), have to manually load w. kmutil.
2. The device shows up in FW device tree (after power-cycling when connected) but nothing in AMS.
3. Kext seems to somehow unload after a while (disappears from kmutil showloaded list). It always shows up w. 0 address.

Also tried w. Motu Ultralite FW – it happily starts on bus power but does not show up anywhere (Warning: Unable to list FireWire devices).

Any ideas? Thanks.

Hi everyone,

Thanks to Matt9 sharing the hack and following Tyronet's invaluable detailed instructions, I managed to reconnect my old Mackie Onyx 820i mixer to my MacBook Pro (16-inch, 2021, M1 Max) running Sequia 15.6, and it seems to work perfectly with Logic Pro 11.2.2. (I'm using an FW400-FW800 cable + an Apple Thunderbolt-FW800 adapter + an Apple Thunderbolt3 USB-C-Thunderbolt2 adapter.) Thanks to everyone, but shame on Apple for putting us in this terrible situation!

Tascam, Yamaha, Edirol, Motu, UAD, the list goes on.. RME still works... for now

Still working for me on Sequoia 15.7.5 MacBook Pro Intel i9 2018 with my Mackie Onyx 1620i, just follow my instructions. And make sure to power off/disconnect the firewire device while doing it.

Glad to hear that some Apple M chip users were successful with this hack as well. Curious about Tahoe. I've read they've completely done away with Firewire video now, but wonder if this hack would still enable the Core Audio side of things