Alesis Multimix 16 Firewire driver install on macOS High Sierra, Mojave, Catalina

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daneover

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I've got an older Alesis MultiMix 16 Firewire mixer that I'd LOVE to use with a newer MacBook Pro (2017 High Sierra, might upgrade to Mojave). This is a rather old unit (2007ish?), but acts as a great 16 channel analog mixer + 18 channel audio interface (16 individual POST FADER/EQ channels + a stereo main mix!). Not too surprisingly, the outdated drivers don't seem to want to work with the newer macOS operating systems (more on that later...). That being said, there are plenty of Firewire MultiMix owners who have successfully installed the older drivers and gotten them working with their newer macOS (and Windows) computers. Most of these users had posted files and walkthroughs to achieving this on another forum called "getsatisfaction.com/alesis" or something like that, but those forums were recently retired, and all that information is lost :(

From what I've gathered, the latest Multimix Firewire drivers you can find online work fine, it's just that the newer macOS operating systems have an advanced security protocol (SIP) that blocks the driver installation process from installing where it needs to be (/System/Library/Extensions). To get around this, you can boot into recovery mode (command+R on restart) and disable SIP via Terminal with the command 'csrutil disable', and install the driver (AlesisFirewire.kext) using Kext Utility app. I've tried variations on this multiple times but haven't been successful yet, and it's sooo frustrating. There was mention of possibly needing to update the firmware on the mixer, but that info is gone and I don't know how to check the firmware version of my MultiMix, nor where or how to get the correct firmware update installed.

This is the latest and most up to date forum post I could find on the subject, and documents macOS Catalina users being able to use these older MultiMix Firewire series mixers. There are also links to most recent drivers and the Kext Utility:

**unable to post links cause I'm new**

Hoping there are other users on here familiar with this and can help me out, or at the very least this info will help others
 
I had some problems with an old Tascam firewire mixer working on High Sierra and Mojave. I found that after re-installing the drivers I had to go to Security & Privacy in the System Preferences and manually accept/allow the drivers to install. It recognized the mixer just fine after that, although I still have some intermittent problems with Mojave seeing the mixer.
 
Thanks for your reply. I'm familiar with having to do this for some installations, but was never given that option for this. Will try again though, see if that pops up.

Ugh, still not allowed to post links :(
 
Did you ever manage to get this mixer working with Mojave?
 
daneover said:
I've got an older Alesis MultiMix 16 Firewire mixer that I'd LOVE to use with a newer MacBook Pro (2017 High Sierra, might upgrade to Mojave). This is a rather old unit (2007ish?), but acts as a great 16 channel analog mixer + 18 channel audio interface (16 individual POST FADER/EQ channels + a stereo main mix!). Not too surprisingly, the outdated drivers don't seem to want to work with the newer macOS operating systems (more on that later...). That being said, there are plenty of Firewire MultiMix owners who have successfully installed the older drivers and gotten them working with their newer macOS (and Windows) computers. Most of these users had posted files and walkthroughs to achieving this on another forum called "getsatisfaction.com/alesis" or something like that, but those forums were recently retired, and all that information is lost :(

From what I've gathered, the latest Multimix Firewire drivers you can find online work fine, it's just that the newer macOS operating systems have an advanced security protocol (SIP) that blocks the driver installation process from installing where it needs to be (/System/Library/Extensions). To get around this, you can boot into recovery mode (command+R on restart) and disable SIP via Terminal with the command 'csrutil disable', and install the driver (AlesisFirewire.kext) using Kext Utility app. I've tried variations on this multiple times but haven't been successful yet, and it's sooo frustrating. There was mention of possibly needing to update the firmware on the mixer, but that info is gone and I don't know how to check the firmware version of my MultiMix, nor where or how to get the correct firmware update installed.

This is the latest and most up to date forum post I could find on the subject, and documents macOS Catalina users being able to use these older MultiMix Firewire series mixers. There are also links to most recent drivers and the Kext Utility:

**unable to post links cause I'm new**

Hoping there are other users on here familiar with this and can help me out, or at the very least this info will help others
Click to expand...
Hi, does anyone have the AlesisFirewire.kext file for me?
 
Steenamaroo said:
The drivers are still available from Alesis but it looks like the last officially supported MacOS version was 10.8 Mountain Lion. (V3.5.6)

Alesis downloads link.
Click to expand...
thank you for replying, but I'm looking for the ".kext" file, not the official installation files. The files daneover talked about... to install it on newer MacOS versions.
 
The .kext file will be included in the installer.
Just download it then right-click the .pkg and choose "Show Package Contents"

Navigate through that and you should find the kext, probably in a /system/library/extensions structure.

From memory you'll need to put the kext where it goes (/S/L/E) then from terminal
sudo -s
chown root:wheel Full_Path_To_Kext
chmod -R 775 Full_Path_To_Kext
kextload -t Full_Path_To_Kext

Whether it'll actually work on your OS, I've no idea.
You may also need to disable SIP from terminal, via Recovery, if that's applicable.
 
hi everyone, thank you for your replys. you helped me a lot! now it works on my macbook pro 2016 under Mojave. I managed to install the driver via kext utility. unfortunatelly it doesn't work on my iMac Retina 4k 2017 :( I tried Mojave and High Sierra. The driver is installed, I can open the application "AlesisFirewire Control Panel", but it just shows "now devices found". Does anyone have an idea what the problem could be? It's really the same connection, same software, same method, but it just doesn't connect on the iMac...
 
I'm not sure but the first thing I'd do is confirm that the kext has definitely loaded without issue.
You should be able to sudo kextunload pathGoesHere and sudo kextload pathGoesHere to confirm.

You can also check under System Profiler > Software > Extensions. It's got a loaded yes/no column.

MacOS can block the loading of third party kexts, requiring your explicit permission.
Might be worth a look in SystemPreferences>Security&Privacy to see if that's what happened.

You can also check under FireWire in System Profiler to see if the device is recognised as connected.
Even without drivers, it should show that something is connected, I think.

I notice that the specs for the macbook list

Four Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) ports with support for:
  • DisplayPort
  • Thunderbolt (up to 40 Gbps)
  • USB 3.1 Gen 2 (up to 10 Gbps)

    The iMac shows exactly the same but with the addition of

  • Thunderbolt 2, HDMI, DVI, and VGA supported using adapters (sold separately)

So while they both list the same Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) ports,
it seems there is some difference in terms of what's supported.
Whether it makes a difference to your setup? I don't know.
 
Last edited:
Hi Steenamaro
Thank you for your reply. Its true that on my iMac under System Profiler > Software > Extensions the *AlesisFirewire" is listed as unloaded, while on the macbook it is listed as loaded. What can I do then to make it be listed as loaded?

when I try sudo kextload it shows: /System/Library/Extensions/AlesisFirewire.kext failed to load - (libkern/kext) not loadable (reason unspecified); check the system/kernel logs for errors or try kextutil(8).

Under System Profiler > Hardware > FireWire i can see the Mixer on both computers.

thanks in advance
 
Last edited:
Alright, the kext isn't loaded - That's the problem.

On both computers open Terminal.app and input csrutil status
If the macbook returns 'disabled' and the iMac returns 'enabled', then you'll need to disable SIP (System Integrity Protection) on the iMac.

To do that you'd boot into recovery mode and open terminal there then enter csrutil disable
then exit and boot up as normal.

Most likely that's the issue but, if not, do come back and let me know. (y)
 
Steenamaroo said:
Alright, the kext isn't loaded - That's the problem.

On both computers open Terminal.app and input csrutil status
If the macbook returns 'disabled' and the iMac returns 'enabled', then you'll need to disable SIP (System Integrity Protection) on the iMac.

To do that you'd boot into recovery mode and open terminal there then enter csrutil disable
then exit and boot up as normal.

Most likely that's the issue but, if not, do come back and let me know. (y)
Click to expand...
yes you were right, csrutil was enabled. I could successfully disable it, but then what do I have to do next? I tried to kextload via terminal, but it doesn't change anything. I also tried to install it new through KextUtility app. The only thing I didn't try so far is to install the AlesisFirewire Control Panel again, but I don't think that would solve the issue. Do you have another good proposition? Thanks in advance
 
JohnnyCB said:
yes you were right, csrutil was enabled. I could successfully disable it, but then what do I have to do next? I tried to kextload via terminal, but it doesn't change anything. I also tried to install it new through KextUtility app. The only thing I didn't try so far is to install the AlesisFirewire Control Panel again, but I don't think that would solve the issue. Do you have another good proposition? Thanks in advance
Click to expand...
Oh actually a new installation of the control panel solved the problem :) thank you a lot for your help, I'm super happy I can use my old gear again :)
 
Unless it's a coincidence and you have two issues, simply disabling SIP should be enough.

You can't just disable it from MacOS, though. It has to be done from recovery.
 
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