User Manual

User's Guide Fireface UC © RME
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17. Mac OS X FAQ
17.1 Round about Driver Installation
The driver with the file suffix zip provided by RME is a compressed archive. Zip is directly sup-
ported by OS X, a double click on the file is all one needs to do.
The driver consists of a package file (pkg). A double click will start the OS X installer.
The actual audio driver appears as a kernel extension file. The installer copies it to >System/
Library/ Extensions<. Its name is FirefaceUSB.kext. It is visible in the Finder, allowing you to
verify date and driver version. Yet, in fact this again is a folder containing subdirectories and
files.
Nonetheless, this 'driver file' can be removed by simply dragging it to the trash bin. This can be
helpful in case a driver installation fails.
17.2 MIDI doesn't work
In some cases the applications do not show the MIDI port. The reason for this is usually visible
within the Audio MIDI Setup. It displays no RME MIDI device, or the device is greyed out and
therefore inactive. Mostly, removing the greyed out device and searching for MIDI devices again
will solve the problem.
The Fireface UC is class compliant. Therefore it comes without a driver. OS X recognizes it as
MIDI device and will be using it with the driver included in the operating system.
17.3 Repairing Disk Permissions
Repairing permission can solve problems with the installation process - plus many others. To do
this, launch Disk Utility located in Utilities. Select your system drive in the drive/volume list to
the left. The First Aid tab to the right now allows you to check and repair disk permissions.
17.4 Supported Sample Rates
RME's Mac OS X driver supports all sampling frequencies provided by the hardware. This in-
cludes 32 kHz and 64 kHz, and even 128 kHz, 176.4 kHz and 192 kHz for the analog and
SPDIF I/Os.
But not any software will support all the hardware's sample rates. The hardware's capabilities
can easily be verified in the Audio MIDI Setup. Select Audio devices under Properties of:
and choose the Fireface UC. A click on Format will list the supported sample frequencies.