You don’t mention the Driver — did you just forget to mention it or do you have the new Driver for Big Sur?

https://usa.yamaha.com/support/updates/yamaha_steinberg_usb_driver_for_mac.html

Apologies - I am running the latest Steinberg driver (V3.0.5). I am also using the latest MODX CONNECT download (1.1.01). My Big Sur version is up to date (v11.6.2). When I attempt to set up the MODX CONNECT, the dropdown menu only shows "No Assign" and the Firmware Version box is empty (see screenshot for reference).

I personally cannot test M1.

Steinberg has special instructions for Apple Silicon.

Source: https://helpcenter.steinberg.de/hc/en-us/articles/360020574899-Yamaha-Steinberg-USB-Driver-installation-on-an-Apple-silicon-based-Mac

Change the macOS security policy
This is required only if the Yamaha Steinberg USB Driver, the Yamaha Steinberg Thunderbolt Driver or the TOOLS software that includes the driver is installed on an Apple silicon-based Mac for the first time.

To install the driver or the TOOLS on Macs with Intel processors, please skip this section and go to "Install the driver or the TOOLS software package"

Shut down your Mac
Press and hold the power button until you see "Loading startup options …"
Your Mac will boot into Recovery mode
Click Options (gear icon), then click Continue
In macOS Recovery, select the volume on which you want to install the driver and click Next.
In macOS Recovery, choose your account and click Next. Enter the password and click Continue
In the top menu, go to Utilities → Startup Security Utility
Select the system on which you want to install the driver. If the disk is encrypted with FileVault, click Unlock, enter the password, and then click Unlock
Click Security Policy, choose Reduced Security and check the option to allow user management of kernel extensions from identified developers
Click OK. Enter the password for your account and click OK.
Restart your Mac from Apple menu

Note: the "tools" instructions should not apply to keyboards - so I didn't copy that section.

Although Steinberg has a later driver - those updates wouldn't be for MODX so there shouldn't be a need to upgrade to say driver version 3.1.1. The main reason for 3.1.1 would be for MacOS 12.x (Monterey). Although this line of 3.1.1 is perhaps interesting: "Solved some minor problems".

Assumption is also that Rosetta has already been installed on your Mac and is ready to go. If so, it should be automatically applied although some apps have a checkbox option to open with Rosetta (universal ones like Safari).

This is required only if the Yamaha Steinberg USB Driver, the Yamaha Steinberg Thunderbolt Driver or the TOOLS software that includes the driver is installed on an Apple silicon-based Mac for the first time.

The driver is already installed, so I'm not sure what that means for me. That said, I did upgrade to the 3.1.1 version of the Steinberg driver as I've also recently upgraded my OS to Monterey (12.1). Regardless, I'm still having the same problem as previously described. As a side note, I did find the Steinberg USB Driver and selected the "Open with Rosetta" checkbox for the file, though I'm not sure if that really does anything.

Any suggestions? Workarounds? Should I wipe the previous driver install and start over? Or is this just not going to work with my system at all? Thanks in advance for any information you all can provide!

The docs on Steinberg's site make strong recommendations to meticulously follow the directions that I quoted in part. My takeaway was that it's important to follow certain steps or there's a possibility things won't work right. If you installed the driver following the proper procedure (whatever that is - I admit, not having an M1 system places me at a disadvantage) then you can ignore all this.

I would probably turn rosetta on for Montage Connect too. Wish I had a M1 here to mess with. Or someone with success would chime in. Or someone with authority and without success would chime in.

I would probably turn rosetta on for Montage Connect too.

Unfortunately that was not an option. No selection available to require the MODX Connect app to launch using Rosetta.

And to my knowledge, I installed the original Steinberg driver exactly as was instructed at the time, as well as the new one. Wondering if I'll need to do a complete system wipe and reinstall the OS to see if reinstalling the driver correctly would make it work.

You're going to struggle to get things working on 10.14, have more issues on 10.15, and after that I don't think there's a way to reliably get the Steingberg driver to work on M1 Macs with the latest OS versions.

There should be warnings about the companies that don't believe in the M1 way, and haven't learnt to deal with Mac security, such that you know to keep an old Mac Mini around with 10.13.6 on it for doing work with these things.

I strongly suggest, Adam, that you lose hope.

With M1, there's no bootcamp, no way to install older Mac OS versions and no end to the troubles you'll have with drivers from slow moving companies like Yamaha, who can't even make their own app (SoundMondo) reliable.

What's going on with Mac security, and how it impacts connectivity:

USB and other forms of direct hardware connectivity are utterly plagued with privacy and security problems. Always have been. Apple made a huge effort, about a dozen years ago, to begin figuring out how to solve this problem. The T1 and T2 chips were the first big stages of this. They sit between USB (and many other forms of connectivity) and the best bits of your Mac and its OS. They're from the security ideas of the iPhone and iPad, wherein things are heavily walled off.

Since the T1, Apple has ramped up their security initiatives exponentially, in all ways. It's a feature of their brand and products that is now sacrosanct, and an imperative for them so they can confidently and truly claim privacy is important to them and their users, and ensure this is as true as it can be.

This has been quietly becoming foundational to their branding and image.

For a decade, they have been explaining this to developers, and what this means, and how they must do things in order to be granted permission by the OS and hardware for things like drivers to operate securely, within the confines of what the OS determines is safe from exploitations.

Many makers of inter-operating hardware and software view Apple's endeavours negatively, and as something they can and should ask their users to circumvent, rather than something they must solve, and as something that might eventually go away. It isn't, and it won't.

Apple even foresaw software and hardware suppliers pushing the gate opening to their users, and has been making it increasingly difficult for users to override and otherwise prevent the security and sanctity of the OS from doing its thing.

If you want to use a Mac with software and hardware that's not keeping up to date, get the last Mac before T1 chips in whatever format you like (MacBook Pro, iMac, Pro or Mini) and update it to 10.13.6 and don't go past this version. Treat it like a PC Workstation, in that it should be always protected by something like LittleSnitch.

Push ingested files you want to work on from here to iCloud, and then work on them with your M1 from there, before sending back to the old one for delivery back to hardware etc.

I personally wouldn't start over and reinstall unless I could identify at least one other M1 user who has had success.

Also, some of Yamaha's messaging has had wires crossed and I haven't seen follow ups to straighten out the messaging.

Steinberg's site, at least, has Intel and Apple silicon messaging technically correct in the messaging there. Of course the Steinberg site doesn't directly support synths - so we need to rely on the Yamaha (synth) side to run through the tests and hand out a prescription for how to get MacOS XX.Y to work with Apple Silicon.

Hopefully a Yamaha intern (or higher) with an M1/Big Sur can test and report back to product support (and all) what's still underwater and/or write up a step-by-step process that enables the various pieces to work.

Well, good news, everybody - I decided to wipe my computer clean and do a clean install of the OS and followed the installation of the Steinberg driver to the letter. And after doing that, SUCCESS! The MODX Connect now shows "Online" and will allow me to sync with the MODX8 for DAW purposes. I guess I must have messed up the initial installation somehow. Despite the inconvenience of having to go through that process, I'm very happy that it's working now.

Thank you especially to Jason for providing the Steinberg instructions link - very helpful!

Well, thanks for doing something I wouldn't do. Then again, I have a bias of how much data/etc. I've got on my system.

At least now we can point to your success as the model for forward progress to others who are struggling. I think a reinstall will be difficult for others - but, still, it's extremely helpful to know of success stories.

Keep us updated if anything else hits a snag.

Hi Adam.

Very interesting as I am facing an almost similiar question. I am trying to figure out what driver to use with my M1 macbook and macOS 12.1 for my MOXF. You said that you reinstalled the OS and the driver. Just to make sure that I got you right: Which OS version did you reinstall and which driver did you use? Was it finally macOS 12.1 and the Yamaha Steinberg USB driver 3.1.1?

[quotePost id=112556]Well, good news, everybody - I decided to wipe my computer clean and do a clean install of the OS and followed the installation of the Steinberg driver to the letter. And after doing that, SUCCESS! The MODX Connect now shows "Online" and will allow me to sync with the MODX8 for DAW purposes. I guess I must have messed up the initial installation somehow. Despite the inconvenience of having to go through that process, I'm very happy that it's working now.

Thank you especially to Jason for providing the Steinberg instructions link - very helpful![/quotePost]

This clean install method worked for me too :). I encountered the same problem with a brand new Mac Air, so it was definitely installing the MODX Connect software for the first time. I thought I knew what I was doing so went ahead with the installation of the Driver and the MODX Connect software *without* going through the additional step of booting up in Recovery Mode and putting the Security Policy in 'reduced security' mode. It looked like it had all worked, Audio/MIDI Setup connected to the MODX fine, but the Connect software showed it as offline. I also have a desktop M1 Mac which connects fine so I couldn't see what the difference could be. Since it was a brand new laptop I did a clean install of the OS as Adam did and followed the installation instructions given in the link. Now it is working fine. It seems like an obscure issue to encounter, so I'm very happy to say that this solution worked for me too. Hopefully the next person who is madly googling 'MODX Connect Offline' will find this thread and it'll save them some time.

... a common theme going back to (at least) 9/2016

https://yamahasynth.com/forum/exclusive-for-the-montage