Hey group,


Anyone know of a workaround to use the Frontier Designs "Tranzport" DAW controller on the latest Mac OSX Sierra?

Any tips or comments are welcome - thank you!



[email protected]

I don't have this device, but it has very outdated driver.. As I've checked, latest official one is 1.53 for Snow Leopard from 2010.
There's certain chance, you'll manage to install the driver, if you disable two security features, which commonly blocking installation of old and unsigned drivers from El Capitan onwards - Gatekeeper and SIP.
It's not so straightforward and former one requires to launch Mac OS in recovery mode and run couple of commands at terminal.
How to Allow Apps from Anywhere in macOS Sierra Gatekeeper | OSXDaily
https://www.igeeksblog.com/how-to-di...ection-on-mac/

You might try that.. but I'm bit skeptic regarding that.
Besides of driver, there's also native DAW plugin and its setup, unless one will use it via virtual MIDI port.

Michal

I tried to get it to work years ago with Mavericks. No go. I ended up replacing it with Logic Remote running on an old iPad.

Check this out:

TranzPort Drivers and Plug-in for Digital Performer

This made it work with 10.6.8 and beyond. Worth an inquiry.

I know nothing about MAC OS, but does the MAC OS have an option to install in a compatibility mode, like Windows OS does? I have one (would be lost without it) and for Windows, Vista drivers are all that are available. I have it working in Windows 10 by installing in a Vista compatibility mode. Works perfect.

No it doesn't have anything like that.. you need to do couple of tweaks (basically defeat enforcement of proper signing for the OS and allow 3rd party software installer to modify system directories) to pass through installation of older software and drivers, but it isn't really meant as operation for normal users.
Even if you manage to install it, it doesn't mean it will be working well.

That newer signed driver at Synclavier webpage looks like closest to what OP asked for.. but iPad control (depending on DAW.. it works well at Logic or PT for example) is probably more future-proof solution and allows to to much more than just transport control from some live room or recording booth via wireless network.

Michal

Thank you everyone for weighing in on this problem. Prognosis is not great, alas - but hey, what can you do? So much planned and unplanned obsolescence out there, it's frustrating ...



jr

I tried the iPad control surface program for Sonar. It didn't (at the time I tried it) have all the functions that the Tranzport has (including a remote foot control punch in). Also, required the DAW PC to be connected to the router so it could access it. I disconnect my PC from the Internet when doing any DAW work (to eliminate one potential as I've had dropouts in the past when on-line) and going off line there is no connection to the iPad or control program.

Support of remote control from iPad certainly differs from DAW to DAW..
Sonar is quite irrelevant for OP though, as he's apparently on Mac.

PT has their Eucon remote, which is great IMO
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JxuN2BFYAgM

Logic iPad Remote is also very comprehensive and allows even control of individual virtual instruments and plugins.. besides transport control, mixing etc.


Naturally, you need to have network connection between iPad and DAW computer.. However again, crappy wired NIC fighting with low latency performance, is not typical problem at OS X, even at Windows setups, it's not an issue, when you have NIC with good drivers and defeat unnecessary network services.

Finally, access to local LAN/WiFi doesn't equal access to the internet..
If you (for whatever reason) don't want internet at DAW, but still retain access to local network devices.. it's just matter of setup.
Easiest thing you can do, is to assign DAW computer manual IP address and mask, but don't enter any default gateway (this is typically IP address of your router). If you would like to be more thorough, it's typically possible to set some access lists at router, where you can specify, which computer can gain access outside of your network.

Michal

I'm happy with what I currently have, the Frontier Tranzport wireless, and a Behringer X-Touch. If at some point the Tranzport dies then I'll consider some other wireless option. Hopefully by that time whatever controller program there is will have more features/compatibility with Sonar. Maybe Windows OS will also be at a point where having an "on line" link will not be an issue.

I'm a Pedal Steel Guitar player and when recording with the steel I don't have access to the X-Touch or the PC. Thus the Tranzport is the ideal answer, for me.

Well that makes lot of sense. Still even with mentioned iPads, I think, there is place on the market for something akin Tranzport and there are certainly users, who will appreciate tactile controls of single purpose device.

Too bad, Frontier Design seems to be dead.. and this is primary issue with those controllers. They had very well designed products IMO (I still have their Alphatrack).

Michal

The Synclavier drivers revived both my Alphatrack AND Tranzport in El Cap. I'd like to try Sierra, but a bit gun shy. Any luck out there?

Where would someone get these Synclavier drivers? I'd love to be able to use my Tranzport again.

This driver is working well for me on OS X Sierra.

They are available for purchase from the link provided above. Note that this update was done by one of the original engineers at Frontier, who is no longer in business. He took some of his own time to update the support for 64bit on MOTU DP. As it turns out, the installer installs everything in the right way that it will supposedly work with some other DAW's, I know a guy on the logic forum that was able to get it working with Logic using this update.

The unfortunate news, its not free. But should get the tranzport working again, I haven't tried it on sierra yet either though.

$35 for a driver, ouch! However, I really do miss using my Tranzport. My iPad works fine as a Logic remote, but the Tranzport just seems more solid. I might just go ahead with this, I've been trying to sell my Tranzport but nobody is interested.

I didn't pay anything for the driver. I downloaded it from http://www.frontierdesign.com/downlo...OS_X_1_4_3.zip . Installer can't find the components directly under Sierra, so you have to install them individually. Just browse to Tranzport Installer/Pieces, and click on each of the pkg files one by one. Works great as an HUI device under Protools 12.8.2.

I also purchased the driver and it it seems to work as it should in Sierra. I have tested with Logic 10.3.1 and it was added automatically and also I use Avid Artist Mix/Eucon and there are no conflict as far as I can tell.

That's great advice, too bad I didn't see it until now. But Synclavier is cool so I guess I feel ok supporting them too.

worked well, thanks for the advice!

Wow! this is great news.
Obviously you have it working, but i,m curious as its dated v0 2010-10-08
and i tried that driver a couple of years ago with no luck.This was on Mac Mountain lion or Mavericks i don't recall which one.
Either way i,m very happy and thanks for the heads up, like i say i,m just curious. May be it was working all along but i didn't know about the install workaround.

Hi everyone,

I have learned about these drivers here, purchased them, downloaded and installed on OSX High Sierra. My Mac freezes on restart and I have to reinstall OSX from scratch. Anyone had this experience? Is there a workaround?

Thanks

Can't tell you how to get the drivers working, but if you start your Mac while holding the SHIFT key down, you can boot in "safe mode" with no drivers loaded, then remove the driver that is causing the freeze.

Confirming this method worked just fine (in my case, on a Hackintosh running MacOS High Sierra 10.13.3).
Surprisingly even with Ableton Live 10. Nothing else needed, just the basic OSX 1.4.3 package.

Hanz (or Kafka or anyone)

I am desperately trying to get my tranzport and alpha track back (had to upgrade to High Sierra). I tried the method described here but during install my iMac says

"The installation failed. The installer could not install the software. because there was no software found to install"


I don't know how to "browse to Transport Installer/pieces to click on files as Kafka says. can anyone help?

thank you!

dan (baketoy)

disregard my last post pls. I bought the sinclavier drivers which BTW seem to work well in Ableton 9 on high sierra.

Hi!

Im also trying to use my old Tranzport on OSX SIERRA.

Has anyone been able to do the install workaround Kafka suggested here? (thus nt having to buy driver from Synclavier)

Kafka said:
"Installer can't find the components directly under Sierra. Just browse to Tranzport Installer/Pieces, and click on each of the pkg files one by one." ------what steps specifically does this involve? Its a bit vague, couldnt figure out what to do....

I downloaded the zip he mentioned (one of the ones on the Frontier site) and ran thru the Install process; it goes normally all the way through the Install but then at the end it says: "The Installer could not find the software". Ive tried this several times, same result. Note, I DIDNT have any issues to get around to authorize the download that the Mac initially blocks; that is easily solved by going into my security settings.

Thanks in advance for your suggestions!

Seb

I don't know the software/hardware and haven't actually tried installing it, BUT, I did find what Kafka meant:
If you scroll down in the disc image window you will see a folder named 'pieces' which has a few separate .pkg files (see screenshot).

Hope this helps.

Cheers, Alex

I managed to get the Frontier Tranzport working under OSX Mojave, and fully working in e.g. Logic Pro and Sibelius.
It should equally work in older versions of OSX.

Disclaimer> Please note that the above is at your own risk, so make sure that you have made full backups of your startup drive and you are prepared to reinstall OSX if things go wrong. No guarantees from my side!

This is how I did it:

1. download the drivers from the Frontier Design Group website: http://www.frontierdesign.com/downlo...OS_X_1_4_3.zip

2. if not already automatically expanded to "TranzPort_OS_X_1_4_3.dmg": extract the ZIP file in the Download folder

3. open/mount the DMG file by double clicking on it

4. DO NOT USE the installer "Transport installer.mpkg", which is shown! It will simply not work, whatever you try

5. scroll down until you find the "Pieces" folder and open it

6. in the Pieces folder, you find 7 items, of which 6 are PKG files: these are the individual installers

7. DO NOT DOUBLE CLICK on each of the PKG files, because this will make OSX protest with a protection pop-up:
>>"xxxxxxx" can't be opened because it is from an unidentified developer

8. Instead, make sure that right-click on your mouse is activated.

9. Right-click on each of the installers (one by one) and use/select "Open" from the menu to launch the installer
Alternatively, you can also press the CTRL key and click on the PKG installer and use/select "Open". This is exactly the same thing.

10. Each time, you will get an OSX warning:
>>"xxxxxxx" is from an unidentified developer. Are you sure you want to open it?

11. Since you have safely downloaded from the Frontier Design Group, there should be no worry for any tampered files.
Select "Open" (as "Cancel" will simply stop the procedure...)

12. Run through the installer steps as usual, but at the end, do not press "Reboot".

13. To ensure proper running of the subsequent PKG installers, press CMD-OPTION and Esc(ape) to kill the "Installer" application

14. repeat steps 11 to 13 for each of the subsequent PKG installers

15. Once you have done all 6 PKG installers, close all your programs and select "Restart.." from the Apple menu

16. after reboot, all drivers should have been installed. You will only see their effect in the DAW software of your choice.

17. consult the Frontier Design Group for specific functioning in your DAW (even if the text appears only valid for older versions of your DAW software).

Enjoy this rather old hardware on your new Mojave installs!

^^^ great info ...thanks