All Komplete 14 instruments in demo mode only

tashley

I purchased an S88Mk2 with included Komplete 14 Standard. I'd already downloaded the small blizzard of apps that the ecosystem requires and begun to get my head around their poorly explained and overlapping roles and even managed to get the free instruments I'd acquired to load into Logic, despite numerous crashes.

The S88 arrived and I registered it and started to download the various items included in the offer (mainly K14 Standard) and when a few were downloaded and installed I plugged in the keyboard and after a bit of fiddling some of the instruments briefly showed up but then.... they didn't. Komplete Access showed them as being in DEMO mode so I followed the ambiguous and poorly worded prompts to register (again) trying both the keyboard serial number and the serial numbers for the individual products as shown on the NI website - because the Register button in Access doesn't make it clear which is required.

No joy. Still Demo only and nothing showing on the keyboard, which remains instrument free. I google stuff and follow all the support suggestions. Access then gets stuck on Loading, so I google that, and it says to reinstall. I do that. All the K14 Standard instruments are still in Demo mode and will not respond to serial numbers.

Seriously. Really. Does anyone ever get this stuff to work? I mean, everything else on my Mac works first time. The Komplete interfaces look and behaves like ported legacy stuff. I'm sure the sounds are amazing but really, in 2023, this?

Brad Yost

Always power your hardware first, launch Kontakt in StandAlone (after any updated SW) and let it scan your installed instruments, same thing with Komplete Kontrol. Without this procedure, launching directly into your DAW is asking for frustration.

Also; search the Knowledge Base for tips specific to Mac installs, like "Allow Full Disk Access", etc.

There are hundreds of thousands of users with everything working just fine.

JesterMgee

Yep, as mentioned above. As the manual will say you need to launch each plugin like Kontakt, Komplete Kontrol, Battery etc using their standalone programs after initial install so all the installed content can be correctly registered and indexed. After that, things should work but if they do not just have some patience. It would be great if everything in the world just worked first time but occasionally things do not and it can take some working through the issues to resolve them.

tashley

Thanks guys - but that was not really the issue. The issue was that pretty much all my instruments were being shown as being in Demo mode and were not available to use, regardless of which or no keyboard controller was attached. This is a problem that quite a few people have had - google it. People who have had functioning instruments for years and then suddenly they go into Demo mode and can't be used. Solutions have been hard to find, if you believe the testimony of those folk.

As it happens, I have spent hours, many many hours, uninstalling every aspect of NI from my system and re-installing it. and eventually it worked. But it was a massive hassle and took a very very long time. Look anywhere outside the NI safety bubble and there are quite a lot of people who find the software and its processes very frustrating.

I appreciate your taking the time to answer my plea for help.