Why does the installer require Rosetta?

geniuslooka

I am trying to install Native Access on my Macbook Pro with M3 Pro chip, but during the installation process I am required to install Rosetta.

I therefore doubt that the installer does not yet have a native version for Apple Silicon while the Native Instruments programs themselves do. Is that correct or is there something I’m missing?

lord-carlos

I can't remember all the details, but I think it's just during the installation and after that native access does not need rosetta any more.

If you want the technical details they are somewhere in the forum.

Jeremy_NI

AFAIK, some old legacy products and the way registration/activation works for these still require Rosetta.

PoorFellow

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/28421/why-does-the-installer-require-rosetta

Obvious questions : Version of Native Access ? and did you download the correct (M1) version ?

geniuslooka

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/144784#Comment_144784

Hi @PoorFellow!

Thank you for your feedback, I downloaded the version of Native Access 2 from the official website, in particular the version for M1/M2.

Maybe did I mistakenly assume that Rosetta was not required? The file name itself mentions the first two versions of Apple Silicon, but it doesn't say anything about NTKDaemon or its installer...

PoorFellow

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/144788#Comment_144788

I am not a Mac expert but I can call for @Jeremy_NI and ask him to answer if the Native-Access_2_Mac_M1.dmg requires Rosetta (2) to install or if it can run natively on Apple silicon ?

BIF

I would think that it should NOT require Rosetta if it's intended for M1, or any of the other "M" Apple silicon. But I haven't tested it out yet on my own M1 MBP, so I don't know yet.

geniuslooka

Hi @BIF!

Thank you for your feedback, I thought the same thing... now the installation is stopped at the NTKDaemon installer (since it requires me to install Rosetta I didn’t go further).

I don’t want this to be just a "problem" (if you can call it that) of the NTKDaemon installer and that for the rest of the process there are no problems.

lord-carlos

I can't remember all the details, but I think it's just during the installation and after that native access does not need rosetta any more.

If you want the technical details they are somewhere in the forum.

Jeremy_NI

AFAIK, some old legacy products and the way registration/activation works for these still require Rosetta.

geniuslooka

@lord-carlos @Jeremy_NI thank you very much for the feedback, evidently I will have to download Rosetta, I don’t see any other way out.

Thank you all!

BIF

I would like to put voice to something. It's TLDR, but I think it needs to be said.

Rosetta is not evil or bad for your Mac.

Rosetta is an emulator, designed to be a bridge between Apple's pre-ARM technology and its new ARM architecture, which is what the Apple Silicon "M" series is.

Technically, no emulator can provide the same or better performance than you'd get if you ran that code natively on the hardware in the first place. BUT! In practice, Rosetta has not been troublesome. Nor has it hit M-series Macs with performance issues.

So again, in the spirit of not letting perfect be the enemy of good, we should not be avoiding Rosetta when we have constructive, productive, or even mildly beneficial things to do.

I would call installing Native Access as something beneficial.

So in that light, if something calls for Rosetta and you want that something, then install Rosetta and don't think anything more of it. Mock it if you must...but then, for your own sanity, move on.

One day sometime in the future, we won't need Rosetta. Our software vendors such as NI (or ultimately, Apple) will tell us when that day comes. Until then, focus on the opportunities.