External drive broke, path change not allowed

jordisala

Three years and a half ago I bought 4 different plugins from you, and I downloaded 3 of them to an external driver. However, my external drive has now broken and cannot be repaired, so I have been trying to recolate my files but it says that obviously it can't find them to be able to relocate them. 

I hope I can get an answer on how to get my files back, as I have been trying to download them but there is no way, and since I paid for a lifetime license I am expecting to find a way to get them back.
This is what I can see when I try to download it...

PoorFellow

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/151958#Comment_151958

For Sonoma then your file system used must be APFS.

it's just the three of them that I had saved on my external driver. Now, I cannot add them again to a different location because my external driver has broken and I can't access it anymore. I am expecting to get new licenses for them since I paid for them and I cannot access my files of those libaries.

There must be some misunderstanding here. The fact that your external hard drive breaks down has nothing to do with N.I. . If you bought some software or libraries from N.I. then your software license is still yours.

You should be able to see any serials connected with your account on the MY PRODUCTS, SERIALS, AND DOWNLOADS page , listed as either Not registered or as Registered Products. If a product shows on your account as registered but does not show in Native Access then that is another problem.

Otherwise, what would you do? Because everytime I try to change the location of them it says that it cannot find the files (because my external driver doesnt work anymore)

Perhaps this is the misunderstanding here? Your real problem appear to me as if Native Access still thinks that the three products are installed and when you try to change the path then you get an error that it can not do that. but that is another entirely different problem. That is some internal info that needs to be reset.

Try removing the following files if there (instead of 'Product Name' then insert the name of each of the three missing products from external drive and remove them ) :

Application Files

Macintosh HD > Applications > Native Instruments > *Product Name* (folder)
Macintosh HD > Library > Preferences > com.native-instruments.*Product Name*.plist
Macintosh HD > Users > Shared > Native Instruments > *Product Name* > *Product Name*.json

App-specific Data and Support Files

Macintosh HD > Library > Application Support > Native Instruments > *Product Name* (folder)
Macintosh HD > Library > Application Support > Native Instruments > Service Center > *Product Name*.xml

Macintosh HD > Users > Shared > Product Name

If that doesn't help then also try removing the token and XML's from the trouble-shooter here : My Products Are Showing As DEMO in Native Access , especially '2. Your activation fails because of corrupted or missing
activation tokens' and '3. You have corrupted XML files' (delete both NA XML and offending product XML)

If that does not help then please contact N.I. Native Access and Installation Support

At the page N.I. Native Access and Installation Support be sure to scroll down to page bottom to see if there is a log-in request , if there is then log-in , at next page again scroll down and small blue chat box ought occur within 15 seconds. Then write in chat box and when getting suggestions then select did not help when it didn't , that ought to bring you on to either chat with human or open a ticket.

There has been introduced chat support for Native Access assistance (at least daytime on normal work days) :

Please refer to the page : How to get in touch with our Customer Care or read my Support page functionality changes post here

PoorFellow

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/29654/my-files-were-in-an-external-driver

You are supplying too little information. What is your computer type ? (Mac M3 suggested by your profile) , what is your OS version ? , what is your Native Access version ?

That expressed then try following the below here :

First read this : Could not create new file or truncate existing file

You are supposed to be using latest version of Native Access for your OS (unless you are using a legacy OS , Mac 10.15 and earlier / Win 7 downloads)

ALL NI apps including NTKDaemon must have full disk access. How to Enable Full Disk Access on macOS

Disks must be of the correct format : Notes on Network Drives and Disk Formats

Also here is the link to the Compatibility of Native Instruments Products on macOS page.

Else try resetting the file management paths in Native Access.

Also , be sure to have plenty of disk space on both download drive , system drive for temp space and on Content location drive.

victorp.sg

Send a screenshot of your Native Access Settings/Preferences page, and is your external storage in GUID-APFS format or at least in Mac OS Extended (Journaled)?

jordisala

Hi, yes my mac is M3 and OS version is Sonoma 14.1. My Native Access version is 3.10.3.

The thing is all my other Native Instruments are working fine, it's just the three of them that I had saved on my external driver. Now, I cannot add them again to a different location because my external driver has broken and I can't access it anymore. I am expecting to get new licenses for them since I paid for them and I cannot access my files of those libaries.

Do you know who from Native Instruments I should contact? I have been looking for their telephone number and emails but there is only the general one on their website. Otherwise, what would you do? Because everytime I try to change the location of them it says that it cannot find the files (because my external driver doesnt work anymore)

I would really appreciate some help because I feel like this is not a common issue and I have not found any solution on the whole website.

Many thanks!!

jordisala

This is how my native acces looks (as you can see my downloads preference is my external driver called Pau to which I dont have acces anymore because it broke).

My external driver was in Mac OS Extended.

PoorFellow

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/151958#Comment_151958

For Sonoma then your file system used must be APFS.

it's just the three of them that I had saved on my external driver. Now, I cannot add them again to a different location because my external driver has broken and I can't access it anymore. I am expecting to get new licenses for them since I paid for them and I cannot access my files of those libaries.

There must be some misunderstanding here. The fact that your external hard drive breaks down has nothing to do with N.I. . If you bought some software or libraries from N.I. then your software license is still yours.

You should be able to see any serials connected with your account on the MY PRODUCTS, SERIALS, AND DOWNLOADS page , listed as either Not registered or as Registered Products. If a product shows on your account as registered but does not show in Native Access then that is another problem.

Otherwise, what would you do? Because everytime I try to change the location of them it says that it cannot find the files (because my external driver doesnt work anymore)

Perhaps this is the misunderstanding here? Your real problem appear to me as if Native Access still thinks that the three products are installed and when you try to change the path then you get an error that it can not do that. but that is another entirely different problem. That is some internal info that needs to be reset.

Try removing the following files if there (instead of 'Product Name' then insert the name of each of the three missing products from external drive and remove them ) :

Application Files

Macintosh HD > Applications > Native Instruments > *Product Name* (folder)
Macintosh HD > Library > Preferences > com.native-instruments.*Product Name*.plist
Macintosh HD > Users > Shared > Native Instruments > *Product Name* > *Product Name*.json

App-specific Data and Support Files

Macintosh HD > Library > Application Support > Native Instruments > *Product Name* (folder)
Macintosh HD > Library > Application Support > Native Instruments > Service Center > *Product Name*.xml

Macintosh HD > Users > Shared > Product Name

If that doesn't help then also try removing the token and XML's from the trouble-shooter here : My Products Are Showing As DEMO in Native Access , especially '2. Your activation fails because of corrupted or missing
activation tokens' and '3. You have corrupted XML files' (delete both NA XML and offending product XML)

If that does not help then please contact N.I. Native Access and Installation Support

At the page N.I. Native Access and Installation Support be sure to scroll down to page bottom to see if there is a log-in request , if there is then log-in , at next page again scroll down and small blue chat box ought occur within 15 seconds. Then write in chat box and when getting suggestions then select did not help when it didn't , that ought to bring you on to either chat with human or open a ticket.

There has been introduced chat support for Native Access assistance (at least daytime on normal work days) :

Please refer to the page : How to get in touch with our Customer Care or read my Support page functionality changes post here

jordisala

Yes, you got it right! Sorry my english is not the best and I feel like it was not very well explained, but the problem was that Native Access still thought that the three products were installed there, so when you tried to change the path then I got an error. I deleted my files from the locations you said (they were not in all of them, just some) and change the download location on my preferences in native access and it seemed to work now!

Many thanks for your help, I really appreciate your time.

PoorFellow

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/152051#Comment_152051

You are very welcome , and thank you very much for coming back to confirm the fix !