"Path is invalid" Error with External Drive

Domenico Maestri

Hi everyone,

I'm struggling with the "Path is invalid" error in Native Access when trying to install or update my NI libraries to an external APFS drive.

Here’s what I’ve already tried:

Formatted the external drive as APFS and renamed it to domenico_maestri (no spaces).

Created a dedicated folder at /Volumes/domenico_maestri/NILibraries for my libraries.

Checked permissions (gave full read & write access to everyone)

Granted Full Disk Access to Native Access in macOS Security & Privacy.

Cleared all previous Native Instruments files from ~/Library/Application Support/Native Instruments.
Reinstalled Native Access and restarted my Mac.

Despite all of this, Native Access still won’t recognize the path and keeps giving me the "Path is invalid" error whenever I try to install or relocate a library.

I’d really appreciate any help or suggestions – I feel like I’m missing something obvious! Thanks in advance!

Domenico

Mert_NI

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/43056/path-is-invalid-error-with-external-drive

Hello Domenico, here is the Knowledge Base Article that can help you with this subject:

Native Access Error: "Path is invalid"

According to moving products in external hard drive:

By changing the installation preferences you change the paths of your future installations,

I always highly advise following Native Instruments recommendations regarding file handling, this can help prevent several issues from occurring in the future.

How to Change the Install Locations in Native Access

Applications are best left default, the download location is negligible and the content location may be external if the format is supported. 

We recommend using NTFS on Windows and Mac OS Extended (Journaled) on Mac OSX 10.12 and lower, APFS for 10.13 and higher.

Notes on Hard Drive Formats on Mac Computers

To change the paths of installations you have already made please see:

Moving a Native Instruments Product to Another Location on Your Computer

Moving a Native Instruments Product to Another Location on Your Computer [VIDEO]

I hope this helps☺️

PK The DJ

Did you perhaps choose one of the case sensitive options for APFS?

If so then /Volumes/Domenico_Maestri/NiLibraries is not the same as /Volumes/domenico_maestri/NILibraries

Domenico Maestri

I checked Disk Utility, and it shows “Volume APFS” without “Case-sensitive,” so the drive isn’t case-sensitive. Unfortunately, that means the issue must be caused by something else.

Mert_NI

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/43056/path-is-invalid-error-with-external-drive

Hello Domenico, here is the Knowledge Base Article that can help you with this subject:

Native Access Error: "Path is invalid"

According to moving products in external hard drive:

By changing the installation preferences you change the paths of your future installations,

I always highly advise following Native Instruments recommendations regarding file handling, this can help prevent several issues from occurring in the future.

How to Change the Install Locations in Native Access

Applications are best left default, the download location is negligible and the content location may be external if the format is supported. 

We recommend using NTFS on Windows and Mac OS Extended (Journaled) on Mac OSX 10.12 and lower, APFS for 10.13 and higher.

Notes on Hard Drive Formats on Mac Computers

To change the paths of installations you have already made please see:

Moving a Native Instruments Product to Another Location on Your Computer

Moving a Native Instruments Product to Another Location on Your Computer [VIDEO]

I hope this helps☺️