Clarity on Automatic Updates that Break Native Instruments Software

Jeremymatthew11 · 2025-07-19T22:05:07+00:00

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In the past few days, Native Instruments pushed an automatic update that modified certain Massive X files, introducing a file path typo that rendered the synth unusable. Any sessions in most DAWs with Massive X loaded would crash upon tweaking the wavetables, and both wavetables and noisetables were missing from the plugin's UI. I was up until 4 a.m. investigating the issue, identifying the typo in the file path, and sharing instructions with the community and on Reddit to help musicians fix their synth files, allowing many to open their sessions today. I am not a software engineer and only know basic to moderate understandings of filepaths and the way plugins work, so it took me a long time to figure out that the error was caused by a typo in an obscure database file hidden in my computer system - which I was only able to read the contents of using Chat GPT. The reason why I stuck with it for so long is because I needed my project to load because of professional deadlines.

This bug was so severe that some live performers won’t be able to run their live performance sessions in their DAW today.

I rely on my software functioning reliably for professional work, and stability is extremely important to me. Unfortunately, this isn’t the first time Native Instruments updates have broken plugins or synths. For example, updating Kontakt can render Ableton Instrument Racks unusable, and certain Kontakt library updates can make them unsupported in older Kontakt versions, which breaks any sessions that haven’t already been rendered or committed to audio. Because of this, I previously disabled updates and stopped updating my plugins entirely to prevent legacy sessions from breaking.

To be clear, these aren't just a case of "You should have committed your tracks to audio". Updating an instrument library should never require you to purchase a new version of Kontakt in order to continue using it, for example. Or in this case, an automatic update shouldn't prevent a synth from working entirely.

However, this time, the bug was caused by an automatic update that I did not initiate.

In order to continue using Native Instruments professionally, I need clarity on how to keep my system stable. I hope someone from NI can weigh in. Yes, updates occasionally cause issues, but this seems to be a recurring problem specific to Native Instruments. I don’t experience these problems with my library of hundreds of other plugins.

So:

How can I disable Native Access updates and instrument updates completely without risking license issues or other errors?
Why are automatic updates being pushed without proper testing, especially when they break compatibility?
If updates continue to be unreliable, can Native Instruments provide a file repository where older versions of everything can be re-downloaded and restored?

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Accepted answers

Tobias_NI

@Jeremymatthew11
Tobias here, Product Manager at NI. I absolutely understand you when you say "I would never have thought it possible that my entire production environment would suddenly come to a standstill, even though I have not made any updates."

We clearly have done a disastrous mistake here and deeply apologize. As a user you should be in control of your system and be able to rely on this.

The team has investigated the issue on the weekend, and a fix was issued via Native Access yesterday (see here).

We've run into this because we mistakenly thought this XML update would be a smart way to enable our BETA testers to play with a new build with lesser installation efforts. So, the good news is a Massive X update with new features is coming your way soon.

And I can ensure you that this issue won't happen again. Again, apologies!

All comments

Kymeia

Any update like this must be a conscious decision to install on the part of the user - it is ludicrous that no one even knew this change had been made until too late. Native Access should not be silently pushing potentially damaging updates - there must always be informed user consent.

Jeremymatthew11

I couldn't agree more.

mykejb

What was pushed? Mine is still showing as 1.5.0 from back in March and I've not noticed anything updating.

Edit - just saw your post saying it was a Native Access update!!

Vfold

Absolutely ridiculous. Lots of people have complained about this before, but NI just claimed automatic updates for Native Access are ”essential”…. Please stop forcing updates that break things.

Jeremymatthew11

Yup, an auto-update to native access caused a file path to be updated in a massive x content database file, breaking the synth almost completely.

Kymeia

Actually it wasn't even a Native Access update - those still warn you it's going to happen (although you don't have much control over whether it happens)

This was some configuration file that NA occasionally downloads for stuff in the background - no warnings or information - it just does this

Jeremymatthew11

Good to know - I'm still really confused why there isn't any communication from NI about this major error. A QA test could have confirmed that the synth doesn't have basic functionality after the files update.

DS99

@Jeremymatthew11 I absolutely agree!

@Jeremy_NI Dear NI team,
please read our news, this is adressed also to the company management.

This is not just about a bug. It is about the trust of the users of your products. I would never have thought it possible that my entire production environment would suddenly come to a standstill, even though I have not made any updates. This is unfortunately unique and shocks me.

I've been an NI user since the beginning, I'm a sound designer and music trainer. Because of my love for NI products, I have recommended NI to hundreds of new users who have then also bought their products.

At the moment everything is at a standstill, I have deadlines and many Massive X users will be feeling the same way. NI: It must be possible for the company management to respond and react to such a catastrophic incident, even at the weekend. NI programmers must do everything they can to fix this, even at weekends. It cannot be that you buy products, in this case a flagship product like Massive X, and you are unable to work due to an automatic update of NA that you have not agreed to. I use Massive X 90% of the time in my productions and seminars and I'm practically dead.

I expect a solution from NI in the shortest possible time. Also communication and a binding promise that such a case will never happen again. It's a matter of trust. I have invested a lot of money in NI products, as have many people I know. And if this is not resolved properly, I will never buy an NI product again and I will not be the only professional user.

As far as Massive X support for a flagship product is concerned, I would like to remind you once again of various known bugs (including the sustain pedal bug) that have still not been fixed: We are talking about years, to put it mildly.

NI: Please take this seriously and take care of your customers. So that further cooperation is possible. Thank you!

Moreover, please provide downloads for older versions. This must be possible. It is annoying to always have to create a support ticket for this.

Kymeia

Not sure what you mean there, a couple of people from NI have acknowledged and explained the bug and said they are working on a fix in the main thread on this. I agree it should not have been released without testing first - or without letting us know

Jeremymatthew11

The timing was certainly not optimal in that it is a weekend. It's definitely not acceptable for a company to update people's computers with an untested update, resulting in projects being broken that have to be delivered to clients. This is something you might see in a video game update, where the stakes are low if something goes wrong or if there's a bug in the code. I wouldn't expect it in professional computer software that we depend on. I agree that there is a big element of trust that goes into making a purchase and choosing plugins to rely on.

PK The DJ

Update to my earlier post, where I said it was working OK…

Apparently I hadn't messed with it long enough. It was loading presets OK and playing, but it's adjustments that can crash it.

MarkSer

yes, me too - got it working and stable yesterday. Today evening after reopening massive, the same problem again. Checked and followed all the mentioned solutions, no wavetables, noisetables and no presets now. I do not even know as of now, if there was a new update (messing the changes) or not and that the workaround solutions from yesterday was just a temporary fix…

Jeremymatthew11

Try rescanning in Massive X again. NI changed the file path again in order to fix the mistake.

MarkSer

Hey Jeremy, thanks for your reply and thanks for all the work you did during the last days, which should be done by NI and not a user. I hope they appreciate that big time. I appreciate your work very much. I did restart Native Access, re-scanned several times in Massive, checked the locations, but all to no avail. I will clear out the content.db and look what happens. Since I copied all the folders and files, and the original files are at their original place, I expected a fix to work seamlessly. Why did they change paths again??? Where do I see the paths now??? What are now the new folders we have to copy stuff to? This is getting a little bit out of hand with creating folders and copying stuff around, especially since it is prone to failure and takes up HD space, and - last but not least - feels like a utterly bad joke. This stuff is not from an 15 yrs indi developer on github…

Jeremymatthew11

Thanks I'm glad I could help! Here is my recommendation:

1) Locate the content.db file located at [Your User] → Application Support → Native Instruments → Massive X

2) Open an instance of Chat GPT running at least the 4o model.

3) Attach the content.db file directly to the Chat GPT window

4) Copy and paste this prompt: [Read this content.db file and show me in a table with the following columns: id, path, scanWavetables, scanNosietables, scanPresets, and scanComplete. Ignore paths which do not refer to the plugin 'Massive X' ]

This will show you exactly where Massive X is looking for its content. It will have a "1" in the scanWavetables column if it is scanning for Wavetables there.

Then, make copies of the actual content in those locations on your hard drive.

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