Kontakt side browser re-ordering resets other apps to stock form

etudes

Ever since I got an M1 MacBook Pro, Kontakt 6 and now Kontakt 7 have exhibited two bugs when re-ordering certain libraries in the side browser.

1 – Whenever I reorder these problem libraries (e.g. Jade Ethnic Orchestra, SonoKinetic Modal Runs, Symphobia 4 Pandora, etc.), then quit Kontakt, it causes nearly all of the apps on my computer to reset to their stock form, losing their settings and license keys and showing pop-ups that you only see when you first open the apps. (Until I restart my computer).

2 – Those specific libraries that trigger this problem also do not maintain their custom order I set the next time I open Kontakt. They snap back to their old location.

Specs: M1 Max MacBook Pro, macOS Monterey 12.6.1, latest versions of Kontakt 6 and Kontakt 7

Has anyone else ever seen this behavior?

Jeremy_NI

Is it happening in Kontakt in standalone? In a DAW? Both? Which DAW is it?

Can you clarify this part? "it causes nearly all of the apps on my computer to reset to their stock form, losing their settings and license keys and showing pop-ups that you only see when you first open the apps." CAn you post a screenshot of these pop ups?

Does Kontakt 6, Kontakt 7 and your DAW all have Full Disk Access: How to Enable Full Disk Access on macOS

etudes

The problem is triggered by both the Kontakt plug-in in a DAW (tested in Logic Pro X) as well as the standalone app. Both Kontakt 6 and 7.

I can confirm both Kontakt 6 and 7 have Full Disk Access in system preferences.

Here is a video showing the problem, with a couple examples of apps that get "reset" to stock form, before and after re-ordering one of the problem libraries in Kontakt.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-pPRvLVST4m_pbGY34ammOlYcwj_APHj/view?usp=sharing

Jeremy_NI

@etudes Ok, I see now. That's pretty weird. These apps have nothing to do with NI. I suspect there is something going on on your Mac. It looks like your user preferences get deleted. Do you have some kind of property list cleaner, like Clean My Mac or something similar?

etudes

No, I don't have any app like Clean My Mac. This is a problem that is rooted in Kontakt, not something else on my computer. Kontakt is the only thing that triggers it. It's always convenient for companies to point fingers at something else as the problem. I'd appreciate if that didn't happen here. This is something that needs to be investigated and fixed by Native Instruments.

I tried this on another computer (my boss's) and experienced the same exact behavior.

Jeremy_NI

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/41848#Comment_41848

I do not point fingers, it's just that this kind of issues was never reported. However I'll contact you by email so that our Kontakt specialists take a look in your system.

sincSONIC

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/7563/kontakt-side-browser-re-ordering-resets-other-apps-to-stock-form

This is the same thing that is happening on my MacMini Intel 2018 Monterey.

I can verify, that every time I call up Kontakt 7 - no settings stick (ie. window config with side panel) and if I call up the plugin in Logic, or the standalone, My whole system resets like the first time I launch the mac on a clean install. ie. Mac Mail gets the setup screen, Calendar gets the setup screen, and most of my apps are asking me to re-serialize all my plugins and apps like the first OS launch. If I restart the computer, my settings are back to normal. This only occurs when I interact with Kontakt 7 in any way.

The bug appeared after I installed a security update for the Monterey OS. It's been driving me bonkers. I even did a complete wipe of my system and reinstalled my user but the same behaviour is happening. What was the reason behind this issue?

Can @etudes please tell me how they fixed this problem for you or what was the work around / issue?

Many thanks, SINC

etudes

@sincSONIC I went back and forth for a long while with NI support about this issue doing everything they asked, and in the end they said they can't help me. I just don't reorder the sidebar anymore.

Out of curiosity, do you have an unusually high number of third-party libraries in the sidebar? I'm not positive, but I think that might be what's throwing off Kontakt on my machine.

sincSONIC

I do have a large number of Libraries, and also some home-grown libraries, but... I don't know... if this would be the root cause. maybe??

This issue started happening to me after a Monterey security update. It also boggles me how one program, or perhaps corrupt NI settings can trigger such a weird sequence of events, that temporarily deletes user preferences, and then returns them after a computer restart.

It was only today that I figured out that the Kontakt app and plugin were behind all this, and it was not a faulty system process that was corrupted. I have been searching online for over 6 months to find anyone who was experiencing this exact kind of behaviour. When I discovered today that Kontakt was being a K*ntakt and then added that to my search, it led me to this post. I was so excited to see someone who was replicating the exact same issue but now frustrated for us both that NI was not able to provide steps to resolve this for you/us.

I am usually a great troubleshooter and did work for Apple for a few years, but this has to be one of the strangest behaviours I've ever seen coming from a Mac OS.

If had 6 months to wipe my machine rebuild my studio user environment and install all my plugins from scratch, I would.. But I don't have that luxury while still trying to work.

Perhaps we can work together on this? I'll shoot you a private message.