Native Instruments Strategy = Ignore 'Update/Upgrade' Button

nobadmojo
nobadmojo Member Posts: 111 Helper
edited October 22 in Komplete General

I am thinking it is best to just not install any updates . The things that are happening in NI now make them look like a startup. See that others are having a myriad of different problems so I don't feel like I;m being picked on

  • Updated to new Komplete Kontrol 3.0- I have a s61mk1 so there you go. That created a mess for a while that was avoidable. It's real special to update this only to discover that an update rendered complete Kontrol useless.quite an update
  • Had some problems when i 'upgraded' to Kontakt 6.whatever.....new problem when I upgraded to Kontakt 7.0. i'm reluctant to try and install the newest Kontakt 7 now
  • Native Access update wouldn't even install for a while, and when it did it created a couple problems

Now I am thinking why even bother to update anything..I wasn't having a problem with anything. I was being foolish to think that if I updated, I might get some new features or better performance or something.....you know...an update or upgrade. Instead I got whack and ads

It's foolish to update stuff when this is what happens, plus now I get to see ads which are already all over my you tube and phone for NI stuff...If NI worked as hard on causing their software to work as they do with their ad attacks maybe their stuff would work properly....

Furthermore none of my NI Instruments <many of which I;ve had for a long time> never seem to get get upgraded anyway...they are stuck on version 1... why even bother checking for updates.. And now I am having to create workarounds for stuff that no longer works right. diatribe over..I;ve wasted enough time.

Comments

  • komthusr
    komthusr Member Posts: 53 Member
    edited November 2023

    Yes, it looks like NI is trying to get everyone who is on anything lower than Komplete 14/Kontakt7/Native Access 3+/Komplete Kontrol keyboards from this year, etc. to update and then pay new money to upgrade. If you don't, they put out new updates in NA that break whatever was working that you paid big money for. Thank you, NI, I'll just stop updating, and look around, there are other VST companies out there. There are also keyboards that other companies don't kill as soon as they release a new model.

  • MartinHines
    MartinHines Member Posts: 37 Helper

    All my Native Access 2 updates on a windows 10 machine work perfectly.

  • Kaiwan_NI
    Kaiwan_NI Administrator Posts: 2,860 admin

    Maybe we should display the release notes more prominently? Cause if none of the features mentioned in the release notes interest you, there's no need to update the software of course.

    Speaking of Kontakt 7, auto-migration within certain DAWs is now possible, so should make it much easier to migrate if you want to upgrade.

  • nobadmojo
    nobadmojo Member Posts: 111 Helper


    • I have an mk1 keyboard with no plans to 'upgrade'. I expected that a KK upgrade would make my experience better, not wreck things and cause me to waste a number of hours just to get back to where I was. This was easily avoidable on your end. A lot of people dont bother to read release notes. I registered my keyboard. They know how to find me..They find me all the time wanting to sell me more instruments still stuck on version 1 <those never get release notes to read>
  • Vocalpoint
    Vocalpoint Member Posts: 2,650 Expert
    edited November 2023

    What you need to do is display a warning message (with a huge red Stop sign) if the update in question contains anything that will result in an old library getting overwritten (like K6-K7.7x debacle) OR anyone attempting to install KK3 - especially if they do not have a MKIII keyboard.

    NI has done exactly nothing to help thousands of folks who have been burned again and again by this recent spate of specific updates that have the potential to completely grind a good working environment to a halt.

    And just in case it's not clear yet - no one reads release notes (expect maybe me) after realizing the damage all these recent updates could cause. They are well hidden, obscure and no one has any idea (at first glance) how to even start to view them.

    First rule of software deployment - do not kill the user's environment regardless of the reason.

    VP

  • mykejb
    mykejb Moderator Posts: 1,740 mod

    The ideal would be for upgrades that are software only like the library updates for Kontakt is to only display them if the user has the needed version Kontakt 7 installed. That's INSTALLED not available for installation. Someone could have K7 in their account but prefers to stay with K6 or an older version of K7.

    For upgrades like KK3 I think you need a warning before installation, and a "don't allow this to upgrade" checkbox for the product in KA.

    -- Mike

  • Vocalpoint
    Vocalpoint Member Posts: 2,650 Expert

    @mykejb

    "The ideal would be for upgrades that are software only like the library updates for Kontakt is to only display them if the user has the needed version Kontakt 7 installed. That's INSTALLED not available for installation. Someone could have K7 in their account but prefers to stay with K6 or an older version of K7."

    Nailed it.

    But then again, I have already probed @Kaiwan_NI (and others) about the overwhelming amount of data that NI has on ALL of us already vs the "dumb a rock" nature of Native Access - and the company line seems to be that NA no ability (at least at this stage) to do anything remotely close to what you are suggesting.

    NA "should" know exactly what I have in my account, what I have installed on this target machine - what I have not installed and so on - and stage every update accordingly.

    Until NI gets their collective act together and makes NA "aware" of what a user install actually consists of - we are all left to fend for ourselves - sweating bullets each time an update appears - wondering if this is the one that trashes one's normal working environment.

    VP

  • mykejb
    mykejb Moderator Posts: 1,740 mod

    Sorry, but Native Access knows exactly what I have installed. If I select the "Installed" view it shows all the products I have installed along with the version number of that product. If I try to install a Kontakt library without having Kontakt installed I get a message telling me I need to install it.

    It also knows what products I own, as products I don't own aren't shown.

    Based on that, only allowing viable upgrades is quite possible.

    -- Mike

  • Vocalpoint
    Vocalpoint Member Posts: 2,650 Expert


    Fair enough - this is what I thought as well - but NA is not smart enough to stop installing K6 killing updates for all those whose got burned by it.

    If it sees an installed instance of K6 but NOT K7 - why allow any of those updates through?

    If this logic alone was working - we could have saved 48 pages of posts in this forum. :)

    VP

  • dexl
    dexl Member Posts: 61 Helper

    Would anyone please help me find the thread where NI staff posted old installers of certain instruments that got broken after applying a NA update? I cannot find that thread and search doesn't help either. I'm surprised knowing the amount of breakage caused, they did not pin it.

  • dexl
    dexl Member Posts: 61 Helper

    Thanks for your help!

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