Old project with Kontakt 2 - Am I out of luck?

Allen Simpson · 2023-12-02T01:57:52+00:00

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I have an old Pro Tools project in which I used Kontakt 2 for a lot of instruments. Over the years, I upgraded to each new version of Kontakt, and I'm now using 7. I no longer have Kontakt 2. When I open the project, the plugin is greyed out and when I click on it, it's just empty -- no data.

So:

1) Does anyone know where I could get Kontakt 2 and/or does anyone know if it would even run on a Mac running OS 10.15.7?

2) Second, is there a way to access the information in that Kontakt 2 plugin so that I can know which instruments I used, etc.? At least then I could grab analogous instruments in my new Kontakt 7 libraries and set up a new, updated project. Does anyone know a way to do this? HELP!! THANKS!!

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Accepted answers

EvilDragon

For AAX there is no plugin migration capability (the AAX format itself doesn't support it), so we cannot really do anything about it unfortunately. And no there is also no real way to read out that data either.

PERHAPS, if somebody has an older version of PT on an older Mac that still has Kontakt 2 installed (so this would be pre-Big Sur which killed 32-bit apps), this project could be attempted to be opened just to see what was loaded.

The bigger problem is that Kontakt 2 cannot even be activated anymore, so this older Mac would have to both have K2 installed, AND have it activated. Woof...

Allen Simpson

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/113772#Comment_113772

Thanks!! Your answer caused me to remember that the old Mac Pro that I used to use (and that I had been keeping in storage, waiting to give it away) actually still had PTLE with Kontakt 2 still on it!! It's not ideal, but at least I can open the old sessions and see the instruments! The only drag is that the old version of PTLE (7) won't allow you to open the software without the hardware attached, so thankfully, I also had my old 003 in storage also. Pretty big hassle just to be able to see the old sessions, but it's actually working, so I'm not complain gin. I feel silly that I hadn't thought of it before your comment above. I was so intent on finding a way to get it to work on my NEW system that I forgot that I still had my OLD one. Hahaha! Thanks so much for taking the time to respond! :)

All comments

Milos

I would recommend screenshoting the projects and the Kontakt 2 tabs, and then open the same instruments from the screenshots into Kontakt 7.

I had similar issue when I was re-opening the projects when I had K6 and when I updated to k7 and it worked perfectly.

mykejb

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/112625#Comment_112625

Pretty sure @Allen Simpson said he doesn't have Kontakt 2 so he can't see the old data. I can't see a download of Kontakt 2 anywhere so I think you might be out of luck unfortunately!

-- Mike

Milos

Oh...

Nvm...

Allen Simpson

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/112643#Comment_112643

Yeah, I was just getting ready to say the same thing until I saw that you already said it. If I could open it to screenshot it, then I wouldn't have the problem I'm having. It would be like if I locked my keys in the car and someone said, "Well, here's what you should do! First, get your keys out of the car, then use those keys to unlock your car door. Then you'll be able to get your car keys." Hahaha!

Thank you both for responding in any case. I'm still hopeful that I can find some way at least to extract the information from my project file. I don't actually care about being able to load or open Kontakt 2. All I want is to know which instruments I originally used (because I still have most of those sample libraries). And I KNOW that info is in the project file. Surely, there must be some way to extract that information, like through Terminal or something, right? Fingers crossed I can figure it out...

Jeremy_NI

@EvilDragon Do you know if it's possible to extract the information of what instrument was used in Kontakt 2 in a DAW project?

EvilDragon

The bigger problem is that Kontakt 2 cannot even be activated anymore, so this older Mac would have to both have K2 installed, AND have it activated. Woof...

Allen Simpson

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/113772#Comment_113772

EvilDragon

Wow, looks like you really are in luck, then. :)

PoorFellow

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/113915#Comment_113915

If you have a working system then you can find out if it is possible to make a backup to a virtual machine version of it and see if it will function the VM . If so then you can always go back even if/when you do not have the HW anymore !

Allen Simpson

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/114041#Comment_114041

That would be amazing. I actually don't know anything about how to do work with virtual machines though. Do you have a resource that you would recommend that would tell me how to set that up? (I'm on a Mac, btw, if that makes a difference.)

PoorFellow

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/114176#Comment_114176

Eh ! , I am afraid that I am not the 'Mac expert' that you need for that. However I will try to give an introduction.

To 'virtualize' your Mac then you would have to use a backup program that can output to a backup container format that is a virtual HD (on Windows at least e.g. VHD and VMDK)(or backup to a format that can be converted into a VHD format) and then use that backup program to take image based backups of all the drives connected to turn them into virtual disk container format files. These virtual disk files will then be containing the 'guest OS' ! I haven't the foggiest idea of how to make Mac backups into VD formats. I found an 8 years old discussion but hopefully it has become easier. (don't do anything suggested on the page that is destructive to your data !) : How to convert a Physical OS X machine to Virtual Machine : https://superuser.com/questions/870811/how-to-convert-a-physical-os-x-machine-to-virtual-machine (instead ask your local Mac expert on how to !)

Then to use such virtual disks you need : A sufficiently powerful host computer with a host OS to run the V(irtual) M(achine) software that is doing the actual turning your virtual disk(s) 'guest OS' into the experience of you running a simulated computer as a VM program on your computer.

With respect to creating the backups on your Mac and the actual virtual machine here is where you really need the expert since not only have Mac been made as both intel and Apple M silicon but also in a variety of OS versions. So you both need to determine what type of host computer will you be using (Intel or Apple M and which OS) and also what is the very specifics of the 'guest OS' that you want to 'virtualize' ? (at a glance then it appears as if you at the moment needs an Intel based Mac or PC as host) (on Windows x86 all this is a lot easier) . So firstly the virtual machine program needs to be able to run on the specific host hardware and OS and then the virtual machine software needs to be able to 'emulate' the hardware and OS that you have 'virtualized'.

If you know enough about Mac then maybe it is rather easy ? I wouldn't know , it is not for me ! I have a very hard time determining the specifics of it all ! There are more virtual machine software that will run on Mac but a lot of that is used only for running Windows on Mac as opposed to Mac on Mac. Some of these VM software will actually run Mac on Mac but there are specifications and limitations and I simply can not sit down and learn it all for you , you need the aforementioned Mac expert where I am your not average non-Mac 'Nerd' (/whatever) .

But I did spend a couple of hours on this for you and dug up the following and a lot more :

VMware Fusion: Desktop Hypervisors for Mac : https://www.vmware.com/products/fusion.html

Use for Free with a Personal Use License : https://www.vmware.com/go/get-fusionplayer-key

VMware Fusion lets you run macOS, Windows, Linux and other x86-based operating systems as virtual machines on Intel Macs. On Macs with Apple silicon, Fusion supports the Arm editions of those operating systems, including Windows 11. Nearly all programs that run on these operating systems will run with VMware Fusion. , Ref. (TAB FAQ) : https://www.vmware.com/products/fusion.html

VMware Fusion : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VMware_Fusion

On this page : Parallels Desktop 19 for Mac (compare tab) scroll down below where it says 'System requirements' and click where it says 'Supported guest operating systems +' , then on the right side of page where it says 'Supported guest operating systems (Mac with Intel processors)' there go to right side bottom of list and once again click the 'See all supported guest operating systems' and there you should see all the old version Mac OS mentioned !

Mention of Virtual Disk formats (information related to PC programs use) :

Page 27 : Paragraph "Backup container type" : https://download.paragon-software.com/doc/Paragon_Hard_Disk_Manager_17.pdf

Oracle® VM VirtualBox , Ref. 5.2. Disk Image Files (VDI, VMDK, VHD, HDD) : https://docs.oracle.com/en/virtualization/virtualbox/6.0/user/vdidetails.html

Hopes that all the above will serve at least as an introduction !

Also , for the interested but I think completely beyond the purpose of the above :

developer.apple.com

Sample Code Running macOS in a virtual machine on Apple silicon : https://developer.apple.com/documentation/virtualization/running_macos_in_a_virtual_machine_on_apple_silicon

API Collection : Virtualize macOS on a Mac : Configure and run macOS guests on Apple silicon. : https://developer.apple.com/documentation/virtualization/virtualize_macos_on_a_mac

Article : Installing macOS on a Virtual Machine : Download a macOS restore image and install it in a new VM. : https://developer.apple.com/documentation/virtualization/installing_macos_on_a_virtual_machine

Allen Simpson

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/114284#Comment_114284

WOW. Thanks so much for all the time and effort to help a stranger!! I really appreciate it! Sincerely. 😁

It looks like it would really help me out to be able to do that, so THANK YOU for all the hard work in putting all of that together!! You totally rock!

I hope you have a wonderful holiday season and a happy new year full of happiness and abundance!

😁😁😁

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