Kernel Panic on macOS 15 Sequoia with M4 Chip Opening Kontakt 8 and Reaktor (Komplete 15)

Hi everyone,
I recently purchased and installed Komplete 15 (original) on my new MacBook Pro with macOS 15 Sequoia and M4 chip, but I am encountering a serious issue.

Whenever I try to open Kontakt 8 or Reaktor, my system goes into a kernel panic, forcing an automatic restart. The kernel log indicates an issue with IOMMU mapping:

panic(cpu 10 caller x): INVALID_ILLEGAL_MAPPING_TYPE: iommu_register_mapping

I’ve already tried the following steps:

Ensuring all software is updated via Native Access.
Disconnecting all external peripherals.
Launching Kontakt and Reaktor in macOS Safe Mode.
Repairing disk permissions using Disk Utility.

Despite these efforts, the problem persists.

System Configuration:

macOS 15 Sequoia (latest version)
MacBook Pro with M4 chip
Komplete 15 (fully updated)
Kontakt 8 and Reaktor

Has anyone experienced a similar issue or knows of a solution? Could this be a compatibility issue with macOS 15 or the M4 chip? Should I wait for an update from Native Instruments, or is there a setting I might have overlooked?

Thank you so much for your help! 😊

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Kymeia

I have them both working fine on a M1 Max, and Kontakt 8 is now officially compatible, so it probably isn't the OS on its own, but maybe the M4 (although it shouldn't be any different from any other M chip in principle) or some other combo of unknown factors?

Daknorich

Thank you for your response! If Kontakt 8 is officially compatible and works fine on M1 Max, this issue seems more serious than I initially thought.

My Mac is brand new, and the only software installed on it is Ableton Live 12 Suite and Komplete 15 Standard—both original and updated to the latest versions. The fact that I’m encountering kernel panics with such a clean setup is quite concerning.

If the issue is related to the M4 chip or macOS 15 Sequoia, it might indicate a compatibility problem that hasn’t been fully addressed yet. Since this happens not only with Kontakt 8 but also with Reaktor, I’m starting to worry this could significantly disrupt my workflow.

Has Native Instruments provided any updates or feedback on potential compatibility issues with the M4 chip or macOS 15? Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you again!

Kymeia

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/196622#Comment_196622

Yes that is concerning. Just because Kontakt is 'officially' compatible doesn't rule it out completely, but obviously if this was a common problem there would be lots of reports of this but there isn't. Thing is M4 should 'in principle' be no different than the other M series - they all have the same Apple ARM architecture - there have been some reports of instability with the Max chips though after M2 but yours isn't a Max, or is it? (and I'm not sure if they were kernel related)

Some more details of your system would help. Are you using an audio interface? How much RAM do you have?

Daknorich

Yes, my MacBook Pro is equipped with the M4 Max chip, so it’s good to know that there have been some reports of instability with the Max chips after M2. That could be a factor here.

As for Reaktor, I understand it’s not officially compatible with macOS Sequoia yet, so I’ll keep that in mind. However, Kontakt 8 is listed as compatible, and having kernel panics with both applications still worries me. Given that the M4 Max chip shares the same Apple ARM architecture as the previous M-series, I wasn’t expecting these issues.

Could this instability be related to specific optimizations needed for the Max chips? Or is it more likely an interaction issue with macOS 15? I’d appreciate any insights or advice you might have, especially if there are known fixes or workarounds.

Thanks again for your help!

Kymeia

Yes I guess it could be, they have the same architecture but differences in number of Efficiency and Performance cores, as well as GPUs so this could be related to those. Thanks for clarifying this is a Max, that is helpful.

David Willis

This is why when I just bought a Mac Studio, I went to the trouble to find one with Sonoma on it. Sequoia is not ready for critical use. Sorry I'm no help to you now :( Alas, one of the stupidest decisions Apple made is to not allow you todowngrade to Sonoma. Very annoying.

You can find machines with Sonoma on them by calling the Apple sales center for a refurbished one. You have to insist but eventually they look it up and can find one. For now, anyway. Also, resellers have them, like Melrose Mac.

Kymeia

I'm not sure this is a Sequoia issue though, the earlier reports of M2 Max issues like this were on Sonoma or possibly even before that. So far my experience of Sequoia has been mostly positive, even with 'unsupported' apps.

Daknorich

I’m definitely not gonna buy a new machine. It’s a matter of time I guess.

Will call apple support to see how to proceed and native instruments as well.

Reaktor is not yet compatible with Sequoia so, again, it’s probably a matter of time

Esah

According to NI, the problem is known. I use M2Pro and an ultra wide monitor with 240 Hz. If I clock the monitor down to 60 Hz, it works perfectly. NI is already working on this problem. One can only hope that it will be solved this year.

Kymeia

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/196707#Comment_196707

I forgot that! Yes monitor type and res seemed to be factor somehow - might be worth trying?

Daknorich

Thank you for your feedback. However, in my case, I am not using any external monitor. I’m working exclusively with the built-in display of my MacBook Pro M4 Max. So the issue doesn’t seem related to high refresh rates or ultra-wide monitors.

What should I do?

Kymeia

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/196715#Comment_196715

I think you need to raise a ticket with support so they can work with you on this (although I have also passed this onto the devs myself but the more reports the better). It does look like this may be a different and possibly even unique problem if it is not relatable to screen resolution, as was the case I think in most if not all the other reports of problems with Max chips. They will be able to look at the exact combination of hardware and software on your system, and also the crash reports should provide important clues. Of course it's also possible, as these systems are relatively new on the market, that more people may also report this issue in due course.

Matthew_NI

Hi All!

I think we're conflating several issues here.

Some are reports of kernel panics when using Kontakt 8 with an M4.

Others are reports of external monitors and frame rates causing problems.

These may or not be related, but I strongly suspect we're talking about two different issues.

Regarding the original post; please do proceed with a support ticket so we can obtain diagnostics. Feel free to mention my name too and then Support can proactively flag it to me as it comes in. Also please mention here the support ticket number so that we can reference.

No one on the Kontakt team has an M4 machine. I have one on order arriving tomorrow, and will set it up and seek to obtain a repro ASAP. I've also asked some other folks at NI who do have M4 machines to help with reproducing this issue as well.

We are not seeing kernel panics with other chips, and are only hearing about it with this report of M4. So it's concerning, and something for us to take a look at and report back.

Daknorich

Thank you Matthew.

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/196986#Comment_196986

The ticket 4455130 has been open.

Hope for a quick solution because this situation is really frustrating.

nanotable

I can also report kernel panics when using NI plugins on an MacBook Pro M4 Pro (Mac16,8). Live 12 in full screen mode, macOS 15, no external gear attached. I‘m not entirely sure which plugin exactly is causing the crashes at this point, but here’s what happened so far:

After getting the MacBook about 3 weeks ago I started using it normally, i.e. Live 12 as DAW, hosting a number of m4l and VST3 plugins, including Reaktor (mostly Blocks, Form and Molekular), Massive X and the Crush and Mod packs. Almost certainly I’ve used Kontakt 6 and KK as well, but I can’t say for sure.

I was getting kernel panics every few hours, and started to suspect it’s NI causing them as they seemed to happen when loading/opening NI plugins (not simply reproducible, though). Details are a bit fuzzy unfortunately, but I remember a crash when loading Freak. After that, I’ve stopped using NI plugins, and haven’t had a kernel panics since, despite heavy use. To put it into rough numbers: at least 6 kernel panics within 1,5 days with NI plugins, no panic within 21 days without.

I’m now in the process of slowly reintroducing NI plugins into the mix to find out more. Today I’ve started with Reaktor, spent roughly 4 hours with it without a crash. I will report back if that changes, but it’s looking good so far. Incidentally, over at KVR someone was able to reproduce the crash with Freak:

https://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=9015117#p9015117

I should add that I do have 2 Raums on 2 send tracks in my Live template. They don’t seem to cause a problem, but I’ve never opened them/the GUI.

I’ve opened a ticket (#4454520) yesterday. Feel free to contact me if you need more information, I’m happy to help.

@Matthew_NI These Kontakt 8 reports you’ve mentioned, were these M4 or M4 Pro/Max machines? Maybe it’s just a coincidence, but almost, if not all reports about M4 kernel panics I was able to find online were tied to Pro/Max models. Keep this in mind maybe when ordering a test machine or troubleshooting.

Edit: After playing around with Reaktor (Blocks) the whole day, I just got a kernel panic/sudden reboot again. Interestingly, it didn’t happen when I was interacting with Reaktor, but when I tried to load a Live fx rack containing a handful of Arturia fx on a different track.

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