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  • Impossible to install anything with Vienna Assistant

    S
    S

    Yesterday I did a fresh install of macOS Sequoia on my Mac Studio. Today when I got to the point of installing all my VSL software, I couldn't install anything. I started hours ago and still trying. At first I tried the batch downloader, and I saw that the download was stalled at 100% for the NKS thing. Clicking on cancel wouldn't do anything, so I just closed the app.

    I rebooted, open the assistant again, and tried the batch download, with the same result. So I unchecked the option to install the NKS presets, and tried again. Nothing. This is what I see every time:

    The ones that say "cancelled", if I click the retry icon, they don't start downloading again. And the ones that show downloaded and installed, when I close the assistant and open it again, everything shows as not installed.

    What's going on here? I'm beyond frustrated at this point.
  • R
    R

    I've been stuck with this issue for over three months too. It seems to be an incompatibility between macOS 15+ and Assistant, mainly due to helper tools. However, this doesn't actually affect your library usage. Try my temporary workaround:

    1. Use Download Only instead of Install, and get the installer package you need.
    2. Once downloaded, click Install. The process will freeze around 90%-100%, but don’t worry—it’s actually installed (you’ll notice the installer package disappears automatically, indicating completion). You can now use it in Synchron Player, even if Assistant still says "Not Installed."
    3. Force quit Assistant and manually delete /Library/LaunchDaemons/at.co.vsl.viennaassistant.helpertool.plist.
    4. Repeat steps 1-3 for the next installation.

    It takes me 2 hours to install all my 50+ libraries. I hope it can be fixed in the next version.
  • S
    S

    Well, in my case what finally worked was to download the installers for VE Pro 7 and Synchron Player, then quit Vienna Assistant, install those from the PKGs and then launch the assistant again. At that point, I was able to install the rest without issues, except that Synchron player would show only the HELLO free instruments and not the paid ones, but then I opened VE Pro 7 Server, added a track, selected Synchron Player and in that instance of it, all the instruments were present. So after closing it, I opened the player again and now it was showing all the instruments.

    Regardless, Paul and Co. need to really look into this, customer frustration is really bad for customer satisfaction and therefore future business.

    @Rokyo said:

    I've been stuck with this issue for over three months too. It seems to be an incompatibility between macOS 15+ and Assistant, mainly due to helper tools. However, this doesn't actually affect your library usage. Try my temporary workaround:



    1. Use Download Only instead of Install, and get the installer package you need.

    1. Once downloaded, click Install. The process will freeze around 90%-100%, but don’t worry—it’s actually installed (you’ll notice the installer package disappears automatically, indicating completion). You can now use it in Synchron Player, even if Assistant still says "Not Installed."

    1. Force quit Assistant and manually delete /Library/LaunchDaemons/at.co.vsl.viennaassistant.helpertool.plist.

    1. Repeat steps 1-3 for the next installation.


    It takes me 2 hours to install all my 50+ libraries. I hope it can be fixed in the next version.
  • R
    R
    @SebastianAlvarez said:

    Well, in my case what finally worked was to download the installers for VE Pro 7 and Synchron Player, then quit Vienna Assistant, install those from the PKGs and then launch the assistant again. At that point, I was able to install the rest without issues, except that Synchron player would show only the HELLO free instruments and not the paid ones, but then I opened VE Pro 7 Server, added a track, selected Synchron Player and in that instance of it, all the instruments were present. So after closing it, I opened the player again and now it was showing all the instruments.


    Regardless, Paul and Co. need to really look into this, customer frustration is really bad for customer satisfaction and therefore future business.


    @Rokyo said:

    I've been stuck with this issue for over three months too. It seems to be an incompatibility between macOS 15+ and Assistant, mainly due to helper tools. However, this doesn't actually affect your library usage. Try my temporary workaround:






    1. Use Download Only instead of Install, and get the installer package you need.





    1. Once downloaded, click Install. The process will freeze around 90%-100%, but don’t worry—it’s actually installed (you’ll notice the installer package disappears automatically, indicating completion). You can now use it in Synchron Player, even if Assistant still says "Not Installed."





    1. Force quit Assistant and manually delete /Library/LaunchDaemons/at.co.vsl.viennaassistant.helpertool.plist.





    1. Repeat steps 1-3 for the next installation.





    It takes me 2 hours to install all my 50+ libraries. I hope it can be fixed in the next version.

    Yes, fors tandalone software, like VA, VE, SP, directly install the pkg is the best way. For libraries, one may refer to my steps on MacOS 15+. Anyway, I hope it can be resolved soonly.

  • marnixM
    VSL Team
    marnixM

    Hello SebastianAlvarez,

    It would be extremely helpful for further investigation in this matter if you could send us a few things to support@vsl.co.at:

    1. Your installer log: please focus on the Finder, select Go/Go to Folder... in the main menu and go to /var/log/install.log
      Please compress this installer log and send it, so our developers can look into it.
    2. Screenshots from System Settings/Privacy & Security/Full Disk Access/ and System Settings/Privacy & Security/Automation/, both showing the settings for the Vienna Assistant.

    Also, you mentioned in your first post in this thread:

    @SebastianAlvarez said:
    I saw that the download was stalled at 100% for the NKS thing

    Please try and disable the automatic installation of NKS files in the Vienna Assistants Preferences and try once more to install for example the Synchron Player through the Vienna Assistant - does that make a difference?

    Thanks for your cooperation and my apologies for the inconveniences!

    Best, Marnix
  • J
    J

    In my case, similar to the OP's with a fresh macOS Sequoia install, I had to use the Download option (not the Install button) in VSL Assistant to download and manually install the Synchron Piano Player. The Installer app didn't actually install the Synchron Player, but forced macOS Sequoia to install Rosetta. Once Rosetta was added, VSL Assistant was able to install the Synchron Piano Player. There should be some sort of script in the VSL Assistant app to check if Rosetta is currently installed, and force its installation previous to performing any other task.

    For context, Apple Intelligence was turned on by the 15.3.1 update installer without asking me for permission, which turns out is a widespread and known issue. When I turned it off, it messed with my hard drive's index, resulting in incorrect free space calculation (I had 104GB left, and Finder was showing 170GB left) and the System Data block was not present as part of the Storage bar display while System Settings was stuck calculating its size (which never ended.) Apple's Support solution to this problem is to completely erase and reinstall macOS. When recovering my music apps and DAW, the first app that I installed was VSL Assistant, so Rosetta was not present in my system, causing the no Install problem. Hope this info helps...
  • E
    E
    @Rokyo said:

    I've been stuck with this issue for over three months too. It seems to be an incompatibility between macOS 15+ and Assistant, mainly due to helper tools. However, this doesn't actually affect your library usage. Try my temporary workaround:



    1. Use Download Only instead of Install, and get the installer package you need.

    1. Once downloaded, click Install. The process will freeze around 90%-100%, but don’t worry—it’s actually installed (you’ll notice the installer package disappears automatically, indicating completion). You can now use it in Synchron Player, even if Assistant still says "Not Installed."

    1. Force quit Assistant and manually delete /Library/LaunchDaemons/at.co.vsl.viennaassistant.helpertool.plist.

    1. Repeat steps 1-3 for the next installation.


    It takes me 2 hours to install all my 50+ libraries. I hope it can be fixed in the next version.

    The Library Preference file you reference I cannot find in Go>Library>Preferences, or in . . . >Application Support, . . . >LaunchAgents, nor does use of the Search tool in the top right corner of the Finder Window list any such file the Library or anywhere else. So, no dice there.
  • R
    R
    @Ege said:
    @Rokyo said:

    I've been stuck with this issue for over three months too. It seems to be an incompatibility between macOS 15+ and Assistant, mainly due to helper tools. However, this doesn't actually affect your library usage. Try my temporary workaround:






    1. Use Download Only instead of Install, and get the installer package you need.





    1. Once downloaded, click Install. The process will freeze around 90%-100%, but don’t worry—it’s actually installed (you’ll notice the installer package disappears automatically, indicating completion). You can now use it in Synchron Player, even if Assistant still says "Not Installed."





    1. Force quit Assistant and manually delete /Library/LaunchDaemons/at.co.vsl.viennaassistant.helpertool.plist.





    1. Repeat steps 1-3 for the next installation.





    It takes me 2 hours to install all my 50+ libraries. I hope it can be fixed in the next version.


    The Library Preference file you reference I cannot find in Go>Library>Preferences, or in . . . >Application Support, . . . >LaunchAgents, nor does use of the Search tool in the top right corner of the Finder Window list any such file the Library or anywhere else. So, no dice there.

    Hi Ege, it is in Macintosh HD\Library in macOS 15.

    However, I found a better way to solve this problem fundamentally.

    Just move all the VSL Content to another place, open VA and exit, then move the VSL Content back to the original place. After that, you can try the Add Existing Libraries function in VA.

    Before everything, please run the VA in Rosetta mode and authorize Full Disk Access to at.co.vsl.viennaassistant.
  • E
    E
    @Rokyo said:
    @Ege said:

    @Rokyo said:


    I've been stuck with this issue for over three months too. It seems to be an incompatibility between macOS 15+ and Assistant, mainly due to helper tools. However, this doesn't actually affect your library usage. Try my temporary workaround:









    1. Use Download Only instead of Install, and get the installer package you need.









    1. Once downloaded, click Install. The process will freeze around 90%-100%, but don’t worry—it’s actually installed (you’ll notice the installer package disappears automatically, indicating completion). You can now use it in Synchron Player, even if Assistant still says "Not Installed."









    1. Force quit Assistant and manually delete /Library/LaunchDaemons/at.co.vsl.viennaassistant.helpertool.plist.









    1. Repeat steps 1-3 for the next installation.








    It takes me 2 hours to install all my 50+ libraries. I hope it can be fixed in the next version.




    The Library Preference file you reference I cannot find in Go>Library>Preferences, or in . . . >Application Support, . . . >LaunchAgents, nor does use of the Search tool in the top right corner of the Finder Window list any such file the Library or anywhere else. So, no dice there.


    Hi Ege, it is in Macintosh HD\Library in macOS 15.


    However, I found a better way to solve this problem fundamentally.


    Just move all the VSL Content to another place, open VA and exit, then move the VSL Content back to the original place. After that, you can try the Add Existing Libraries function in VA.


    Before everything, please run the VA in Rosetta mode and authorize Full Disk Access to at.co.vsl.viennaassistant.

    Thanks again for your comments. But, mysteriously, I was later able to install libraries without being able to follow your suggestions! I'm running MacOS Sequoia 15.3.2, Vienna Assistant 1.2.550, but not in Rosetta. I had to start over, but fortunately many files were stored in the Downloads folder in Finder, so I didn't have to do another internet download from VSL servers. When you click Install in VA, the program takes the files already stored in the Downloads folder and uses them, rather than re-download from VSL servers. So very quick. Then the Install process begins where the downloaded files are converted into usable sample files and stored in the Content location specified in VA.

    Here's what was odd: after the first install progress bar completed (there were several instrument libraries to install), I got a popup just like the one you get when installing new software -- this was after waiting maybe 20-30 minutes for this first install to complete. So I then entered my desktop password, like with software, and the install completed. Done with first library. It appears if you go away from the computer thinking the install will complete without this password, it won't complete, just hang there. Fortunately, the next libraries did not require a computer password (I waited another half hour to check), so after several hours all libraries were installed. Morale: Wait for the first download to complete the progress bar and ask for your password. I did not have to open VA in Rosetta (using Command-I command on the application name to do so); it opened in Silicon mode.

    BUT, this morning (4-9-2025) I get notice that there is an update to the Synchron Player , 1.2.2184, and this install froze in VA after completing about 98% of the progress bar. I found the install zip file in my download folder, unzipped it and installed package. The new version of SP seems to work after testing. But VA again seems to be freezing.

    Hope this will help others.