This is a high detailed and easy to understand process in order to use Steinberg products without touching SIP (not even reboot). The process shows how to use it with Cubase Pro 14 but also shows how you can use it with any other Steinberg product.

I tried it with Cubase Pro 14 and Spectralayers.

Keep in mind that any legit Steinberg license most probably won't work. In my case, I had to download the Cubase Pro 13 release in order to apply the process to Cubase 13 and being able to open it again.

Tested on Macbook Pro ARM M2 Pro, Sequoia.

Download PDF

Apple Certificates

 

Install any Steinberg product on Mac without touching SIP


In this example, Cubase Pro 14.


1. Product Installation

1. Steinberg Release (might look different, depending on on the relase)

1. Install MediaBay
2. Install Cubase 14
3. Apply patch (or replace files - depening on the release!)
4. (only if need) fix microphone access (leave it for now)

​

1. Official Certificates

1. Download these Certificates from Apple
   
   https://www.apple.com/certificateauthority/DeveloperIDG2CA.cer
   https://www.apple.com/certificateauthority/AppleWWDRCAG6.cer
   https://www.apple.com/certificateauthority/AppleWWDRCAG4.cer
   https://www.apple.com/certificateauthority/AppleWWDRCAG3.cer

​

1. Double click on each of them to add them to your keychain

​

1. Your Own Certificate

1. Install Xcode from the App Store.
2. Open Xcode and go directly to the system tray → Xcode → Settings
3. Click on the ‘+’ in the corner bottom left
4. Select ‘Apple ID’ and hit continue
5. Enter your Apple ID and password etc.
6. Once finished, click on your Apple Developer account in the list on the left
7. Click ‘Manage Certificates…’
8. Click the ‘+’ button in the lower-left corner and select ‘Apple Development’.
   * You now have your own development certificate in your keychain!
9. Open the ‘Keychain’ App (via Spotlight)
10. On the top bar in the middle, filter by ‘certificates’
11. In the search bar, type in ‘Apple Development’
12. You should now see your own certificate that looks like this:
    Apple Development: youremail@address (XXXXXXXXXX)
13. Double click on the certificate in the list
14. Click on the small down arrow under ‘trust’
15. In the main dropdown menu, select ‘use system standard’ (important!)
16. Your certificate must show green check. (It may take a few minutes…)
17. Copy the certificate name written in fat letters and paste it in a new text file (see next chapter.).
    e.g. Apple Development: [email protected] (HFK374JFE)

​

2. Information Gathering


Create a new text file and manage your infos just like this:

1. Paste the name of your own Development Certificate here:

"Apple Development: youremail@address (XXXXXXXXXX)"



Note: You need to add “ “

1. Location - Cubase 14 App:

/Applications/Cubase\ 14.app

/Applications/Cubase\ 14.app/Contents/MacOS/Cubase\ 14

1. Location - Activation Manager:

/Library/Application\ Support/Steinberg/Activation\ Manager/license-engine-access.bundle

/Library/Application\ Support/Steinberg/Activation\ Manager/Steinberg\ License\ Engine.app





Notes:

• This is handy if you want to install other Steinberg products (e.g. Spectralayers). Because you will always have your ‘default’ prompts separated from the variables like ‘file location’ of the specific Steinberg Software.
  
• If you need to retrieve the exact files paths from other Steinberg Software, you can simply open a new Terminal window, then drag & drop the app (e.g. Spectralayer) from the finder into the Terminal, and then select the file path with the mouse, copy, and paste it in a text file.

​

3. Prepare Your Own Terminal Prompts



I highly recommend that you start to prepare all of the following prompts, so you can simply copy/paste all of them into the terminal later on.



For a better overview, you can paste all your prompts that you will generate in a new text file.

Just keep following my instructions



Prompt A)

sudo chown -R yourusername



1. Replace 'yourusername' by your user name. you can find your user name in finder: Mac - users.

2. Copy that prompt with your real user name and paste it 4 times.
You should now have 4 identical duplicates of the same prompt.


Example:

• sudo chown -R michael
• sudo chown -R michael
• sudo chown -R michael
• sudo chown -R michael

​

3. Now, copy and paste each of the 4 file locations (including the first space) that you prepared in
2.B) and 2.C) and paste one after another next the each prompt.



Example:

• sudo chown -R michael /Applications/Cubase\ 14.app
• sudo chown -R michael /Applications/Cubase\ 14.app/Contents/MacOS/Cubase\ 14
• sudo chown -R michael /Library/Application\ Support/Steinberg/Activation\ Manager/license-engine-access.bundle
• sudo chown -R michael /Library/Application\ Support/Steinberg/Activation\ Manager/Steinberg\ License\ Engine.app

​

Leave one space after your user name. There must be one.

Got it? Ok, let's go on with our preparation...



Prompt B)

codesign --force --deep --sign "your certificate"



1. Replace ‘"your certificate”’ with the name of your own certificate from 2.A).

* Important note: copy and paste your certificate with the quotes!



Your prompt should be in a format like this:

• codesign --force --deep --sign "Apple Development: [email protected] (HFK374JFE)”

​

2. Duplicate this new prompt 4 times.

3. Copy and paste each of the 4 file paths again, and insert it alert the prompt (just like you did before).



Example

• codesign --force --deep --sign "Apple Development: [email protected] (HFK374JFE)” /Applications/Cubase\ 14.app
• codesign --force --deep --sign "Apple Development: [email protected] (HFK374JFE)” /Applications/Cubase\ 14.app/Contents/MacOS/Cubase\ 14
• codesign --force --deep --sign "Apple Development: [email protected] (HFK374JFE)” /Library/Application\ Support/Steinberg/Activation\ Manager/license-engine-access.bundle
• codesign --force --deep --sign "Apple Development: [email protected] (HFK374JFE)” /Library/Application\ Support/Steinberg/Activation\ Manager/Steinberg\ License\ Engine.app

​

4. Final Terminal Prompts

1. Insert Your Prompts From 3.A) Here:

1. Insert Your Prompts From 3.B) Here:

1. For Cubase 14, use these just as they are:

sudo xattr -r -d com.apple.quarantine /Applications/Cubase\ 14.app

sudo xattr -r -d com.apple.quarantine /Applications/Cubase\ 14.app/Contents/MacOS/Cubase\ 14

sudo xattr -r -d com.apple.quarantine /Library/Application\ Support/Steinberg/Activation\ Manager/license-engine-access.bundle

sudo xattr -r -d com.apple.quarantine /Library/Application\ Support/Steinberg/Activation\ Manager/Steinberg\ License\ Engine.app

1. For Cubase 14, use these just as they are:

sudo xattr -cr /Applications/Cubase\ 14.app

sudo xattr -cr /Applications/Cubase\ 14.app/Contents/MacOS/Cubase\ 14

sudo xattr -cr /Library/Application\ Support/Steinberg/Activation\ Manager/license-engine-access.bundle

sudo xattr -cr /Library/Application\ Support/Steinberg/Activation\ Manager/Steinberg\ License\ Engine.app





You should now have 4 prompts under 4A and also 4 prompts under 4B.







Note:

• Prompts 3 & 4 affect the Steinberg Activation Manager only. This is true for A, B, C and D. Thus, you can use these prompts for any other Steinberg product. You only have to change the first 2 prompts for A, B, C and D according to your system, just like we did for Cubase 14 in this example.

​

5. Prompt Execution



1. Open Terminal.

2. Copy the first prompt (A1) and paste it into the Terminal, then hit enter.

3. Repeat that for each of the remaining 15 prompts from A2 to D4, one after another.



* If you need to enter your password several times, that's a good sign!

* There should never be any errors. If there are errors, you did something wrong.





4. OPEN CUBASE ;)










If you followed the process, you can use any Steinberg product without touching SIP.





HAVE FUN ;)



Superhero123






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!!! VERY IMPORTANT !!!



If you install other Steinberg products, e.g. Spectralayers, you need to do the following:



1. Install product

2. install patch

* no other packages needed anymore!



3. Create new prompts for the new software, just like you did, in this case, with Cubase 14.

* of course, you don't need to create new prompts for the Steinberg Activation Manager. This app is the

same for all Steinberg Software. Thus, you can use your prompts:
A3, A4, B3, B4, C3, C4, D3 & D4 for all Steinberg software, once you’ve created them correctly.



It may happen that, in this case, Cubase 14 won’t open anymore, after you’ve installed another Steinberg product. This is not a problem. Just execute all those prompts again.











Example Overview:





A)

• sudo chown -R yourusername /Applications/Cubase\ 14.app
• Sudo chown -R yourusername /Applications/Cubase\ 14.app/Contents/MacOS/Cubase\ 14
• Sudo chown -R yourusername /Library/Application\ Support/Steinberg/Activation\ Manager/license-engine-access.bundle
• Sudo chown -R yourusername /Library/Application\ Support/Steinberg/Activation\ Manager/Steinberg\ License\ Engine.app

B)

• codesign --force --deep --sign "your certificate" /Applications/Cubase\ 14.app
• codesign --force --deep --sign "your certificate" /Applications/Cubase\ 14.app/Contents/MacOS/Cubase\ 14
• codesign --force --deep --sign "your certificate" /Library/Application\ Support/Steinberg/Activation\ Manager/license-engine-access.bundle
• codesign --force --deep --sign "your certificate" /Library/Application\ Support/Steinberg/Activation\ Manager/Steinberg\ License\ Engine.app

C)

• sudo xattr -r -d com.apple.quarantine /Applications/Cubase\ 14.app
• sudo xattr -r -d com.apple.quarantine /Applications/Cubase\ 14.app/Contents/MacOS/Cubase\ 14
• sudo xattr -r -d com.apple.quarantine /Library/Application\ Support/Steinberg/Activation\ Manager/license-engine-access.bundle
• sudo xattr -r -d com.apple.quarantine /Library/Application\ Support/Steinberg/Activation\ Manager/Steinberg\ License\ Engine.app

D)

• sudo xattr -cr /Applications/Cubase\ 14.app
• sudo xattr -cr /Applications/Cubase\ 14.app/Contents/MacOS/Cubase\ 14
• sudo xattr -cr /Library/Application\ Support/Steinberg/Activation\ Manager/license-engine-access.bundle
• sudo xattr -cr /Library/Application\ Support/Steinberg/Activation\ Manager/Steinberg\ License\ Engine.app

 

Thanks a lot
But i have a question
In windows R2R has silk emulator and before install silk we need to install r2r certificate
After install these cubase running without any different with legit !

So now my question is , when we follow your steps for keep sip on in macOS can we just replace v.r steinberg license manager and licese access bundle to /library/application support/steinberg/activation manager and then run cubase without manipulating cubase.app ?
Because when we runing cubase 14.patch v.r its manipulated hex code of cubase.app
But in windows when install certifacte everything from steinberg install without touching .exe files
Sorry for my question , because maybe is boring question

 

Last edited: Nov 23, 2024 at 4:43 PM

Hi dud, I hope you are well, quick question, what is Mediabay role in all this?

 

I used the Patch that alters the app, or replaced the file by myself.
I don't think there's a way to avoid this. But why?

 

Actually, I don't know. There are only 2 releases, one from V-R. Both releases have the MediaBay installer.

 

can use this on macOS or edit ?
https://mega.nz/file/cX8WnSSZ#mLUSyub0-9GU87RtLlrnFHmoXcC44y2oDr4OTd4GvVg

 

I don’t know what you mean .

 

this r2r certificate
i want to know can i use this on mac ?
or we must create a new one with your method ?

 

It doesn't matter, I didn't install that but I followed all the other steps and it worked for me for Nuendo on Intel.

Thank you for taking your time and doing this, it was really very useful and simple.

 

If you use the certificates I provided, it will work. That said, you might use that one from R2R. I have not tried it.

 

Great to hear! It took my 3 a few hours to write a clear instruction. It's not as easy as one thinks :D

 

Need to create own certificate or i can use Official Certificates which you provided for download ?
and after that follow your prompt ?

 

the reason r2r's root cert is needed, is because their silk emulator uses certs signed by it, rather than the original steinberg ones.
unless the silk emulator ends up getting ported to mac, r2r certificates have no business on mac at all

 

You need to make your own AND use those from Apple.
(If you wasn't making your own, you could not follow along the process.)

 

WOW. Seems like it would be easier to simply "touch SIP" rather than spend a week rolling thru that heavy book of a process.

I don't run the R2R steiny cracks on PC because they are too cumbersome to get working and Team V.R. is much more streamlined and just works. Plus if you're installing multiple Steiny stuffz all one needs to do is run the v.r. auth and done. There are Team V.R. releases for apple. Are they not as slick on MAC as they are on PC?

 

Last edited: Nov 23, 2024 at 10:18 PM

It looks heavy, but you can do this in 10 minutes ;)
It would be much easier to make a video and show the process. I wanted to make sure that it is fool proof.

The V.R. release does NOT work, if you don't implement the certification part.
You need to make your own certificate AND at lease one from Apple. But again, this only takes 2 minutes.

 

I thought the V.R version on Mac OS was buggy because when we run the patch, the hex codes of the Cubase executable files would change and this could cause instability and multiple crashes.
That's why I'm forced to use the r2r version on Windows.
I don't like Windows at all.
Of course, I have a Hackintosh that works great and I have no problems with it and never have.
i have cubase pro 14 on mac but im not working with, i said about reason
my SIP on my hackintosh is completely turned off , always :D
so now , should i to create own cert ?

 

It is VERY stable. No problems here!

 

so , its working like legit without any problem and changes !
need to enable sip on my hackintosh ??