On my Hackintosh with Big Sur Omnisphere (2.8.1., but also happened to previous versions like 2.6.1) is working great so far besides one thing:

Most of the time when I want to quit Omnisphere it just freezes and then there are 2 options to close it: (1) Using the Activity Monitor and forcing it to quit or (2) disconnecting the ethernet-cable / internet connection. The strange this is, that when I disconnect my internet connection it instantly closes without problems. Another strange thing is, that when I open Omnisphere and want to use Google in Mozilla Firefox it doesn't work - but every other site works, its just Google-services. This seems to be somehow connected to the closing-issue (but strangely Google works in Chrome, but just not in Firefox).

What I tried so far: Blocking / allowing Omnisphere internet access with LuLu and the internal firewall; Changing DNS-Servers in the Ethernet-Connection; BatchMod the Omnisphere App/VST .. nothing works. The only real solution to close omnisphere without it freezing is to pull my ethernet-cable or deactivate the connection in the system properties.

I am grateful for any advice.

 

If you have really blocked everything as you say, then the only option is to not be online when making music.
Like most of us here.
Like it always was.
I would suggest Little Snitch instead of LuLu though.
It would seem that Omni is still linking externally, no?

 

I like Lulu. but I would still use my hosts file for anything predictable.

if you already have the program installed and open; tools like Codesigner, Batchmod, Permissions Reset 2 are always worth a try but are very unlikely to change anything.

editing. this is an odd behavior with it freezing on exit. usually that's what they want you to do if not legit user.

the obvious answer is to look with something like Wireshark. but thats a bit extensive for a vst or AU. What DAW are you using it in? probably doesn't matter either

 

Last edited: Nov 28, 2021

Thanks, but isn't it strange that I blocked every connection of Omnisphere on my firewall and it is still crashing when I want to quit it while I am connected to the Internet?
And there is still this this mystery that it's not possible to open Google when Omnisphere is open.

Btw: Just tried Codesign, PermissionReset and Batchmod again, but no change :-(

 

Last edited: Nov 28, 2021

Not if you haven't actually blocked all the correct addresses. Preferably in your Hosts file.
It seems obvious to me that Omni is still linking to something.

Like, you need to be using Google when working on a track?
I'm never online when creating.

 

Can you give me a hint to the correct adresses then, or how I can find them? How does it link to something although LuLu says it doesnt link to anything?

Yes sometimes I use Google when working on a track or while having my DAW open. But I didn't mention this because I absolutely need to use Google, but because this fact could give a hint to whats going wrong and thus to the solution.

 

Because it's linking to somewhere you haven't yet blocked ?

Okay, well that's on you. And Google, I mean, one of the biggest entities out there that control everything? Okay.
For the last 20 years of my career, I don't know anyone who goes online whilst making music.
I guess the new generation who grow up with Output's Arcade will get used to it though.
But surely just download mid session and then get out of there?! Unplug from the web.

I'm sorry, I don't personally have all the addresses for you.
When I first installed Omni I watched in realtime what Little Snitch was bringing up and just blocked them forever.
Like, LS obviously monitors them all so it was easy to set them up as blocked.

I'm sure someone will provide all the addresses for you...

 

Well thank you, but shouldn't LuLu also show all the connections? So you are saying that LittleSnitch detects and blocks more connections than LuLu, which would make LuLu an inferioir (and in that sense a bad) firewall? I have never heard or experienced of LuLu letting any connections through.

 

No no, I'm just suggesting that you may not have blocked everything. I'm sure LuLu works properly; I just happen to use LS.
Doesn't LuLu have to be told what to block?

I'm thinking; when I use Win10 in Parallels on mac, as yourself, there are 2 OS running at the same time, obviously.
Are you running Google on the VM or the source OS whilst running your DAW and Omni?
Maybe there is a conflict between the 2 different OS or something.
Either way, you haven't blocked certain things of Google, because you are still using it. And they are sneaky, Google...
LS detects loads of call-outs and call-ins from Google. Not all are needed.
Wish I could help you more, sorry.

Oh wow. Just looked at the LuLu page at macupdate!
Lots of baaad reviews, and that's just on macOS, not a VM...!

Little Snitch is a realtime network monitor as well as firewall as such.
I can't tell if LuLu does exactly the same.

Ironically, someone says " It does the job well and is better because, unlike Little Snitch, etc., I do not get bombarded with dozens of warnings about the same app, with more than one option (servers, ports, etc.). With Lulu, when you click block, all connections of that app are blocked. Nice!"

"I do not get bombarded with dozens of warnings about the same app"
This means he didn't block everything when he used LS.
And also it proves that LS is constantly on the ball, because things external of your computer can change...!
And it has saved me from malware drive-bys whilst surfing.

So that user implies that you can just block all outgoing from any app.
A plugin is not an app. Sometimes people have to block the whole DAW, as it is the one that does the call-out for a plugin when you are online.
Which is tricky or impossible for some users of some specific DAWs.

With LS, I can open my DAW online and it will detect and block the DAW callout.
Then, every plugin I open will bring up a "Logic wants to connect to iZotope", or whatever.
This handily reveals what plugins want to call out and to where, and I can choose to block them or not.

Reading between the lines, I think either Logic or FLS.

All must remember: LuLu is open-source and free!
Meaning devs and malicious types (Google!) HAVE THE SOURCE CODE FOR LULU!
Why trust a free, open source app with security?

@clone
"Lulu ONLY monitors outgoing; Little Snitch and Hands Off monitor both directions"

 

Last edited: Nov 28, 2021

to deal with any home calling, outbound solicitation is all that needs to be blocked. both Lulu and Little Snitch work fine for this. I prefer Lulu simply because it is free. They are both application layer. If for some reason, directly blocking the application is not working; it is because some other installed component is causing an outbound solicitation. If this is blocked via editing hosts, it does not matter which application is the source of the outbound traffic, because the outbound destination is what is blocked instead. such traffic will not interfere with the network adapter.

some companies will use very innocuous looking domains to do this. One I saw mentioned recently in a nfo file is a house painting website. this is why "firewall" programs are normally helpful, using application based ruleset. a lot of people trade hosts files, with all sorts of known spam sources, etc. Combining the two is best practice anyway.

 

Last edited: Nov 28, 2021

Now I know LuLu only deals with outgoing, I'd suggest he is getting a lot of incoming whilst making music and being online!

 

even though this is all something he should resolve anyway, I still have never seen a k'd copy of anything have effect on networking.
looking at my legit Omnisphere's activity will not help him narrow it down.

 

Ok thank you both very much!
I just installed the LittleSnitch Demo and deactivated LuLu. LittleSnitch said that Omnisphere wants to connect to "google.com" and I blocked it. Now everything seems to work
The downside is of course that LittleSnitch costs money and LuLu is free. I tried to block Omnispheres outgoing connection to "www.google.com" in LuLu, but it still freezes on quit.

I think since I want to buy Omnisphere in the future I am just gonna deal with it freezing now, I just hope that the legit won't produce the same problems.

 

Just remember the free version times out every 3 hours.
I used it like that before I bought it!
Running back inside when downloading to reset it!

Open source security + Google = yeah, I see now!
Glad I may have helped you!

 

I think you are not completely blocking Omnisphere in LuLu. it is pinging google to see if it is online and get around you blocking spectra...

 

This is how it looks like. When starting Omnisphere there was a popup and I clicked on "Block".
In the LuLu rules I even added "www.google.com" to the outgoing-adresses of omnisphere and blocked it but this made no difference.

 

But if you let your mind wander a little...Google can circumvent an app where the source code is open...
And probably any similar app if they wanted to.
My answer is don't be online when creating music.
@clone From the very first comment:

Glad you've caught up! hehe Just joking with you.

 

well blocking google in your hosts file would suck. they could even randomize the domains.

the (2nd) best place to put a backdoor ever = software firewall. thats why I use " when I refer to either of them. They are not defending some valuable network from determined hackers.

 

Hey @def12
The macOS firewall is usually turned off by default!
Go to System Preferences/Security & Privacy/Firewall.
Turn it on.

 

I already tried the macOS firewall and blocked Omnisphere, but it's not working neither. Seems like LittleSnitch is the only firewall that can block the connection to google.com