your problem is when you remount the drive, it is probably not matching the information Kontakt expects to see. Read what gpt has to say about it, and that way you will have a sort of checklist to go through rather than just trying random stuff.

And if you do ever need to re-add a full drive worth of Kontakt libraries, use Add Library for MacOS v4. Its batch add function is very fast.



GPT: pretty common with Kontakt on macOS when using external drives. What’s happening is:

Why This Happens
When your external drive unmounts and remounts:

• The mount path can change, even slightly (e.g. /Volumes/ExternalDrive → /Volumes/ExternalDrive 1)
  
  
• Kontakt’s XML files (and Native Access) hardcode absolute paths to the sample library locations
  
  
• If the path no longer matches what’s in those XMLs, Kontakt can’t find the libraries and assumes they’re missing
  
  
• So you’re forced to manually “Locate” or re-add them

✅ How to Fix or Mitigate It
Here are some steps and workarounds to reduce or eliminate this problem:

1. Fix Drive Name Conflicts
Make sure no phantom versions of your drive name exist. Run this in Terminal to check:

bash
ls /Volumes/

If you see:

nginx
ExternalDrive
ExternalDrive 1

You need to unmount and remove the phantom mount:

bash
diskutil unmount /Volumes/"ExternalDrive 1"

Then eject properly and remount cleanly.

2. Make Sure the Drive Name Is Unique and Persistent
Rename the drive to something that won’t conflict with others and make sure:

• It mounts as /Volumes/YourDriveName every time
  
  
• Avoid unplugging it without ejecting, or allowing it to sleep if possible

3. Create a Symlink as a Stable Mount Point ( BEST FIX)
Create a symbolic link in a stable directory that always points to your drive.

Step-by-step:

1. Mount your external drive
   • Let’s say it mounts as /Volumes/KontaktDrive
2. Open Terminal and create a symlink:

bash
sudo ln -s /Volumes/KontaktDrive /Users/Shared/KontaktDrive

1. Re-add your libraries in Kontakt using the path:

swift
/Users/Shared/KontaktDrive/YourLibraryFolder

1. Next time your drive disconnects and reconnects, just make sure it mounts with the same name — the symlink stays the same.

Kontakt will still "see" the library at the symlink path, even if the actual /Volumes path changes behind the scenes.

4. Optional: Script to Auto-Mount + Re-Link
If the drive sometimes gets mounted with a suffix (like DriveName 1), you can write a small script to:

• Detect the correct mount
  
  
• Create a symlink again automatically
  
  
• Could run at login or on reconnect

5. Disable Drive Sleep (if possible)
Go to:

sql
System Settings → Energy Saver / Battery → Prevent external drives from sleeping

Or in Terminal:

bash
sudo pmset -a disksleep 0

Final Tip:
Once it’s working reliably, back up your Kontakt XMLs in:

swift
/Library/Application Support/Native Instruments/Service Center/

That way, if something ever breaks again, you can restore the file references easily.

Let me know if you want a custom Terminal script that re-links your Kontakt libraries every time you boot or plug in your drive — can definitely hook that up.

 

Last edited: May 21, 2025