Hi guys,

I was using XLN Life quite a while by HCiSO- worked superb, but after a while I decided to buy it. Problem is now, that the legal installer is not working, it is trying to update itself, but it tried this for hours... Maybe the HCiSO-Version is blocking something somewhere on my MacStudio. Could not find any notice in the security options of the MacOS to allow the installation, it is just blocked. How can I solve this problem. I tried just to delete the Life App, but this didn't help.

Thanks a lot for your help in advance.

Marco

 

HCiSO installation probably blocked XLN servers in /etc/hosts file so that XLN plugins couldn't talk to XLN servers. Try to find out which blocked IPs are XLN ones and delete them, or rather start by putting ";" (means "skip this" ;)) in front of those you think are XLN's IPs if there are more entries and you don't know which are which, and saving the "hosts" file.

 

I always thought that Life uses XLN servers and therefore can't be cracked. Did that change since they launched it?

 

Hi SineWave, thanks a lot for your expertise. Unfortunately I don't have a deep understanding of OS. Is it possible to explain how I find /etc/hosts file ? (btw: does "etc" stands for my username?) I am not sure how to manage this and further where to put ";" (is this a terminal thing?).

Thanks a lot, mate
Marco

 

If you edited your hosts file, you would not be able to load the official XLN website in your browser.
Check that first.

No HCiso release is ever going to alter your hosts file. Either you did so, or don't even worry about that. None of the Mac teams would alter your hosts file, they would simply tell you to do it yourself.

Did you possibly use Little Snitch or LuLu to block their domain? A very quick check would be to just bypass the network filter in Little Snitch menu temporarily. Same with LuLu, just turn it off temporarily. See if you can access their website. You'll then know the problem is your firewall.

You can go and check your hosts file manually. Do this in terminal:

sudo nano /etc/hosts. you will enter your admin password and be able to view or edit your hosts file. I very much doubt you did this without being instructed.

If you have a line that references XLN's website, delete that entry in hosts file. then hit Control+O, to "write out" the changes, and then hit Control +x to exit the program nano back to your normal terminal command line and just close it.

But you probably firewalled their website. If those quick checks don't fix things; uninstall, cleanup and reinstall.

Do you use Wide Blue Audio Plugin uninstaller? That would be a way to remove all the plugins yourself, and it will clean up a good amount as well. Otherwise, use Finder or better yet, Find Any File to track down all the XLN related files on your system disk and delete those too.

 

Last edited: Feb 5, 2026

took the words right out my mouth! this exactly. Although i don't remember HCiSO xln releases requiring this, but maybe op did it as a precaution and just forgot.

 

I don't remember ever seeing any with instructions at all. You'd also probably remember blocking them in Little Snitch since it is so manual an operation, or altering your hosts file manually. Changing system files "for someone" in an installer would not fly. Lulu firewall, on the other hand would be easy to do it with. If you do not have any plugins like legit ones which you do have to allow out, you can just use Lulu like a blunt instrument and block all 3 of your main plugin format folders.

If you check those few options methodically, it's usually a quick fix. If the old copies and new ones are conflicting or finding remnant stuff like text settings and configuration files; full cleanup and reinstall can be fastest method if you don't want to screw with it.