iLokked plugins check the iLok license with the iLok driver (Pace Support software) - it used to be a kext, now it's a system extension I believe - you can check the iLok installer with Pacifist to see that stuff).

All iLok licenses do essentially the same thing - the plugin is initially encrypted (usually with the GUI assets and everything inside), with a small unencrypted section. When you load the plugin, the unencrypted stub runs, and calls the iLok software to validate the license. If no valid license is found (by any of the three potential methods, machine/cloud/dongle), then an alert pops up asking you to activate the software.

If a license is found, that license is used to decrypt the payload ("Can't Tut This" for the ones that have looked at this before), which is the encrypted plugin for real, when gets unencrypted, and then run. (This is why iLok plugins are slow to load the first time, as the decryption process takes some CPU. Subsequent loads of that same plugin do not need to decrypt the payload again, as that has already been done, so other plugin loads are quicker.)

I deleted the free LA-2A so I can't check if it's any differently implemented to the regular ones, but it certainly loaded fine when I tested it here, on a system where UA Connect is both not running, and also renamed, so the plugins cannot call it to run as they would normally do if it's not running, so there's no reason to believe it's implemented any differently to the others, other than the different choice of iLok activation methods.

 

yeah it's eden and bonjour and all that kinds of stuff. I ran the windows installer inside a w7 bottle and it bitched about that too. when changed to a w10 64 bit bundle, then it complained about sha256. i think the mojave vm might be a way to go but i guess i will have to download an image. most of this stuff though, is actually just prevented by the application creator. they say they do not want to support 10.15 or 11 and below and it just won't allow it to run, even though there is really no technical reason for it not to. lol.




this is a plugin we all "own" already. if someone really wanted to use it with no iface, it can be loaded in patchwork and all it's parameters can just be controlled from there. but that's no fun and i doubt the plugin is even worth putting up with that. If it was, it wouldn't even be "free".

 

It's a great LA-2A, and it's free, because UA are aggressively trying to expand their userbase - witness all the recent sales at extremely low prices. And once those people have accounts and the installer on their system (and like the free plugin), they are much more likely to buy more - it's just marketing.

 

The 'supported' versions depend on the SDK its compiled against in Xcode, and your actual code (can't use an API call or function in an earlier version that doesn't exist). The graphics system, along with the rest of the OS underwent A LOT of changes between High Sierra and Mojave and again in Catalina (remember those fancy new ARM M1 CPU's?). Mojave GPU's needed to support Metal 2. Now that's gone and from Monterey up, they need to support Metal 3. It might just be that parts of the plugin, aside from the audio processing algorithms, are updated to the point it no longer works in High Sierra properly. Look at what happened to Cubase's own plugins in Sonoma. Graphics disappearing, envelope controls being unusable and jumping all over the place, missing text popups, etc.. Sonoma 14.1 fixes whatever it was, but something Apple initially did to the system broke their underlying graphics system. Things may have changed in the UA code where it just can't work in older OS's now.

 

Tried testing with mojave on another system. I can connect to my account via UAConnect, i dragged the plugin and everything connected to it as far as I know, over to Mojave. The plugin connects to iLok and UAConnect but still shows blurred gui. So I can only think its one of 2 things. UaConnect maybe checking compatibility and refusing the unlock of the blurred gui, or it has nothing to do with UAConnect or iLok at all and its just not compatible fully with anything below Catalina. I did read when they changed everything that they updated the plugins and UADConnect.
Oh one other thing I tried in all my searching. Apparantly UAD tested for someone a while back on Mojave when they first got complaints and they said anything below Logic pro X 10.5.1 wouldnt work. So I updated to that on Mojave and it was BS, it made no difference.
Just to emphasise, the plugins will work if activated in iLOK, you can switch to Logics gui for the plugin and everything works, its just the UA native gui that stays blurred so you cannot use their controls which is annoying.

 

Sorry only just seen this post. I think your right. Its just not compatible and its not calling to unblurr.