Where's the "Set-up for Dummies" thread?

I

Indra2026

New member
So this is my first post on this site, though I joined some months ago and have browsed a bit, but the more I look, the less I understand so I'm just gonna throw this out there and hopefully someone can point me in the right direction, forum-wise as well as setup-wise.

Basically I'm that kid with the music stuck in their head, and a handful of equipment, and no tech capabilities whatsoever. I'm trying to find out where I go, or who I can talk to, to find out why my Mac and keyboard will talk, but not my Mac and Audiobox USB. The Audiobox was recommended to me by a friend who makes music but I'm beginning to think maybe my Mac is "too new" (something about USB ports being different now?) because I can install the device but nothing happens, and it doesn't show when I open Garageband (starting there, saving for Logic). Since my tech savvy consists of plugging things in and pushing buttons until something happens, you can imagine I'm a bit stuck, and online searches for tutorials and answers is only leading me down rabbit holes that confuse me even more.

Any help for the hopeless case in the back?

Thanks!
 
If you've got osx 10.4 or above you shouldn't have to install any drivers. Assuming you are talking about the presonus audiobox.

Does the operating system recognise the device? Not sure where to find that on a mac but shouldn't be too hard.

If it does, it should show up in Garageband, if not, there's another problem.

Have you tried costumer support at Apple or presonus?
 
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Yes, it's PreSonus, and I'm pretty sure it's 10.4--I'll have to double check when I'm back at my place. The device software shows up as installed but there doesn't seem to be any difference when I have it plugged in. When I try to use my mic, the only one that shows up is the internal speaker on the actual computer.

I haven't tried Apple's support yet simply because I tend to wind up banging my head against a wall trying to navigate their customer service labyrinth, and I don't really expect them to have a clue about the audiobox. I went to PreSonus' site and that's where I went from one nightmare issue to another, down a rabbit hole that led me to post here. One minute they're saying make sure I keep the USB plugged into the same port I had on install, all the way down to the USB's on new Macs won't work at all. If that's the case I should probably sell the audiobox on ebay and put the money toward something compatible, but I'm really not sure the compatibility is an issue.
 
Well according to presonus website for the product description it's clearly compatible, not even needing drivers to install for versions of osx at or above 10.4. But there's also some conflicting info.. What kind of Mac do you have?

If I were you I would contact apple and try to confirm if it actually is or not, cause if it isn't then it's all fruitless and you're better of doing what you planned to.
 
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There's a couple of suggestions here...

* Probably the most obvious one is trying another USB cable. A few people are saying the Audioboxes have shipped with faulty cables and even found a few mentions of only having success with an USB cable that has a ferrite bead in it - but frankly, I've never ever heard about such an issue. Worth a try, I guess - especially if you happen to have one of those lying around.

* Resetting the PRAM (there's a link in that support topic)
 
Well now I've made it worse--the people at Apple said it should be compatible, my online research told me to try uninstalling and reinstalling, and now it won't let me reinstall. I try to contact PreSonus support and they say I have to register to submit a ticket(thought I did but since my emails didn't work I made a new account. I only have two emails...). I try to register and it says the product already is registered. Now I don't even know if I could actually Ebay this product and start over because if it's not even registerable...

I've emailed the person I purchased it from at Guitar Center to see if he has any suggestions. If I don't hear anything back I'll go down there physically when I have time (that's my issue; I don't have hours and hours to fight with this, only about one a day). You guys have any other ideas? Would trying to find a music tech guru on craigslist to come look at it be dangerous?
 
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I had meant to get back to you a lot earlier than this.

I feel like I'm not sure what to say to help you at this point, me not being experience with either Mac, Garageband or the audio box all I can do is make wild guesses in the dark.

Hopefully someone else who has an idea of what it could be comes along and jumpstarts the thinking process.

Good luck though, hope you get it sorted one way or the other.
 
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