Ableton Forum

I wanted to make my setup completely portable as below, but it's not working yet.

Situation:
I'm using PC at home, and macbook outdoors.
Bought an external SSD to install all VST/samples/libraries i like to use.
Want to use the SSD to store all my projects and doodles.

I have installed all VST/samples etc, from the PC, to the SSD. This part is working perfectly fine (and fast!). However my macbook wont show anything at all, when in plug the SSD in.



Do i have to install the VST/libraries with my macbook, to the external SSD as well? If so, i shouldve bought a 1 terabyte instead of 500g SSD.

Hopefully, someone can enlighten me

I forgot to mention that the PC is 64 bit and macbook 32 bit.


Also, can PC-created ableton projects be used on macbook and vice versa? For me, this doesn't always work.

turbomartin wrote:However my macbook wont show anything at all, when in plug the SSD in.

Which is an indication you have formatted the disc as something a Mac can't read. Your best option is probably using ExFAT. You can do this in Disk Utility of OS X.

Interesting question. I've got Live and Komplete set up on my Macbook and PC at home, but only really use the Macbook so haven't much experience of this. From what I remember though, there should be no inherent problem opening a project file on Mac that was created on PC or vice versa.

I'm at work now so can't check, but one thing to look into is how Live references the user library, VST library etc. because Mac and PC file paths are annoyingly different (e.g. something like /volumes/hdd/ on OSX and F:/hdd/ on Windows). I've had this problem with Adobe Lightroom; I have my photo library stored on a NAS, and every time I use the PC after using the Macbook (and vice versa) I have to point the browser in the right direction because it's looking for the library on a file structure that cannot exist on that OS. Not the end of the world, but a pain.

I can't remember if this is an issue in Live, but it's worth looking at.

Stromkraft wrote:

turbomartin wrote:However my macbook wont show anything at all, when in plug the SSD in.

Which is an indication you have formatted the disc as something a Mac can't read. Your best option is probably using ExFAT. You can do this in Disk Utility of OS X.

It actually is exfat formatted.

BTW i just noticed that the ableton packs are showing. However, they appear 'empty' in abletons browser.

turbomartin wrote:I wanted to make my setup completely portable as below, but it's not working yet.

Situation:
I'm using PC at home, and macbook outdoors.
Bought an external SSD to install all VST/samples/libraries i like to use.
Want to use the SSD to store all my projects and doodles.

I have installed all VST/samples etc, from the PC, to the SSD. This part is working perfectly fine (and fast!). However my macbook wont show anything at all, when in plug the SSD in.



Do i have to install the VST/libraries with my macbook, to the external SSD as well? If so, i shouldve bought a 1 terabyte instead of 500g SSD.

Hopefully, someone can enlighten me

Windows has two file systems FAT32 (or exFAT on 64 bit systems) and NTFS.

I believe one is compatible with Macs (FAT) and the other is not fully compatible (Macs can read NTFS with 3rd party software I believe).

Also I doubt that VSTs would be compatible at all (in terms of installing VST on PC and expecting the Mac to read it).

For one the Mac use a fixed folder for putting all VSTs where PC VSTs can be installed anywhere).

Also from what I remember PC VSTs are .dll where MAC VSTs are .VSTs.

Audio and Midi and Ableton project, clips, and live pack files are fully cross compatible however.

as above, you can't share the VST's between the systems.

sharing the NI Komplete sample libraries may or may not work, it depends on whether or not the Windows and Mac versions use exactly the same file structures or not.

exFAT is also not a good choice for your shared SSD, especially if you are planning to use it for your projects. it is a lightweight filesystem best suited for SD cards and the like. i recommend you use NTFS and install the Tuxera NTFS driver on your Mac.