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Old 08-23-2019, 06:47 PM   #1
LeftyStrings
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Default Having trouble creating portable Reaper install on USB drive (on Mac)

My second post on the forum so I’m posting it here in the Noob section, but if a moderator thinks it belongs somewhere else, please move it.

I am having trouble creating a portable Reaper install on a USB flash drive. (I'm using Mac OS, so I have to do the manual portable install.) I'm able to create a portable install that works when saved to a computer, and this install runs parallel/separately to my regular Reaper install, so I assume that means that it worked.

But when I try to do a portable install in a folder on a flash drive, I get this error message: "Reaper64 is damaged and can't be opened. You should move it to the Trash." I've tried it on one Mac running Mojave and on another Mac running High Sierra and I got the same result/message both times. I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong.
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Old 08-24-2019, 02:53 AM   #2
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Looks like it might perhaps be a permission problem:
Otherwise, if you haven't already, try this:
  1. Make another portable install on the computer drive first
  2. Then move the portable install folder (from the computer drive) to the USB flash drive
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Old 08-25-2019, 01:14 AM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by solger View Post
Looks like it might perhaps be a permission problem:
Otherwise, if you haven't already, try this:
  1. Make another portable install on the computer drive first
  2. Then move the portable install folder (from the computer drive) to the USB flash drive
Thanks very much for your response. The other day I did try moving a portable install from one of my computers to a USB drive and it didn’t work, but it looks like you’re right that it’s a permission problem. That stupid Gatekeeper - I didn’t think of that!

In fact, I think I pretty much just figured out that it must be Gatekeeper because I’m visiting my Dad and I remembered that he has an old MacBook running Snow Leopard, so I just tried doing a portable install onto a USB drive from that laptop, and it worked. No Gatekeeper foolishness back in Snow Leopard!

And Reaper actually ran just fine on that old MacBook from the USB drive - how awesome is it that one can run the latest version of a DAW on such an old computer (it’s a 2009) running an equally old OS?

So I guess now I’ll try this USB portable install on my own computers and see if it triggers Mr. Gatekeeper. Thanks for the instructions on how to fix that.

Last edited by LeftyStrings; 08-25-2019 at 03:30 AM. Reason: To change it
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Old 08-25-2019, 10:33 AM   #4
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That gatekeeper bug came about with the release of OSX 10.12. The "bug" is that the system preference selection in Security & Privacy is missing and you must do the 'manual' Terminal entry. (sudo spctl --master-disable)

There is actually an alert that comes up the first time you try to run something 3rd party if you haven't set that preference. If you notice that, you can open Security & Privacy and click 'Allow anyway'. But if you miss the alert the first time, that option goes away.

I actually haven't seen the new revised dishonest message from Mohave that errantly states "app is damaged". (Probably because I've had the preference enabled this whole time.) I suppose that's the new Microsoft-esque dishonesty that Apple is coming to be known for nowadays. Like their newer OSX installers blacklisting many of their older pro machines. Not a good look...

Fingers crossed that 10.15 becomes a bug fixed version of 10.14 like 10.13 was to 10.12!

I don't know what the "manual" method of making a portable install is but the automatic way is to put the reaper.ini file in the same directory (folder) as the Reaper.app file. (Make an empty text file named reaper.ini when you first install it.)
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Old 08-25-2019, 10:43 AM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by serr View Post
I don't know what the "manual" method of making a portable install is but the automatic way is to put the reaper.ini file in the same directory (folder) as the Reaper.app file. (Make an empty text file named reaper.ini when you first install it.)
Hi serr,

I'm assuming LeftyStrings is referring to the default method under macOS which you mentioned - in comparison to the ('non-manual') portable install checkbox option only available in the Windows installer.
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Old 08-26-2019, 04:23 AM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by solger View Post
Hi serr,

I'm assuming LeftyStrings is referring to the default method under macOS which you mentioned - in comparison to the ('non-manual') portable install checkbox option only available in the Windows installer.
You are correct - by “manual” I meant the Mac OS method of having to create the INI file, etc., as opposed to the “automatic” method in Windows with that portable install checkbox. I should have made that clear.
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Old 08-26-2019, 04:33 AM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by serr View Post
That gatekeeper bug came about with the release of OSX 10.12. The "bug" is that the system preference selection in Security & Privacy is missing and you must do the 'manual' Terminal entry. (sudo spctl --master-disable)

There is actually an alert that comes up the first time you try to run something 3rd party if you haven't set that preference. If you notice that, you can open Security & Privacy and click 'Allow anyway'. But if you miss the alert the first time, that option goes away.

I actually haven't seen the new revised dishonest message from Mohave that errantly states "app is damaged". (Probably because I've had the preference enabled this whole time.) I suppose that's the new Microsoft-esque dishonesty that Apple is coming to be known for nowadays. Like their newer OSX installers blacklisting many of their older pro machines. Not a good look...

Fingers crossed that 10.15 becomes a bug fixed version of 10.14 like 10.13 was to 10.12!

I don't know what the "manual" method of making a portable install is but the automatic way is to put the reaper.ini file in the same directory (folder) as the Reaper.app file. (Make an empty text file named reaper.ini when you first install it.)
Thank you for explaining this to me, but wow, what a disappointment that Apple is doing this sort of thing now. Fake error messages because of their gratuitous “Gatekeeper”! Good grief.

I used El Capitan for quite a long time and only recently installed High Sierra on my iMac and Mojave on my MacBook....not the best way to be rewarded for “upgrading,” having to deal with this. I’m going to make that change in the Terminal ASAP.

Tonight I tried out my new portable Reaper install, installed on my USB drive courtesy of Snow Leopard, on my MacBook running Mojave and it seemed to work fine, so I guess Gatekeeper will leave it alone now.

I dealt with Gatekeeper for the first time not long ago when downloading some GForce software, I think it was impOSCar2, and their website helped walk me through the process of getting around it. But changing the Terminal sounds like a more permanent solution, though as you said, hopefully it will be fixed in 10.15.

Last edited by LeftyStrings; 08-26-2019 at 04:35 AM. Reason: to change it
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Old 08-26-2019, 04:53 AM   #8
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This is somewhat off-topic here but I am curious if these portable installs were a selling point to anyone else-? I must say that it was/is for me. Being able to load Reaper off a USB drive on literally any computer I encounter - that is really fantastic. Combine that with the fast loading time and the small number of crashes (back when I used Logic 9 it would crash every day!) and it makes for quite an appealing package.

And being able to install Reaper on as many computers as I want is also very cool. Ableton, by contrast, allows only two installs. Well, I have three computers! I think DP also only allows two installs though I’ve never actually used it.
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Old 08-26-2019, 11:04 PM   #9
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not on a Mac here and never will be, thanks just the same

but I do love portables and while I also have a full install the non portable way in case I need to use rewire... I mainly use one of several portable installs

for me they are the ONLY way to go... everything in one place.

I did do one for a mac friend and he still runs it...
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Old 08-27-2019, 08:05 AM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by LeftyStrings View Post
This is somewhat off-topic here but I am curious if these portable installs were a selling point to anyone else-?
Not really. It's a way to quickly isolate and test a version I suppose.
As far as the idea of a portable install that you can take with you to any computer... That would be more about your 3rd party plugin installs. Reaper itself is just a quick install either way. And the import/export config feature lets you switch between configs quickly and neatly already (letting you "isolate" things as you please).

Plugins are installed as a library to your OS - not as an "add-on" to any particular DAW app. So you'd have to "portable install" those plugins. (Have fun with the more crude installers like Waves that don't play nice with ANY non-standard install location!) So that would kind of go against the grain of the portable install.

Then there's all the new gatekeeper OS features that are finally being turned on by default more these days. You'd have to disable that stuff to install to other than your Applications folder. Lots of moving the mountain. Security on the Applications folder and the System Extensions folder isn't exactly a bad idea. Stopping casual workarounds like installing an app to your Desktop or Downloads folder because you forgot your OS password isn't a bad idea either!

Cool troubleshooting feature for sure but would be a PITA for normal use unless something was setup kind of odd with the OS for it to make sense.
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Old 08-27-2019, 07:29 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by serr View Post
Not really. It's a way to quickly isolate and test a version I suppose.
As far as the idea of a portable install that you can take with you to any computer... That would be more about your 3rd party plugin installs. Reaper itself is just a quick install either way. And the import/export config feature lets you switch between configs quickly and neatly already (letting you "isolate" things as you please).

Plugins are installed as a library to your OS - not as an "add-on" to any particular DAW app. So you'd have to "portable install" those plugins. (Have fun with the more crude installers like Waves that don't play nice with ANY non-standard install location!) So that would kind of go against the grain of the portable install.

Then there's all the new gatekeeper OS features that are finally being turned on by default more these days. You'd have to disable that stuff to install to other than your Applications folder. Lots of moving the mountain. Security on the Applications folder and the System Extensions folder isn't exactly a bad idea. Stopping casual workarounds like installing an app to your Desktop or Downloads folder because you forgot your OS password isn't a bad idea either!

Cool troubleshooting feature for sure but would be a PITA for normal use unless something was setup kind of odd with the OS for it to make sense.
Yes, I certainly see your point. I guess I'm thinking of a portable install more as a way to sketch and edit ideas in MIDI on any computer I encounter - my wife's, my father's, even a public library computer - kind of using the portable install the way many people probably use iPad apps like Cubasis, as providing a way to do something "on the fly," and less as a way to work on a full project with Kontakt libraries (for example) and such.

I wouldn't want to try to do portable installs of most plugins since that sounds like an awful headache and I imagine that in many cases they're probably designed so that they won't work that way anyway.

I guess I'll just need find at least one VST instrument that works portably in this way (crossing my fingers and hoping that Pianoteq does) so that I can get some sound when I use the portable install. I know that Reaper comes with a synth, but I wish it came with a simple piano sound too, just for the ability to preview what one has written without using anything third party.

Last edited by LeftyStrings; 08-27-2019 at 07:34 PM.
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