Why won’t some plug-ins load?

The message you see

The plug-in shows a message from its publisher, for example:

Fatal error 100007 — A wrapper bootstrap error happened. This software cannot be loaded. Please contact the software publisher…

or reports that it is “not authorized” even though your license is valid.

This message does not come from UnitBasse: it comes from the plug-in.

What is happening

UnitBasse is sold on the Mac App Store. There, Apple requires every app to run in an App Sandbox: the app, and the plug-ins it loads, can only reach what they need. That is what keeps your Mac safe.

Some license protection systems need to step outside those limits: contact a service installed separately on your Mac, read license files elsewhere on the disk, or modify their own code while starting up. Inside a sandboxed app, macOS does not allow this, and the plug-in refuses to launch.

This is not specific to UnitBasse. GarageBand, Apple’s own music app, is sandboxed too and runs into exactly the same refusals. The iLok license provider says so itself: GarageBand will not load iLok-protected plug-ins without lowering its security settings.

Logic Pro, Ableton Live, Cubase or Pro Tools are not bound by the same rules, which is why the same plug-in may work there.

Which plug-ins are affected?

There is no official list, and each publisher keeps changing its protection. What we know:

• Do not load: Universal Audio’s native UADx plug-ins (Universal Audio does not list GarageBand among its supported hosts).
• May cause problems: plug-ins licensed through iLok (PACE), depending on the version and on how the publisher integrated it.
• Tested and working in UnitBasse: Guitar Rig 7 FX (Native Instruments), Ozone 11 (iZotope), Tonelib-BassDrive. We will extend this list with your feedback.

What can you do?

1. Check the license elsewhere. Open the plug-in in another application. If it says “not authorized” there too, the license itself needs to be reactivated in the publisher’s manager.
2. Try the GarageBand test. If the plug-in also refuses to load in GarageBand, it is not compatible with sandboxed apps. Report it to its publisher: the fix is on their side, and some protected plug-ins already work in these apps.
3. Update the plug-in and its license manager (UA Connect, iLok License Manager…): publishers sometimes fix these issues.
4. Use UnitBasse’s built-in pedals and amps: 8 amps, 4 cabinets and 22 pedals, with no license and nothing to install.

We will never advise you to turn off macOS protections (Gatekeeper, system security) to make a plug-in work.

Found a plug-in that works, or one that doesn’t?

Write to us with its name, publisher and version: we will keep this page up to date.