Unable to launch UA Connect (2024)

I've been plagued with UA Connect not starting since its inception. Usually, I'd restart the computer, let it sit for a minute, then it would work. About 2 months ago, when it happened, the reboot would not help, but I found that closing/opening iLok cloud session fixed issue (even though UA plugs are on a physical iLok).
That worked for a couple days, then issue reappeared. I ended up doing the following:

Uninstall iLok software (with provided uninstaller)
Uninstall UAD software (with provided uninstaller)
Delete Luna and Connect apps
Delete all files with "uaudio" in the name in Library>Preferences
Restart computer
Installed latest iLok software UAD drivers, UA Connect and Luna (in that order)
Restarted computer
Opened LUNA. At that point UA Connect opened and Luna booted fine.

So far so good. 2 months, and no issues.

Hope this helps.

I haven’t had issues with UA Connect not launching, or native plugins failing me, since shortly after Spark was launched… but there is a good reason for that. I looked into it at the time of release, and I DELETE UA Connect from my machine (I even have a script that does it for me on a schedule), as my main/only DAW is Logic. It is NOT required besides installation unless you use LUNA*!

Unfortunately, because LUNA uses UA Connect (well some subcomponent of it) to populate its manage page (and tunnel out its own CP check via iLok API), it insists on reinstalling it when you launch it if not found. This is one of the (multiple) reason I am not touching LUNA for any serious work any time soon.

… not saying that to piss off Drew, but there is also an additional security concern at my end. If I can think of ways to use it as an exploit, it is only a matter of time before someone who wants to have a laugh does it with malicious intend. Like I said in an earlier post, UA can (and should) do better!

* and even then, there is a ‘layman’ workaround for that.

I'm still having issues on a daily basis. LUNA keeps hanging up when "Launching UA Connect". Sometimes it takes an hour to get LUNA to work, often I just give up. There's no rhyme or reason as to how and why LUNA launches, when it does. All the instructions from UA and workarounds from other users seem to be temporary fixes. Nothing, thus far, has been a reliable fix.

-------------! Is this problem being addressed and is a fix being attempted by UA? !-------------------

Or are we MAC silicon users left to deal/suffer with this problem with an otherwise perfectly good DAW, and the one best suited for UA hardware and plugins. I've paid good and hard earned money to be able to use this product in the most efficient way available - which is through LUNA. LUNA was the main reason I chose UA 2 years ago, for the integration of its hardware and plugins.
I would only like a clear answer to know if I ought to move to another DAW or not.

awarelyio said:

I'm still having issues on a daily basis. LUNA keeps hanging up when "Launching UA Connect". Sometimes it takes an hour to get LUNA to work, often I just give up. There's no rhyme or reason as to how and why LUNA launches, when it does. All the instructions from UA and workarounds from other users seem to be temporary fixes. Nothing, thus far, has been a reliable fix.

-------------! Is this problem being addressed and is a fix being attempted by UA? !-------------------

Or are we MAC silicon users left to deal/suffer with this problem with an otherwise perfectly good DAW, and the one best suited for UA hardware and plugins. I've paid good and hard earned money to be able to use this product in the most efficient way available - which is through LUNA. LUNA was the main reason I chose UA 2 years ago, for the integration of its hardware and plugins.
I would only like a clear answer to know if I ought to move to another DAW or not.

Click to expand...

it works perfectly here for daily paid work and always has. Not sure why you're having all these issues, but this is not being widely reported.

What has Support had you try? Do you have ticket #s I can look into?

awarelyio said:

All the instructions from UA and workarounds from other users seem to be temporary

Click to expand...

See Also

Launch Issue: an unexpected issued occurred. Please restart UA Connect.Unable to launch UA ConnectUA Connect Won't launch

mine isn’t ‘temporary’, as stated I have been using it for a year+. You will never have to worry about UA Connect holding back LUNA launching simply because it is taken out of the equation entirely (see my signature).

I work two jobs so time isn't kind, sorry for slow reply. But thanks for replies from Drew and RogueM. Yes I had a ticket opened and now closed - I thought things had improved but that was short-lived. That speaks to the frustration with no rhyme or reason as to why or when it works or doesn't work. I'll have to dig up the ticket #. Again thanks Drew.

RogueM, I'm curious and a little confused - I read back but am still confused. My understanding is that LUNA needs UA Connect to launch, so how is yours working if you've deleted it from your machine? If I can delete it and have LUNA work, that's fine by me.

I hate being this "complainy guy" for a product I think is otherwise stellar. I've never had my recordings sound so good, LUNA and UA plugins are fantastic, so thanks for that UA!

I'll add my experience here..

I've also had a few extremely frustrating times where Luna failed to open claiming it was unable to connect to UA Connect. RougeM's description of the procedure required to successfully open up Luna would seem to be exactly where the Luna devs need to look to figure out where this problem lies.

One thing I simply don't understand is...if both Luna and UA Connect are registered on my USB iLok...why should I ever experience this problem. Logically, the only place the problem can be is somewhere within the handshakes back and forth between Luna -> UA Connect-> iLok.

In any event when this has happened, some good has come out of it for me...a little more time digging into the coding wonder that is Reaper.

lclyman1 said:

One thing I simply don't understand is...if both Luna and UA Connect are registered on my USB iLok...why should I ever experience this problem. Logically, the only place the problem can be is somewhere within the handshakes back and forth between Luna -> UA Connect-> iLok.

Click to expand...

This "Skip button" issue is something that is on the team's radar FYI. When all assets are on USB iLok, Skip should be all that is needed to get going when there's a Pace or internet outage.

Thanks for your patience.

awarelyio said:

My understanding is that LUNA needs UA Connect to launch…

Click to expand...

no, UA Connect itself is not required per se, the iLok bridging it contains is. I made it work, just check my signature, read the read me. It is all there… and remember what Rob said:

You think you've private lives
Think nothing of the kind
There is no true escape
I'm watching all the time

RogueM said:

no, UA Connect itself is not required per se, the iLok bridging it contains is. I made it work, just check my signature, read the read me. It is all there… and remember what Rob said:

You think you've private lives
Think nothing of the kind
There is no true escape
I'm watching all the time

View attachment 14362

Click to expand...

How and when would I use your UA Disconnect utility?

Also how did you access the settings depicted in your above post?..Very interesting

Thanks,
LC

lclyman1 said:

How and when would I use your UA Disconnect utility?

Click to expand...

if you just want to keep UA Connect in check, run once, and forget. If you run into trouble with either UA Connect, Console or LUNA, run it again, it may help (if all the crapshoot going on right now about deleting file X or folder Y does any good, which I am not entirely convinced it does).

lclyman1 said:

Also how did you access the settings depicted in your above post?..Very interesting

Click to expand...

Little Snitch, but any network filtering or logger would give you what is going on in the background.

RogueM said:

if you just want to keep UA Connect in check, run once, and forget. If you run into trouble with either UA Connect, Console or LUNA, run it again, it may help (if all the crapshoot going on right now about deleting file X or folder Y does any good, which I am not entirely convinced it does).

Little Snitch, but any network filtering or logger would give you what is going on in the background.

Click to expand...

Wow on Little Snitch...I had no idea how much data Luna was sending out upon instantiation..

Thanks for the tip..
LC

UniversalAudio said:

This "Skip button" issue is something that is on the team's radar FYI. When all assets are on USB iLok, Skip should be all that is needed to get going when there's a Pace or internet outage.

Thanks for your patience.

Click to expand...

Glad the devs are on it...hope a fix comes soon..
Thanks..

UniversalAudio said:

it works perfectly here for daily paid work and always has. Not sure why you're having all these issues, but this is not being widely reported.

What has Support had you try? Do you have ticket #s I can look into?

Click to expand...

I've been to both UA support and iLok Support on this issue. I've not been able to use any of my purchased summing plugins due to the iLOK connection issue. It's been 2 years, I believe it is related to the IP/DNS addresses tied to the iLOK account. When asking for support on iLOK's end they send me in circles, even told me to disable my account this morning.

My ask, do not mandate iLOK authentication to launch luna or connect, create a connection/reconnect dialog or wizard within the applications that allow you to connect, disconnect, or configure your accounts and licenses.

lclyman1 said:

Glad the devs are on it...hope a fix comes soon..
Thanks..

Click to expand...

The Skip button used to work for me as a way to launch LUNA, and connect to iLOK after launch. This method no longer works.

I have been using UA Connect app on my M1 Macs (running Monterey) for the past 15 months (I have Apollo hardware and use the DSP plugins as well). Starting last month, August 2023, the UA Connect app kept freezing and hanging up, but, the Spark/Native plugins were indeed working so I didn't pay it much attention.

Then 1.4.5.2276 came out (mid August 2023 right?), which I thought would be a fix every time I load UA, it would just be a spinning wheel. Then, I downloaded 1.4.6.2296 today, 9/11/23 and same thing, spinning wheel and won’t load.

When I FIRST loaded UA Connect after installing 1.4.6.2296 today, 9/11/23, the top RIGHT HAND CORNER OF THE APP showed my “Account Info” so I LOGGED OUT, then quit UA Connect and restarted the App, now my “Account Info” does NOT display at all. There is something wrong with the UA Connect.

I also tried “Deactivating” the UA plugins via iLok, and then RE-Activated them, and still, UA Connect won’t load (spinning wheel).

UA Control Panel and Console work FINE!

The “Leave Feedback” tab and window DO WORK in UA Connect and I am leaving the same message on the Feedback portal, so there does not seem to be an issue with my connecting to the server.

The UADx (Native) plugins DO WORK and do load in Logic.

I JUST PURCHASED A SPHERE DLX FROM SWEETWATER AND I CAN NOT AUTHORIZE, REGISTER OR USE THE MIC WITHOUT UA CONNECT! Help!

A day later ... Support Ticket #755002 .... Still awaiting a response. I just purchased a Sphere DLX that I can not register or download the Sphere 180 app because UA Connect is needed, so I may need to return this mic as I can’t use it.

So today, I did the uninstall on instructions from the UA website (https://help.uaudio.com/hc/en-us/ar...UA-Connect-UADx-Uninstall-Reinstall-Procedure ) to un-install UA Connect on my M1 MacStudio ... then I did a REINSTALL UA_Connect_1_4_6_2296_Mac .... and same thing, ... it is stuck on startup/spinning ball/blank screen/nothing to click.

I then tried to do un-install again via the above instructions, but the content in the "Library" and "Application Support" folders were NOT there to be trashed, which leads me to believe that after RE-installing, the UA Connect App can not even startup or re-install correctly. Again, UA Connect is running fine on my 2013 MacPro, but the MacPro is way slower and always hangs up, so there's no way I can use for work, but, it does load; I only use my older Macs for a narrow set of my work as they (yes, I even a maxed out 2013 MP) get bogged down and slow down the Native AND DSP UA stuff; not sure why, so it's not a usable option. UA Connect has been working great on the M1 MacStudio since I got the computer a year ago. When it works, it's killer. No other issues with UAD Control Panel or Console, or LUNA, but as of now, I can NOT register my DLX, or download the Sphere 180 plugin or any NEW UA plugins for that matter. I'm STUCK and unable to work. Not sure what the issue is?!?!?

So I tried to install UA_Connect_1_4_5_2276_Mac (the version before the current) and, same thing ... stuck on startup/spinning ball/blank screen/nothing to click.

So, I found an older UA Connect installer that came with the UAD10.2.4 dmg from May of this year when I finally purchased my Apollo x6 ... the install was simply labeled "UA Connect.dmg" ... no version number. It's still stuck at startup/spinning ball, but at least the upper right hand corner of the UA Connect App is displaying my Log In/Email Address/drop-down-arrow. But, clicking the "Log Out" button does not work/doesn't do anything. The FEEDBACK button DOES work, so I sent another Feedback Report.

Again, I just purchased a Sphere DLX that I can not register or download the Sphere 180 app because UA Connect is needed, so I may need to return this mic as I can’t use it. Can't work. Help, please!

DanRock101 said:

Help, please!

Click to expand...

try the utility I me tioned multiple times in this thread, see if it helps…