Applies to:
- Clarett Thunderbolt, Red interfaces, RedNet PCIe, RedNet PCIeR, RedNet PCIeNX, RedNet TNX, Saffire, and Saffire 6 USB 1.1
- macOS 26 Tahoe, 15 Sequoia, 14 Sonoma, 13 Ventura, 12 Monterey, 11 Big Sur, 10.15 Catalina, 10.14 Mojave, and 10.13 High Sierra
If you are using an Apple silicon (M-series) Mac, please follow these steps before installing the Thunderbolt driver or RedNet Control 2:
Clarett Thunderbolt: Installing the Thunderbolt driver on Apple Silicon systems
Red interfaces and RedNet devices listed above: Installing the Red Thunderbolt and RedNet PCIeNX/TNX drivers on Apple silicon (M-series) systems
Starting in macOS 10.13 High Sierra, Apple introduced a system preventing driver software from running unless you manually "Allow" the driver in System Preferences.
1. Install the driver
You will not be able to "Allow" the relevant driver until it is installed. For Clarett Thunderbolt and Saffire 6 USB 1.1, the driver is available separately. For all other devices, the driver is included with the control software.
You can find your drivers and software by selecting your product here:
Once you "Allow" a driver, all other driver software you install from the same developer will be allowed to run automatically.
2. "System Extension Blocked"
You may see the error message "System Extension Blocked — A program tried to load new system extensions(s)…" after installing the Focusrite software or drivers. Clicking OK here will mean the driver will not be able to run, and your interface will likely not work correctly.
To fix this, please follow the steps in the section below for your version of macOS. If you aren't sure which version you have, see this article from Apple: Find out which macOS your Mac is using - Apple Support.
macOS 10.13 High Sierra to macOS 12 Monterey
Select the General tab, and click the Allow button in the lower right corner.
After you click the Allow button, you'll be presented with a list of software and drivers that have been blocked. Tick the box next to anything related to "Focusrite" or "TC Technologies". Click OK and select the option to restart the computer. Newly installed software and drivers will only appear in the list for 30 minutes.
What to do if the driver or "Allow" button doesn’t appear:
- Reinstall the driver using the link above — you don’t need to uninstall it first.
- Restart your Mac.
-
Go to
System Preferences →
Security & Privacy.
- Select the General tab.
You should now see the Allow button again, along with the driver.
macOS 13 Ventura onwards
Scroll down to Security, and click the Details… or Allow button in the lower right corner.
You'll be presented with a list of software and drivers that have been blocked. Tick the box next to anything related to "Focusrite" or "TC Technologies". Click OK and select the option to restart the computer. Newly installed software and drivers will only appear in the list for 30 minutes.
What to do if the driver or buttons don’t appear:
- Reinstall the driver using the link above — you don’t need to uninstall it first.
- Restart your Mac.
-
Go to
System Settings →
Privacy & Security.
- Scroll down to the Security section.
You should now see the Details… or Allow button again, along with the driver.
3. Further Issues
If you are still unable to get the Allow button to appear. Please try creating a new Administrator account and follow the steps above. The driver should then be allowed for all user accounts on the computer.
Once you've allowed the driver to run, please see these articles if you experience any audio issues:
I can't record or input audio on my Mac (macOS microphone access)
macOS Sonoma/Sequoia/Tahoe recording input issues
Recording guitar, bass, or line input with a Scarlett Solo
Audio issues on macOS, how to reset Audio Preferences
If this article hasn't helped you, please feel free to search again at the top of this page or, to contact support, please click here.