Uninstall Presonus Firestudio Software and Drivers on a Mac

The Presonus Firestudio project (and other drivers / software made by Presonus) is notoriously hard to uninstall.  If your audio hardware suddenly won't synch or gets the flashing blue and red light, you need to uninstall and reinstall the drivers - but how?  While there is no official uninstall program, this article will show you how to completely clean the software and drivers out of your system.

The obvious first step is to remove all the installed software from your computer.  That can actually be a little tricky - Presonus installs various drivers and other programs to places Spotlight doesn't even look.  Here is a list of all the locations you'll find audio drivers and software.  Simply delete each item:

• Library/Audio/MIDI driver/PAEFirestudio.plugin
• System/library/extensions/PAEFirestudio.kext
• Applications/FireStudio Control Console
• Library/Receipts/PreSonus

You may find several pieces of software in the Receipts folder.  Delete any labeled Presonus. Once you've deleted everything, empty the trash and restart your computer.

Presonus recommends resetting your disk permission.  Many users seem to consider this nothing more than a magic ritual for Mac repair, but since Presonus recommends it it's probably a good idea.  Open up Disk Utility and select your main hard drive.  Click the Repair Disk Permissions button. Once it finishes, quit Disk Utility.

The last step is to reset your Mac's PRAM.  Turn off your mac.  Hold down the following keys: Command, Option, P, R.  With all four of those keys pressed, turn your Mac back on. You'll hear the start up sounds.  Continue to hold those keys down until you hear the sound three time, then let go.  Your Mac will start up and all traces of the audio software will be removed.

Additional Tips

• If you are having trouble with your Presonus hardware (such as the synch issue) try using the original firmware that came with it.  Newer firmware can cause issues.
• If you reinstall the software, you may need to restart your computer and the Presonus device(s) for everything to start working properly.
• The longer you spend working with Presonus gear, the more you discover that the magic trick is restarting devices.  If all else fails, turn off the power and turn it back up.  If need be, do it a few times.