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VBar Software and macOS

VBar Software on Mac — 2026
 
Short answer: it does not work on Apple Silicon and with ARM based operationg systems any more.
 
Long answer: workaround:
 
. get Oracle Virtual Box (it’s free)
. get VBox GuestAdditions, too 
. get an Arm64 ISO for Windows 11 directly from Microsoft (it’s free, and there seems to be no requirement to register it, pay for it, if you don’t want to, and without palpable limitations for the task at hand) 
. install VBox (funny-punny ^^), then create a virtual machine and install Windows inside
. install VBox GuestAdditions so you can use better graphics and stuff (it’s like drivers Windows needs to make better use of the virtual computer)
. download and install VBar Software inside the virtual machine, don’t bother with VBar drivers, they won’t work anyway
 
What you can do, then: 
. run and use VBar Control Manager, with VBar Control and VBar NEO/EVO, via USB
. run VBar Setup Software (but _not_ connect to VBars through USB to set them up, there’s no ARM driver for VBar, neither for Windows nor for macOS).
 
But if there’s no absolute necessity, we wouldn’t bother.
You can manage your devices via vstabi.info anyways, even on a mobile or tablet, register (via QR codes on transmitter), buy software, select between available firmwares, update over the air, and access files and logs in your cloud.
The only time you really need a computer is _if_ a VBar (flight controller) was updated with an accessory firmware (Extender, RX2, Sensor Hub) which can not directly be bound to a transmitter, and hence can not be updated over the air.
 
Funny (or useful ...), you can even hit Pause on the virtual machine, this way it doesn’t really lean on your computer’s resources when not needed, but when, just un-pause it and there it is.
Sometimes it crashes while idling, sometimes it crashes when shutting it down, but hey, that’s Windows for you :D
 
 
VBar Software and macOS Big Sur — 2019
 
With this version, amongst other changes, Apple has ended support for legacy system extensions (Kernel Extensions, kexts), which means, the USB driver needed for the USB controller on legacy VBars as well as for VBar NEO does no longer work.
 
The software itself works, you just might need to install Java.
 
This means, VBar Control Manager works and can be used to register, update and manage VBar devices, but not the VBar Setup Software.
 
But we can offer some hints:
  • if an update is not necessary on the computer in question, it can be postponed
  • if you want to or need to update, please mind that VBar Software does no longer run (and probably also other legacy software/devices, which rely on deprecated technologies)
  • if you buy a new computer … well, rather self-explaining :-)
There are options:
  • install an older version of macOS or even a Windows in a different partition on your Mac, or on an external hard drive, set it up just for mail and internet (Apple ID, Cloud), and install and use the VBar software there as before
    Recommendation: not newer than macOS Mojave, because there, also VBar 5.3 and even 4.0 software will run, if you still want to / need to use these considerably old versions -> how to do? There are umpteen web sites and video tutorials available on the internet which cover this topic #google
  • use Parallels (seems to already support macOS Big Sur) to install and run Windows or better, macOS in a window, as a virtual machine, on your Mac -> More information
  • in the future, probably also other virtualization software will support macOS Big Sur, like VMware Fusion, Oracle Virtual Box, offering more choice
  • use VBar Control Touch and a smart phone, tablet, or your Mac, to manage devices, buy updates, and install via radio link
The next big thing will be the switch to Apple Silicon, away from Intel CPUs—with some transition time, older Applications will be supported for some time, but for how long, and also how virtualization will work then, can’t be told today. <goto line 1 ... sigh>