The biggest videogame release of 2012's first six months is, surely, Max Payne 3. Developer Rockstar Games (Red Dead Redemption, Grand Theft Auto, etc) is rarely an outfit to do things by halves – and the advertising campaign, pre-release video trailers and general hullabaloo surrounding this latest instalment in the series following a New York cop steadily losing his loved ones, his own lust for life and, if played particularly badly, the use of his lungs, shows all the signs of a blockbuster.
But unlike Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto series, Max Payne isn't a particularly high-profile IP, not compared to several other character-led releases from the last generation of consoles. The big push behind Max Payne 3 could be seen to represent a risk: a pill-popping alcoholic with considerable personal demons? Cool, sign me up for that. The first two games in this chronologically scripted trilogy of third-person shooters were well received by critics; but neither is ubiquitous in the collections of PS2 and Xbox gamers, and the second game sold poorly enough for its publisher Take-Two Interactive to reforecast its 2004 finances. A film adaptation in 2008, loosely set around events of the first Max Payne, did little to further the prospects of the franchise – it currently holds a 5.3 score on IMDB.
But age is a healer – perhaps not for Max, the character, but certainly Max the videogame giant (at the time of writing, Max Payne 3 has just entered the UK sales chart at number one). By seeming not to have fixed what wasn't broken gameplay wise – going on those trailers, Max Payne 3 mirrors the combat refinements made on 2 (The Fall of Max Payne), and liberally layers on the current-gen' gloss – Rockstar may discover that the wider gaming community has caught up with the mechanics of games one and two: intense shoot-outs, odd sequences of supernatural shenanigans, realistic enough energy levels (a few bullets and Max is dead, and neither game featured self-regenerating health), and a storyline that's more cinematic than your usual shooter, albeit not without a certain corniness.
I mean, really: 'Life knows two miseries; getting what you don't want and not getting what you want.' Nobody came away from the first two games with any scriptwriting awards. (Okay, they did… but maybe they shouldn't have.) But the black humour that ran through Max's monologues was just another hook for the gamer's attention – every cut-scene, played out in graphic novel style, genuinely mattered in moving the story on. Today, these transitions can be seamless; but in 2001, Max Payne bathed in bleeding-edge presentation. And both games hold up surprising well today, as I found out ahead of shoot-dodging my way through number three.
- - -- If linux was on mac OS's level it would be the only OS and M$ would be making other devices. 2005-03-12 9:56 pm 'There is a lot of interest among users in switching to Linux,' said Stephen Harris, director of marketing at New York-based Xandros.
- The Wikipedia entry for Tiger (10.4!) mentions the new feature of Access Control Lists 1. The current web page for OS X Server (10.6) mentions 2: 'Mac OS X Server supports both traditional UNIX file permissions and access control lists, giving administrators an unprecedented level of control over file and folder permissions.
- Seemingly cementing a move first hinted at during the World Wide Developers Conference, Apple has filed for a trademark for its OS X operating system but without the 'Mac' prefix that has.
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Max Payne
Played on PlayStation 2; also available on Xbox, Windows, Mac OS, iOS and more
First release: July 2001
First thing's first: Max Payne does not look too well throughout this first game. Facially, he's Johnny Knoxville with constipation halfway through an especially funny gag, a sort-of half-smile on his face, muddled with a grimace. Guess finding your wife and baby daughter murdered after a day's work can do some pretty weird shit to a man's appearance. The graphics on the Xbox and PC versions take a number two on the PlayStation's aesthetics from a considerable height – but who cares, really, given the age of this title, and the fact that it still plays magnificently.
For years, Dad was a two-OS guy, with two computers (a Mac and a Windows machine) whirring away on the desk. I was multitasking before multitasking was even a word, but I did most of the day-to-day computing on a Mac. In fact, all of the business accounting still happens on an ancient PowerMac G3 that I've dredged out of the closet annually.
I've not tried Max Payne on iOS/Android – it was released for mobiles earlier this year, but I imagine it's not the most intuitive title to pick up. Because the console version is no instant-click classic: it's a game that takes time to sink into, both in its gameplay and storyline, which factors in some wild tangents that call to question not only Max's sanity, but also that of the developers behind the game*.
(*This game was developed by Finnish company Remedy, who'd also work on the sequel and, later still, Alan Wake. There are several parallels to be drawn between Payne and Wake, not least of all the runs through the titular character's decaying mind, references to Norse mythology – Old Gods of Asgard, anyone? – and the numerous playing-to-themselves televisions dotted around the gameworld.)
A little stiffness aside, inevitable given the progress made on games of this kind in the intervening decade, Payne plays well, and Bullet Time is a revelation: you either use it or lose your health in seconds. If the term's new to you, think about those scenes in The Matrix where Keanu would spin about a bit in slow motion as bullets sliced through the air in amazing detail. That, in a nutshell, is Bullet Time. Why or how Max can summon this power, no idea. But it doesn't half help with clearing a room full of Desert Eagle-brandishing baddies.
If you're going straight into 3, it's worth YouTube-ing the start of Max Payne, just so you get a handle on the catalyst for his self-destructive descent. Long story considerably shortened, as it's been referenced up there already: he comes home from work at the NYPD to discover his wife and baby daughter murdered (even with these visuals, it's fairly chilling stuff) by junkies high on a designer drug called V, short for Valkyr – another Norse mythology nod, there. He subsequently transfers to the DEA, goes undercover to get to the root of the V trafficking, and then… Well, shit hits fans all over the shop. And lots, and lots, and lots of indentikit thugs get shot to brilliantly amusing effect (I love the animation as they flop limply to the floor).
The plot weaves fairly wickedly, but the game never seems unfair. Sure it's difficult – it comes from a time when the latest releases didn't hold the player's hand for the long-haul only to let them loose, unprepared, when a boss showed up (oh, hi Deus Ex: Human Revolution). But the game adjusts itself to the player's ability, meaning that if you fail to clear a room full of goons three times, the fourth time will likely seem marginally easier. Progress can be slow, but it's achievable by anyone with a little patience.
Remedy's instruction booklet statement that 'Max is not your typical hero' rings true the first time he slumps down dead in a shower of bullets – other games would let the player soak up the abuse, cower behind cover and watch their health meter refill. Playing Max Payne today, it's actually quite refreshing to die repeatedly – and because the game can be quick-saved, you're straight back into the action without too much of a slog to get back to the previous point of failure. If you're about to play 3 and wondered if it's necessary to play the original ahead of it, the answer's no. But if you want the full story, and want to feel how these games have progressed, it's an essential first port of call.
- - -Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne
Played on Xbox; also available on Windows, PlayStation 2
First release: October 2003
A direct sequel, recalling many a character from its predecessor into the fray, The Fall of Max Payne tweaks the combat mechanics of the first game but keeps the plot gritty, albeit mercifully without infanticide. The biggest change is that Max can now perform a shoot-dodge. This move doesn't deplete the Bullet Time meter, but does give the player an advantage over enemies by slowing down time as Max flies through the air. It's a really useful manoeuvre, one that I used far more frequently than Bullet Time itself.
Whereas the first game's difficulty never taunted the player, though, Max Payne 2 has some particularly tough sections. Or, rather, they seem tough the first eight times they're attempted; and then either by good fortune, innate ability or complete fluke the area is cleared. I suffered a handful of what I'd call unfair deaths – I'd be thwarted by camera angles and get stuck in a corner, only to be blown to pieces; I'd shoot-dodge my way through a crowd only to land and skid off a precipice; I'd lose track of some idiot in a Captain BaseBallBat-Boy outfit and have to do a sequence over because he'd gone and got himself blown up. But, again, it's rare that repeating passages of gameplay leads to frustration, and the game moves at a click enough to reward 10- or 15-minute sessions when you're waiting for The Simpsons to start.
Like the first game, there are transitions into Max's own fracturing mind; unlike the first game, you don't just take control of Max in the sequel. A couple of times the life of assassin Mona Sax is placed in your hands. Assumed dead by the end of the first game, Sax returns at pivotal points in this game's plot. She saves Max from the attentions of closing-in henchmen when he's pinned on a construction site; she saves him again when he's caught in an explosion and left for dead.
Mona handles much in the same way as Max – but it's something of a treat to not have to suffer Max's monotone observations (some guffawable, some god-awful – but they do serve to jog the narrative along), with Mona's outlook rather less tainted by loss, her life deemed that bit more precious. (Well, if you survived a bullet in the head, you'd probably count each day as a blessing, too.)
Come the game's conclusion, Max is in no more of a happy place than he was when he walked in on his murdered wife: around him are scattered more bodies, more fallen loved-ones. (If played on the highest difficulty, one major character does survive; but canon dictates that, so far as game three goes, she's been buried several years.) I'd love to say that something more happened after a typically bleak closing cut-scene, but my Xbox decided to fade to black a little earlier than it should have done, before any credits rolled. Press A. Press B. Press every button at the same time. Nothing. Perhaps a glitch with playing the Xbox disc on a 360, I don't know.
Max Payne 2 holds up better today than the first game, perhaps due to it being two years younger, but mainly because its gameplay is remarkably polished (the aforementioned ‘unfairness' aside, which is largely dependent on how the individual plays the game anyway). Remedy took any shortcomings from the first game and scrubbed them out; in their place they added the invaluable shoot-dodge, which has been carried over by Rockstar into Max Payne 3. The voice acting is better, the graphic-novel cut-scenes are better, the guns are better, the deaths are better and faces actually have a handful of expressions. In short, this is everything a sequel should be: a discernable improvement on what came before it. It sets the bar fairly high for Max Payne 3, even factoring in the hardware advances made since 2003. Again, it's not essential you play it before the third title; but if I had to recommend one of these two older games, it'd be this one.
Sniff around a bit and you'll find both older Max Payne games for just a couple of quid on last-gen formats; and the Xbox games do play in a 360. I recommend them – look beyond the visuals and they're a lot of fun… if fun is quite the right word, given how each plays out plot-wise.
- - -Max Payne 3
Played on Xbox 360; also available on PlayStation 3, Windows
Released: May 18, 2012 (UK)
Max's newest (mis)adventure begins with the same orchestral refrain as the previous games, instantly setting the scene: isolation amid millions, the streets of New York and New Jersey singing their ballads of bloody retribution. But this isn't America anymore: Max has, several years after the events of the second game, moved on, and is wallowing around an apartment in Sao Paulo. He's older, but far from wiser, here to work private security for a wealthy family with some shady connections.
Needless to say, before long the familiar frenzied gunplay takes centre stage, Max stumbling from one shoot-out to the next in a state of constant confusion and suffering the effects of ditching his booze dependency.
If Max has gained some additional pounds, it doesn't show in his agility – Max Payne 3 features the same shoot-dodge ability as 2, and again its use is essential for progress. But it, and Bullet Time, aren't as necessary as before due to an abundance of cover, turning Max Payne 3 into a real-world realisation of the Gears of War franchise more than once. Unlike the previous games, Max's pockets have realistic dimensions, too, and he can only ever carry two single-handed firearms and a rifle- or shotgun-styled weapon.
Switching between guns is easy enough, but it doesn't stop the action as other games can, so it's worth having your most powerful model to hand when barging through a door into a new scenario of pain. The problem is that, when the game cuts (seamlessly) to a cut-scene as Max moves from area to area, the gun in hand reverts to the smaller option. It's a slight complaint, but a complaint nonetheless.
Given Rockstar's reputation for sandbox titles, gamers may come to Max Payne 3 expecting large, open environments to explore. But even during the game's outside situations – in a graveyard, a maze-like favela, the streets and rooftops of New Jersey during one of a handful of flashbacks – routes are closed off by locked doors and scattered debris. It's rather like Final Fantasy XIII's first 20 hours or so: always promising some widescreen vistas but maintaining a close-up for the meantime.
But the difference is that while FFXIII did open up, the Sao Paulo of Max Payne 3 can never be enjoyed in the same way as L.A. Noire's 1940s Los Angeles, or Grand Theft Auto IV's Liberty City. There are a few points where rooms can be explored for collectable golden gun parts and essential painkillers; but most of the time the player is funnelled towards each section's (bloody) conclusion.
But while it's linear, Max Payne 3 is never boring. Chapters progress quickly, with a twist in the tale never too far away. A particularly violent turn of events around the halfway mark (expect to play the story mode for 10-12 hours – I finished it in four sessions, and I never play for too long at a time) really changes the mood of the plot, Max's mission changing from pursuit to escape.
The game never shies away from gruesome violence, and happily does away with what appear to be major characters with a Game of Thrones-style nonchalance. The previous Max Paynes were bloody, sure, but never like this, the current-generation power of the 360 and PS3 providing liberal splashes of the red stuff, and some key scenes warrant the game's 18 certificate like few comparably rated titles do. There's abundant swearing too – but what the Portuguese-speaking cast are discussing, and how crudely, I couldn't say.
With the gameplay essentially Max Payne 2 with a few tinkers – the restricted gun capacity; plenty of cover-taking opportunities; a new Last Man Standing set-up where Max can come back from the dead by killing the guy who's topped him, so long as he's a painkiller to spare – presentation is paramount. And this is a wonderful-looking game, with awesome draw distances and finely detailed environments to pump bullets into. Cover can be destroyed, and the way Max punches through glass before opening fire, or crumples to the floor after shoot-dodging into a wall, looks incredibly classy. Max Payne 3 pushes its Euphoria engine beyond the beauty of Red Dead Redemption, generating some truly stunning surroundings.
The constant double-exposure cut-scene visuals and lens flare effects – cinematically, think a Traffic-minded Steven Soderbergh at the reins of Tony Scott's Man on Fire – will be as divisive as James McCaffrey's reprising of Moody Max's Monologues, but they do lend the game a distinct identity. Remaining on movie comparisons, there are elements of Heat and Die Hard 2 at work – the latter comes to mind during the final chapter's airport-set showdown – and at times it's hard to shake the feeling that the team behind Max Payne 3 would rather be filmmakers than games developers. If adapted for the big screen, there's no doubt this story would translate well enough to earn a respectable box office.
But it's nowhere near as game-as-movie as, say, Heavy Rain or Asura's Wrath, and the action becomes heated enough for even HEALTH's pounding soundtrack to fade into insignificance at times. Not that the LA band haven't delivered the goods (anything but; read the interview, below), but their music complements the action well enough for it to become part of a satisfying whole rather than an awkwardly jutting constituent. And when they begin pounding on the drums, you just know things are about to get pretty intense.
Not everything works. The Last Man Standing ability is a great idea, but too often I found myself already dodging behind cover when I was shot, so unable to zero in on the culprit who dispatched the deadly bullet. Some on-rails sections are dramatic enough, but they dissipate the tension of the best stand-offs. And given that so many of his enemies wear body armour, you'd have thought Max might've picked up on the idea once an opportunity to loot a fallen foe arose – just as with the previous games, it's a very limited amount of abuse this Max can soak up. Perhaps if he wore more than John McClane's dirty vest while on the job…
But, overall, this is a fine product that's actually benefited from prolonged development time – it was originally scheduled as a 2009 release, but the delay has buffed everything to a fine shine, and Easter-egg-style flashbacks to past games – there's an episode of Captain BaseBallBat-Boy that can be watched – are a bonus for those who've played 1 and 2. Everything feels right, so that when stuff's going wrong the player instinctively knows that's precisely how it's supposed to be going. Max is a failure, a flop cop turned a shabby security guy, and when events get away from his control with gory results it's simply a perverse serendipity in action. It's not a generation-defining title like some of Rockstar's best; but one suspects they'd admit the same, knowing they've turned out a blockbuster game that ticks all the boxes it needs to without overstaying its welcome.
Come the end, there's a semblance of finality to Max's story. Loose ends have been tied, and the ties that led him so close to destruction so many times have been severed. If there isn't another Max Payne-starring game in the future, it's because he may have finally retired. His peace has been well earned.
A quick note on multi-player, which I've not got to: Rockstar, undoubtedly aware of the short story mode (which does offer some replay value via arcade-style time-attacks and the acquisition of collectables), have rolled out a variety of online options. There's Team Deathmatch, Gang Wars, something called Payne Killer which blends cooperative and competitive play (says the manual), and more. From the menu screen, and online footage, it looks as if these modes are far from the tacked-on extras of, say, BioShock 2 or Dead Space 2. And with this game having charted at number one in the UK already, there are sure to plenty of new friends to offload a few rounds at.
- - -Interview: HEALTH's John Famiglietti on creating the soundtrack to Max Payne 3
To those wondering if HEALTH doing this soundtrack is a big deal, the simple answer is yes. And it's yes because they're not a widely known act, making their involvement here, on a triple-A videogame release, akin to Michael Bay inviting Xiu Xiu to score his next Transformers movie. These two worlds were so far apart before, save for occasional dalliances (Amon Tobin on Infamous, Nitin Sawhney on Enslaved: Odyssey to the West); but now you sense that an Electronic Arts, or a Rocksteady Studios, or a Valve, could approach Your Own Favourite Band and they could come up with a startling soundtrack. HEALTH's score isn't going to set the soundtrack scene alight, but it's a highly effective treatment that complements the action exceedingly well (Pitchfork's 7.0 feels correct, though, as shorn of game context some of the music makes little impression). And their new song ‘proper', ‘Tears', is typically tremendous.
But HEALTH are far from unknowns here on DiS. Indeed, this site was one of the first places they were covered in earnest, when their eponymous debut album was reviewed positively in September 2007. They've been DiS favourites ever since (certainly with writers who've been around a few years, ahem), so when we found out that Rockstar had asked the LA-based four-piece to score Max Payne 3, arses slipped from seats and jaws struck carpet. Quick as a flash an email was sent to Rockstar HQ asking for a chat; and, sure enough, answers were soon procured from the band's bassist, John Famiglietti.
What came first: the game or the songs? Were some of these cuts already floating around the band's collective consciousness ahead of the Max Payne 3 commission, or did you start from scratch once signed on the line?
The game came first. There were a handful of ideas that were in the scrapbook that we pulled out for the game, but mostly everything was made to fit the game, its gameplay and the story.
Did you have any hands-on time with the game ahead of completing your score, to get a real feel for the pace and action of the title, or did you work from Rockstar's prompts as to how the game would play out?
We did most of the composing to video captures of someone playing through the levels; but later in the process we went to Rockstar's New York offices and played through the whole game. That enabled us to hear the scripting of the music and how it feels to hear it when the shooting is distracting you. It's a great game.
Clint Mansell – behind scores for Black Swan and The Wrestler – recently worked on music for Mass Effect 3. Of the process he said it was more like being a DJ, controlling myriad elements of music that can jump in dynamically, rather than crafting a record ‘proper'. Is this something you found to be the case?
Well, it's definitely nothing like crafting a record ‘proper'. The way the process went for us is we'd make six ‘stems' or bits of music that could be used alone or combined in different ways to cover all the different events in a level, and they would always have to have a way to go up or down in intensity depending on the action taking place on the screen. If it suddenly goes from tense and quiet to a full-on firefight with a bunch of bad guys, you want the score to be able to reflect that completely naturally without jarring the player out of the game.
Are there any scores/soundtracks you have looked to for inspiration on this project – perhaps from comparable cinema releases?
The great thing about working with R* is they really wanted us to be us, to do our thing, so we mostly were trying to make a score version of HEALTH that fitted with the gameplay and world of the game. We wanted to be true to the Max Payne series though, and have our music make sense in the narrative; so we found a lot of ways to reference the first two Max Payne soundtracks in our score, which we did often. Also, for a few levels we intentionally took inspiration from other music (something we usually don't let ourselves do in our own music), and that was Giorgio Moroder's Midnight Express score, Brian Eno, and The Durutti Column (although that particular piece didn't actually end up making the game).
Do you think your involvement in Max Payne 3 is likely to encourage people amongst your fanbase, who've not picked up a control pad since their teens, to get back into gaming?
I'm really not sure how many of our fans play videogames, but it's pretty hard to find someone who hasn't played videogames at some point. I'd be honoured and excited if someone got back in to check out the score, it's really the way it was meant to be listened to.
Who in the band is the keenest gamer, and what stands out as the pivotal game in their life? Do you take handhelds, etc, out with you on the road? Who is the Tetris KING? (Look at me, living in the past…)
That would be me – the other guys haven't got the hang of the dual analog sticks yet, but they're buying PS3s to play Max Payne 3. I grew up with videogames and I'm not sure if I could choose one game over all others. I don't own a handheld, but the Vita is looking pretty tempting for long drives.. Jake (our singer) is the Tetris king, that and the original Mario games are the only videogames he feels comfortable playing.
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Random top five of the month: Max Payne quotes
Love or loathe his po-faced quips, there's no doubt that Max's stream of consciousness is a key characteristic of this gaming franchise. So, just for shits and giggles, here's five of the ‘best' dredged from across the three games.
'Fraternizing with the enemy. I had stepped over the edge. The cartoon moment when the gravity waits for the coyote to realize his mistake before the plunge.' (Max Payne 2)
'I walked straight in, playing it Bogart, like I'd done a hundred times before.' (Max Payne)
'After Y2K, the end of the world had become a cliché. But who was I to talk, a brooding underdog avenger alone against an empire of evil out to right a grave injustice. Everything was subjective. There were only personal apocalypses. Nothing is a cliché when it's happening to you.' (Max Payne)
'I wouldn't know right from wrong if one of them was helping the poor and the other was banging my sister.' (Max Payne 3)
'The explosion in my apartment had started a fire. The flames couldn't burn away my past. They only made the shadows behind me leap higher.' (Max Payne 2)
- - -Next time on Savage Pixels: Lone Wolf picks his Fantastic Five, I scan through some FMV games to see if they were all as terrible as memory suggests (hello, Mega-CD; goodbye, gameplay worth a dollar), and Dirt: Showdown gets reviewed. And the column after that, it's all about RPGs, looking at new releases Dragon's Dogma and Game of Thrones as well as some genre essentials that you, mister or missus adventurer, really should have played by now. Toodle-pip!
HEALTH photograph by Renata Raksha
NOTE:
Between mid October 2019 and mid February 2020 everyone in the Army was migrated to use their PIV Authentication certificate for Email access. You no longer use the Email certificate for Enterprise Email or any CAC enabled websites
Mac users who choose to upgrade (or already have upgraded) to Mac OS Catalina (10.15.x) or Big Sur (11.xx.x) will need to uninstall all 3rd Party CAC enablers per https://militarycac.com/macuninstall.htm AND reenable the native smart card ability (very bottom of macuninstall link above)
If you purchased your Mac with OS Catalina (10.15.x) or Big Sur (11.xx.x) already installed, you can skip the uninstall part above and follow the instructions below.
6 'high level' steps needed, follow down the page to make this a painless systematic process
1. | Is your CAC reader 'Mac friendly'? |
2. | Can your Mac 'see' the reader? |
3. | Verify which version of Mac OS you have |
4. | Figure out which CAC (ID card) you have |
5. | Install the DoD certificates |
5a. | Additional DoD certificate installation instructions for Firefox users |
6. | Decide which CAC enabler you want to use (except for 10.12-.15 & 11) |
Step 1: Is your CAC reader Mac friendly?
Visit the USB Readers page to verify the CAC reader you have is Mac friendly.
Visit the USB-C Readers page to verify the CAC reader you have is Mac friendly.
Aquant mac os. 'Some, not all' CAC readers may need to have a driver installed to make it work.
NOTE: Readers such as: SCR-331 & SCR-3500A may need a firmware update (NO OTHER Readers need firmware updates).
Information about these specific readers are in Step 2
Step 2: Can your Mac 'see' the reader?
Plug the CAC reader into an open USB port before proceeding, give it a few moments to install
Step 2a: Click the Apple Icon in the upper left corner of the desktop, select 'About This Mac'
Step 2b: Click 'System Report..' (button)
Step 2c: Verify the CAC reader shows in Hardware, USB, under USB Device Tree. Different readers will show differently, most readers have no problem in this step. See Step 2c1 for specific reader issues.
Step 2c1: Verify firmware version on your SCR-331, SCR-3310 v2.0, GSR-202, 202V, 203, or SCR-3500a reader. If you have a reader other than these 6, Proceed directly to step 3
Step 2c1a-SCR-331 reader
If your reader does not look like this, go to the next step.
In the 'Hardware' drop down, click 'USB.' On the right side of the screen under 'USB Device Tree' the window will display all hardware plugged into the USB ports on your Mac. Look for 'SCRx31 USB Smart Card Reader.' If the Smart Card reader is present, look at 'Version' in the lower right corner of this box: If you have a number below 5.25, you need to update your firmware to 5.25. If you are already at 5.25, your reader is installed on your system, and no further hardware changes are required. You can now Quit System Profiler and continue to Step 3.
Ten thousand things! mac os. Step 2c1b-SCR-3310 v2.0 reader
If your reader does not look like this, go to the next step.
In the 'Hardware' drop down, click 'USB.' On the right side of the screen under 'USB Device Tree' the window will display all hardware plugged into the USB ports on your Mac. Look for 'SCR3310 v2.0 USB Smart Card Reader.' If the Smart Card reader is present, look at 'Version' in the lower right corner of this box: If you have a number below 6.02, it will not read the 'G+D FIPS 201 SCE 7.0' CAC on Mac OS 11.xx.x or 10.15.7. I contacted HID (the company that makes these readers) on 14 DEC 2020 to find a way to update the firmware to 6.02. They said there is not firmware update for the reader. If your reader is older, you may need a new one. Please look at: https://militarycac.com/usbreaders.htm to find a compatible one. If you are already at version 6.02, your reader should work fine on your Mac and no further hardware changes are required. You can now Quit System Profiler and continue to Step 3.
Step 2c1c-SCR-3500A reader
If you have the SCR3500A P/N:905430-1 CAC reader,you may need to install this driver, as the one that installs automatically will not work on most Macs. Hold the control key [on your keyboard] when clicking the .pkg file [with your mouse], select [the word] Open
Step 3: Verify which version of MacOS you have?
(You need to know this information for step 6)
Step 3a: Click the Apple Icon in the upper left corner of your desktop and select 'About This Mac'
Step 3b: Look below Mac OS X for: Example: Version 10.X.X, or 11.X
Step 4: Figure out which CAC (ID Card) you have
(You need to know this information for step 6)
Look at the top back of your ID card for these card types. If you have any version other than the seven shown below, you need to visit an ID card office and have it replaced. All CACs [other than these six] were supposed to be replaced prior to 1 October 2012.
Find out how to flip card over video
Step 5: Install the DoD certificates (for Safari and Chrome Users)
Go to Keychain Access
Click: Go (top of screen), Utilities, double click Keychain Access.app
(You can also type: keychain access using Spotlight (this is my preferred method))
Select login (under Keychains),and All Items (under Category).
Download the 5 files via links below (you may need to click, select Download Linked File As.. on each link) Save to your downloads folder
Please know.. IF You have any DoD certificates already located in your keychain access, you will need to delete them prior to running the AllCerts.p7b file below.
https://militarycac.com/maccerts/AllCerts.p7b,
https://militarycac.com/maccerts/RootCert2.cer,
https://militarycac.com/maccerts/RootCert3.cer,
https://militarycac.com/maccerts/RootCert4.cer, and
Double click each of the files to install certificates into the login section of keychain
Select the Kind column, verify the arrow is pointing up, scroll down to certificate, look for all of the following certificates:
DOD EMAIL CA-33 through DOD EMAIL CA-34,
DOD EMAIL CA-39 through DOD EMAIL CA-44,
DOD EMAIL CA-49 through DOD EMAIL CA-52,
DOD EMAIL CA-59,
DOD ID CA-33 through DOD ID CA-34,
DOD ID CA-39 through DOD ID CA-44,
DOD ID CA-49 through DOD ID CA-52,
DOD ID CA-59
DOD ID SW CA-35 through DOD ID SW CA-38,
DOD ID SW CA-45 through DOD ID SW CA-48,
DoD Root CA 2 through DoD Root CA 5,
DOD SW CA-53 through DOD SW CA-58, and
DOD SW CA-60 through DOD SW CA-61
NOTE: If you are missing any of the above certificates, you have 2 choices,
1. Delete all of them, and re-run the 5 files above, or
2. Download the allcerts.zip file and install each of the certificates you are missing individually.
Errors:
Error 100001 Solution
Error 100013 Solution
You may notice some of the certificates will have a red circle with a white X . This means your computer does not trust those certificates
You need to manually trust the DoD Root CA 2, 3, 4, & 5 certificates
Double click each of the DoD Root CA certificates, select the triangle next to Trust, in the When using this certificate: select Always Trust, repeat until all 4 do not have the red circle with a white X.
You may be prompted to enter computer password when you close the window
Once you select Always Trust, your icon will have a light blue circle with a white + on it.
The 'bad certs' that have caused problems for Windows users may show up in the keychain access section on some Macs. These need to be deleted / moved to trash.
The DoD Root CA 2 & 3 you are removing has a light blue frame, leave the yellow frame version. The icons may or may not have a red circle with the white x
or | DoD Interoperability Root CA 1 or CA 2 | certificate | |
DoD Root CA 2 or 3 (light blue frame ONLY) | certificate | ||
or | Federal Bridge CA 2016 or 2013 | certificate | |
or | Federal Common Policy CA | certificate | |
or | or | SHA-1 Federal Root CA G2 | certificate |
or | US DoD CCEB Interoperability Root CA 1 | certificate |
If you have tried accessing CAC enabled sites prior to following these instructions, please go through this page before proceeding
Clearing the keychain (opens a new page)
Please come back to this page to continue installation instructions.
Step 5a: DoD certificate installation instructions for Firefox users
NOTE: Firefox will not work on Catalina (10.15.x), or last 4 versions of Mac OS if using the native Apple smartcard ability
Download AllCerts.zip, [remember where you save it].
double click the allcerts.zip file (it'll automatically extract into a new folder)
Option 1 to install the certificates (semi automated):
From inside the AllCerts extracted folder, select all of the certificates
click (or Right click) the selected certificates, select Open With, Other..
In the Enable (selection box), change to All Applications
Select Firefox, then Open
You will see several dozen browser tabs open up, let it open as many as it wants.
You will eventually start seeing either of the 2 messages shown next
If the certificate is not already in Firefox, a window will pop up stating 'You have been asked to trust a new Certificate Authority (CA).'
Check all three boxes to allow the certificate to: identify websites, identify email users, and identify software developers
or
'Alert This certificate is already installed as a certificate authority.' Click OK
Once you've added all of the certificates..
• Click Firefox (word) (upper left of your screen)
• Preferences
• Advanced (tab)
• Press Network under the Advanced Tab
• In the Cached Web Content section, click Clear Now (button).
• Quit Firefox and restart it
Option 2 to install the certificates (very tedious manual):
Click Firefox (word) (upper left of your screen)
Preferences
Advanced (tab on left side of screen)
Certificates (tab)
View Certificates (button)
Authorities (tab)
Import (button)
Browse to the DoD certificates (AllCerts) extracted folder you downloaded and extracted above.
Note: You have to do this step for every single certificate
Note2: If the certificate is already in Firefox, a window will pop up stating: 'Alert This certificate is already installed as a certificate authority (CA).' Click OK
Note3: If the certificate is not already in Firefox, a window will pop up stating 'You have been asked to trust a new Certificate Authority (CA).'
Dredged Mac Os Catalina
Check all three boxes to allow the certificate to: identify websites, identify email users, and identify software developers
Once you've added all of the certificates..
• Click Firefox (word) (upper left of your screen)
• Preferences
• Advanced (tab)
• Press Network under the Advanced Tab
• In the Cached Web Content section, click Clear Now (button).
• Quit Firefox and restart it
Step 6: Decide which CAC enabler you can / want to use
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Only for Mac El Capitan (10.11.x or older)
After installing the CAC enabler, restart the computer and go to a CAC enabled website
Dredged Mac Os Update
NOTE: Mac OS Sierra (10.12.x), High Sierra (10.13.x), Mojave (10.14.x), Catalina (10.15.x), and Big Sur (11.1) computers no longer need a CAC Enabler.
Try to access the CAC enabled site you need to access now
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Mac support provided by: Michael Danberry