I have a Mac Mini server (Mid 2010, 2.66 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 8Mb RAM) running Mac OS Sierra 10.12.6 on a 525G solid state SATA drive.
I downloaded Audacity 2.1.0 and installed the FFmpeg Import/Export Library following these instructions.
I have repeated this process a dozen times: 1) Go to preferences / libraries and locate the file “libmp3lame.dylib.” 2) Select the file located in /application support/audacity/libs/
Audacity never recognizes the file, with the preferences pane continueing to report that the FFmpeg libraries are not installed. I can restart the computer or Audacity, try it again, and the same thing happens. The file is in the proper location but when you “Browse” and locate the file, it just doesn’t register in Audacity.
Today I downloaded Audacity 2.1.3 for MacOS and went through the same process, even deleting the old application support file and reinstalling the FFmpeg Import/Export Library. No dice.
I did a search in this forum on “libmp3lame.dylib” and found a half-dozen posts from Mac users who experienced the same thing, but the threads dead-end and seemingly never get resolved after the OP is quizzed about did you follow this instruction or that. This is definitely a bug.
Does anyone else see a problem here?
I downloaded the first two items listed at the page all the documentation points to and they install libmp3lame.dylib. How is a user to know this?
You want to click on the link for the FFMPEG DMG file, which contains an installer.
The first two items on that page (which you say you have downloaded) are:
RECOMMENDED Installer Package for > LAME > on OSX: Lame_Library_v3.99.5_for_Audacity_on_macOS.dmg
LAME on OSX ZIP version: Lame_Library_v3.99.5_for_Audacity_on_macOS.zip
which are clearly for LAME, not FFmpeg.
I don’t know why the Library preferences gives that message in the locate dialog. Mine doesn’t.
That said, you can click the “Browse” button and find the required file.
Before this will work, though, you need to download the FFmpeg installer and run it. Otherwise the “libav*” files will not be on your computer.
If you still get a message telling you to find “libmp3lame.dylib” when you’re trying to find the FFmpeg files, you may need to reset the Audacity preferences. This is done by going to ~/Library/Application Support/audacity and deleting the audacity.cfg file.
