If your Serato hardware page has information to suggest it only allows for limited software support, it's possible you may have reached this article.
To provide some further context, we’ve outlined below how this might affect you, and why support is limited.
Hardware compatibility
If you're looking for information about which version of Serato DJ Pro software is recommended for your Serato primary hardware or Serato official accessory, see our Serato software & operating system compatibility for discontinued hardware article.
Operating system updates
Modern operating systems are being updated frequently, which can result in compatibility issues using Serato software or Serato-compatible hardware.
Sometimes major changes can arrive with those operating system updates, which can have dramatic effects on third-party software & hardware, such as lack of hardware connection, loss of audio, software refusing to launch, or crashes and hangs - among other symptoms.
More commonly, they can be minor changes, which can cause intermittent or subtle issues, like audio dropouts, graphical rendering issues in the user interface, or issues saving changes to your library.
Operating systems can push updates with seemingly minimal warning, and just restarting your computer or accepting a quick pop-up prompt may result in your system being updated.
Sometimes operating system developers can make it hard to revert back to a previous operating system, or even just to roll back a more minor update, in order to rectify such an issue.
Drivers & firmware compatibility
Drivers & firmware are developed by the manufacturer of your Serato-compatible hardware, and Serato has minimal control over this aspect.
Drivers are instrumental in allowing your hardware to not only connect to Serato software, but also to function smoothly, and it’s possible that newer operating systems or versions of Serato software may contain features or changes that render these drivers incompatible and unable to be installed, or may result in unforeseen issues, even if they appear to be working in that configuration. You may even find that a previously installed, but now incompatible driver, allows your hardware to connect but causes intermittent issues.
Firmware updates often require utilities or companion software that is used to prepare or facilitate the update to your hardware, and these can become problematic or unusable when the operating system they’re used with changes. At worst it could “brick” or permanently damage your hardware, and at best it could render certain features or functions of your hardware unstable or unusable. You could even end up in a situation where your device firmware requires updating, in order to be used with a certain operating system, but with that operating system already installed, the firmware updater is incompatible.
What does this mean for me?
Using an operating system or version of Serato software that exceeds the last supported configuration for your Serato-compatible hardware means:
- You may encounter bugs in Serato software that are caused by changes in the unsupported operating system you’re using
- You may encounter bugs introduced in new versions of Serato software (which are not considered supported with your Serato-compatible hardware), that we may or may not be aware of
- You may encounter bugs or undesirable behavior not anticipated by the hardware manufacturer of that hardware, caused by out of date drivers or firmware, which Serato may not be able to resolve
- You may raise bugs or even simple inquiries, to the Serato Support team, which we do not have the operating system environment to verify, report, or even provide accurate responses for