so I haven't heard from them but I was able to figure it out.
I had to go to my windows MSI gaming laptop and use that. Windows tells you the exact COM port so it's not a best guess situation like on the Mac tool which port to use. It's weird though that it looks like it's working when you use the Mac flash tool because it'll error out in certain conditions but it can't finish even though it says it finished.
I bought a Metis LED and a Kore 5th, I was going to buy their algae reactor and another Kore 5th but I'm going to hold off now. The hardware is beautiful and mostly nicely made but I gotta admit the support is a mess and you NEED the support because their software is home-brew shareware from 1995. They need to hire an actual UX designer and invest in their software usability.
I was also told a few posts ago that the hanging kit is included, surprise surprise no hanging kit in a new sealed box. I email their sales, they said because I bought it direct for Amazon (not a 3rd party seller), they are not going to do squat for me so I had to pay for one. I don't care about the $30 but it's a dumb move on their part to **** off a reefer with small change nonsense. Especially a prolific poster like me who will happily post about my poor experience.
Also their Kore 5th Ultimate was missing the graduated cylinder, in again, a sealed box. Not very inspiring QC. I'm having second thoughts hooking this up and taking my reliable but noisy BM-T11 offline.