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Professional Development Board

BigAlBigAl Posts: 6
edited 2011-10-01 20:39 in BASIC Stamp
Anyone out there using the Parallax PDB with a Mac G5, and uploading to the PDB with the existing USB port? If so, which Mac (G5?) and what drivers did you use if any?

Comments

  • Mike GreenMike Green Posts: 23,101
    edited 2006-12-25 03:08
    I've used a Mac PowerBook G4 and a MacBook with a variety of Parallax USB to Serial adapters including the one on the Propeller Demo Board, Hydra, USB2SER, and PropClip. They work fine with the Mac driver from the FTDI website.
  • BigAlBigAl Posts: 6
    edited 2006-12-25 14:59
    Thanks for the info Mike. I was hoping to avoid the serial adapter and go straight with the board's usb connection.
  • ForrestForrest Posts: 1,341
    edited 2006-12-25 15:59
    Stamp's don't speak USB, they only speak serial. Mike said the PDB's built in USB to serial adapter works fine on a Mac.
  • BigAlBigAl Posts: 6
    edited 2006-12-25 16:28
    Ok, I didn't catch that the first time.
    So if I were to upload the FTDI VCP driver ( or the D2xx driver?) to the G5, it should be able to see the PDB?
  • Mike GreenMike Green Posts: 23,101
    edited 2006-12-25 16:53
    You don't need the D2xx driver if you only want to talk serial to the PDB. The VCP driver provides the Virtual COM Port. Follow the link from Parallax's page to the FTDI drivers page for the latest versions.
  • BigAlBigAl Posts: 6
    edited 2006-12-26 02:13
    I finally got MacBS2 working on the G5. It was a matter of using the correct driver version, FTDIUSB FCP driver v2.1.7. All this time I had v1.0.9 uploaded.

    Thank you for your answers.
  • phobanphoban Posts: 4
    edited 2007-01-05 00:11
    Hi,

    I was having similar issues but have now got MacBs2 recognizing my stamp module (Im using PDB and PowerBook G4), my problem is that Im being thrown an error which says that the stamp is not responing, 'check power'.
    Just wondering if anyone has any experience with something like this and might be able to help?

    thanks,

    piaras
  • BigAlBigAl Posts: 6
    edited 2007-01-05 01:03
    Never had that effect Piaras. Have you tried rebooting the software with the PDB powered up? How about reinstalling the software?
  • aalegadoaalegado Posts: 66
    edited 2007-01-05 01:17
    phoban said...
    Hi,

    I was having similar issues but have now got MacBs2 recognizing my stamp module (Im using PDB and PowerBook G4), my problem is that Im being thrown an error which says that the stamp is not responing, 'check power'.
    Just wondering if anyone has any experience with something like this and might be able to help?

    thanks,

    piaras

    Assuming that power to the PDB is good and the Stamp itself is good then...

    Has this particular installation of MacBS2 on this PowerBook ever connected to the PDB and Stamp in question? I ask because one possible error mode is having multiple devices available for MacBS2 to connect to (this shows up as several entries in the Serial Port selection pop-up menu) and having the wrong device selected. If it has worked before then it should be a process of elimination to find the correct port. (Why would there be more ports? If a new serial port device driver is installed, then you'll see new entries appear)

    A PDB has USB so you would only need to install the latest FTDI driver to enable the Mac to see the PDB's USB port.

    If you happen to use a USB-to-Serial adapter (for some other device you might connect to your Mac or even a Stamp that you have to connect via legacy serial, i.e. a 9-pin "serial" port) then you'll end up with additional serial devices once you install the driver software for the USB-to-Serial adapter.

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  • phobanphoban Posts: 4
    edited 2007-01-05 15:56
    I'll try re-installing the software, just to check.

    The version of the driver I've got is definitely correct though, is there the possiblity of this being a harware issue? Nothing seems to be amiss on the board itself however.
  • Chris SavageChris Savage Parallax Engineering Posts: 14,406
    edited 2007-01-05 16:02
    Phoban,

    Do you have access to a PC anywhere that you could temporarily install the Windows driver and connect the hardware to see if it works there?

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    Parallax Tech Support
  • phobanphoban Posts: 4
    edited 2007-01-05 17:55
    Hi,

    Yes I've been trying the Windows driver also, but it is unable to detect the board. Windows does detect that a device has been connected, however, this is regardless of whether power to the unit is on or off.
  • BigAlBigAl Posts: 6
    edited 2007-01-05 18:22
    phoban said...
    Hi,

    Yes I've been trying the Windows driver also, but it is unable to detect the board. Windows does detect that a device has been connected, however, this is regardless of whether power to the unit is on or off.

    What version of FTDI driver have you installed in your G4?
  • Chris SavageChris Savage Parallax Engineering Posts: 14,406
    edited 2007-01-05 18:25
    Are you trying the Windows drivers on another PC or on the same machine running an emulator? I was recommending a different PC altogether.

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    Chris Savage
    Parallax Tech Support
  • SSteveSSteve Posts: 808
    edited 2007-01-06 19:35
    phoban said...
    Yes I've been trying the Windows driver also, but it is unable to detect the board. Windows does detect that a device has been connected, however, this is regardless of whether power to the unit is on or off.
    The USB device is recognized when the power is off because the USB circuitry gets power from the USB cable.

    I just had this exact problem and it turned out to be a bad USB cable. Have you tried other cables?

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  • phobanphoban Posts: 4
    edited 2007-01-07 15:19
    I tried the board using a serial cable on a pc and it worked perfectly. So at least I now know that this is definitely not a hardware issue.
  • Chris SavageChris Savage Parallax Engineering Posts: 14,406
    edited 2007-01-07 17:06
    phoban,

    Please contact me in Tech Support Monday morning on this. 1-888-997-8267

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    Parallax Tech Support
  • DarcyDarcy Posts: 31
    edited 2011-10-01 19:01
    I as well am unable to get my Professional Development Board to work on my Mac, it used to work with my basic propeller board, but stopped responding when I tried to use my pro development board. I have deleted and reinstalled the drivers and bst software from the website, still not working. When I try to detect the propeller, it says no propeller detected. Not sure what else to do, I know the cable is good, and I even tried installing the software and driver on a different mac, but same results....

    help?
  • Mike GreenMike Green Posts: 23,101
    edited 2011-10-01 20:39
    Darcy,
    The Professional Development Board's USB interface is not really any different from any other Parallax Propeller board's USB interface. I use a Mac all the time with BST and the FTDI drivers and it works fine. I've used a variety of Mac laptops and MacOS versions and I've not had problems other than the occasional bad USB cable. Make sure your connections are good, your power supply is good, and the Propeller is properly installed in its socket.

    I also run Windows XP under Parallels Desktop so I can run a variety of Windows-only software including some of Parallax's. That works as well ... with the Windows FTDI driver.
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