Calling All Mac Users!!!!!

[mfpikeil]

I bought the UWATEC IrDA as well and it worked plug and play with an Intel iMac running JTrac. Effortless.

Jim

Where did you buy the Uwatec IrDA device? Are you running it with the Windows side of the Intel, or the Mac side?

I bought the Uwatec Aladin Prime with the expectations of downloading to my Mac G5. I didn't realize how old and obsolete IrDA technology is. After an extensive search, I bought a "Mac Compatible" IrDA device from MacMall and downloaded Jtrack from the Uwatec site, but I cannot get any of it to work. The IrDA device took 5 weeks to deliver , and cost $70. I am very frustrated, because I can't tell if it is the device, the driver, the software or the dive computer. None of them have any real instructions or avenues of support. The device shows up in my system profile, but I can't tell if the driver is really doing anything to make it work. The disc has no instructions. Do I have to buy a Windoze box just to download dive info???..... good grief, am I frustrated!!! Is this hopeless?

Thanks in advance to anyone who can help.

Don

 

[CompuDude]

As I understand it, there are a lot of IRDA chipsets out there, but J-Track only seems to work with one or two of them. I would return the IR device you bought and try another brand.

The "known good" chipset in the UWATEC is a SigmaTel 4210, per a post a page ago. Looks like they found it at LeisurePro.

IrDA may be old and obsolete, but it's a heck of a lot newer than serial... and doesn't require proprietary cable kits. Download kits for other computers usually cost a lot more than $70, so count yourself lucky. And frankly, there are a lot of no-name IRDA dongles out there that work also, it's just that there is no way to know they will work without trying because beige-box manufacturers are lousy at documenting things like which chipset they're using. I have a dongle that works fine that was less than $20 that I picked up at some random computer parts shop a long time ago. It's the fault of J-Trak's developers for not supporting more chipsets, not Uwatec's fault for going with a standard communication device rather than a proprietary cable.

FWIW, I use my Palm Treo to download from the computer, and then sync it with the desktop software. No IRDA hassles on the computer whatsoever, because it uses the IR port that every Palm device has built in, and then syncs to the computer via well-supported USB.

I will note, however, in spite of all of the above, that the Windows software is more full-featured than the Mac software. That's why a lot of people choose to run Virtual PC (or Parallels for intel Macs) so they can run the Windows version instead of the Mac version.

 

[orange_diver]

if you have an intel based mac, spend the $70 on Parallels. then you can run Smartrak with a cheap $10 irda flawlessly. like compudude says it has a lot more features.

a.

Where did you buy the Uwatec IrDA device? Are you running it with the Windows side of the Intel, or the Mac side?

I bought the Uwatec Aladin Prime with the expectations of downloading to my Mac G5. I didn't realize how old and obsolete IrDA technology is. After an extensive search, I bought a "Mac Compatible" IrDA device from MacMall and downloaded Jtrack from the Uwatec site, but I cannot get any of it to work. The IrDA device took 5 weeks to deliver , and cost $70. I am very frustrated, because I can't tell if it is the device, the driver, the software or the dive computer. None of them have any real instructions or avenues of support. The device shows up in my system profile, but I can't tell if the driver is really doing anything to make it work. The disc has no instructions. Do I have to buy a Windoze box just to download dive info???..... good grief, am I frustrated!!! Is this hopeless?

Thanks in advance to anyone who can help.

Don

 

[Chris H]

Where did you buy the Uwatec IrDA device? Are you running it with the Windows side of the Intel, or the Mac side?

Don

Find a Belkin brand IrDA from Europe. Mine works like a champ with J-trak on a g4 mac mini and a 20"iMac. It doesn't work with Smart Trak in Windows though. In Smart Trak I use a cheap IrDA device I got on Ebay many years ago that works just fine.

 

[mfpikeil]

Thanks for all your help, folks. I think I have enough information to slog on now... However, I think I might just spring for one of the new Intel machines and use Parallels/Windows and be done with all these compatibility problems - not only for diving, but everything else as well.

Thanks again,
Don

 

[rongoodman]

As much as I like to see Apple sell more machines(and Parallel works great--I'm using it to run V-Planner), a cheaper solution for us Mac users is the Sensus Ultra. Hang it on your backplate and forget about it until the end of the trip, and then download everything with the OS X native software.

 

[paulwlee]

As much as I like to see Apple sell more machines(and Parallel works great--I'm using it to run V-Planner), a cheaper solution for us Mac users is the Sensus Ultra. Hang it on your backplate and forget about it until the end of the trip, and then download everything with the OS X native software.

I don't quite get the idea behind the Sensus for personal use. I see how it may be useful for say collecting dive data from many divers, by distributing these out and then collecting them at a later date (was it developed for such a purpose?), but for someone who wants to download data for their own logs, why wouldn't you just get a bottom timer or dive computer that's downloadable in the first place? The cost of one of these seems to be comparable or more than the difference between a downloadable and a non-downloadable dive instrument?

What made you go that route? I'm curious.

 

[paulwlee]

My own Mac question:
Anyone having issues with the Suunto Stinger serial cable / serial-to-USB cable combo when used with Parallels Desktop?

Downloading to Suunto SDM using USB cables (Vytec and D3) work great, but I just got a cable for my Stinger (plus an IOMEGA serial-to-USB cable since Stinger cables don't come in USB) and it seems to be a little flaky although I can get it to work after some fiddling. It seems to work fine under Bootcamp, so might be some weird compatibility issue between Parallels and the serial-to-USB cable.

 

[rongoodman]

I don't quite get the idea behind the Sensus for personal use....
What made you go that route? I'm curious.

Mainly the fact that they provided OS X native software from the outset, which made me glad to support them. Aside from the fact that I didn't have an Intel based Mac and acccess to Parallels when I started diving, I don't do Windows. After I got my Macbook I got interested in what it would take to get V-Planner running, so I installed Linux under Parallels to run it, which it does quite nicely.

 

[mislav]

My own Mac question:
Anyone having issues with the Suunto Stinger serial cable / serial-to-USB cable combo when used with Parallels Desktop?

This might be a broader issue, extending to Windows machines. You might want to repeat your question in a form of a new thread. Might increase your chances of getting a reply.