[chirp_users] RT Systems Cables on Mac OS X (was Re: New Install with OSX Lion)

[David Ranch]

As I understand it, the RT Systems software *only* works with their 
dongles so I would expect that they are actually looking for their 
proprietary VID/PID codes.  I guess this can go two ways:

   - You're looking to use an RT Systems cable with a generic system 
like OSX and Chirp :: reprogramming it back to a standard FDTI code 
should work.  I have some FTDI serial dongles here that I can get the 
codes from if need be.  Alternatively, you can look at all the VID/PIDs 
known in the Linux kernel (I added the US Interface Navigator unit): 
http://lxr.linux.no/#linux+v3.1.1/drivers/usb/serial/ftdi_sio_ids.h

   - With that Python software you found, you might actually be able to 
reconfigure a generic FTDI serial dongle to identify as a RT System 
cable just in case you lost your RT cable but still want to use their 
Windows software.

--David


Robert Terzi wrote:
> On 11/13/2011 10:33 AM, Dan Smith wrote:
>   
>> I think it's *feasible* to get your RT Systems cable working,
>> but it may be more trouble than you're looking for.
>>     
>
> I'm not a mac user, so I can't really help much.  The first
> quick google hit is an FTDI manual that says to change the
> VID/PID in the FTDI driver on OS X, you need the Xcode dev
> environment.   Failing that it says to contact FTDI to get
> a custom version of the driver.
>
>      http://www.ftdichip.com/Support/Documents/InstallGuides/Mac_OS_X_Installation_Guide.pdf
>
> There are some interesting bits on this page:
>
>      http://staton.us/electronics/python/OSX_FTDI_USB.html
>
> First there's a Python module for talking to the FTDI D2xx
> driver on Windows, Linux, Mac OS X,
>
>      http://pypi.python.org/pypi/ftd2xx/bzr12
>
> There's a python script for changing the Product ID which
> could possibly be used for changing the RT System's VID/PID
> back to the default FTDI VID/PID.  Looks like that script only
> changes the PID, though it looks straightforward to add a function
> that also changes the VID.
>
> This got me curious enough so I tried FTDI's programming utility
> under MS Windows.
>
> ** FTDI's FT_PROG Utility (Windows) **
>
> http://www.ftdichip.com/Support/Utilities.htm
>
> It looks like it should be straightforward to reprogram the FTDI
> chip in the RT Systems cable on a windows box using their FT_PROG
> utility.  I ran it on my system, and read the EEPROM from both
> my RT Systems cable and a "generic" FTDI USB cable.   the changes
> that I think are necessary:
>
> 1. Under "FT EEPROM -> USB Device Description", change "Custom VID/PID"
> from "custom" to "FTDI Default".
>
> 2. Under "RT EEPROM -> Hardware Specific", uncheck "Load D2XX Driver".
>
> You probably don't need to change the text device strings and can leave
> the descriptions as "RT Systems", etc.
>
> IMPORTANT NOTES:
>
> - I did not try this.  You could make your cable completely unusable
>    by doing this.  I won't be trying it on mine because I occasionally
>    still use the RT Systems software.
>
> - Changing these parameters will mean you can't use the cable with
>    RT System's software without changing them back.
>
> - It does look like you can use "Save as a Template" to make a backup
>    of the cable.
>
> Hope This Helps,
> --Rob
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> chirp_users mailing list
> chirp_users at intrepid.danplanet.com
> http://intrepid.danplanet.com/mailman/listinfo/chirp_users
>   
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://intrepid.danplanet.com/pipermail/chirp_users/attachments/20111114/e8861b91/attachment.html