[chirp_users] Mac user - inconsistent ability to contact radio

Thu Oct 29 05:25:27 PDT 2015

OK, after some more playing around, I think in my case the problem is
indeed mechanical.

I have 2 cables. The one that came with the radio and a Baofeng
branded one I bought when I couldn't get the first one to work with
the Mac.

I now think the original issue was not having the right Prolific chip
drivers, but as I then changed the cable as well, *that* became the
problem.

Going back to my original cable, and it works every time. (Except
after first plugging in - seems that until Chirp has tried to
communicate the ports are in the wrong configuration, and it opens up
the mic.)

So my - so far - way of working is:

Plug cable into USB
Launch Chirp
Try to download - this will fail
Plug cable into radio (while it is off) and then turn radio on
Now download (or upload, I guess - not tried yet) seems to work fine.

I can turn the radio off/on and it will still load.

I had attached pics of the 2 cables to show the difference but the
list rejected the email :(
Basically, one of them has better clearance on the casing around the
sockets - and that's the one that works.

On 24 October 2015 at 16:33, Paul Slootweg <paul.slootweg at gmail.com> wrote:
> OK, after some more playing around, I think in my case the problem is
> indeed mechanical.
>
> I have 2 cables. The one that came with the radio and a Baofeng
> branded one I bought when I couldn't get the first one to work with
> the Mac.
>
> I now think the original issue was not having the right Prolific chip
> drivers, but as I then changed the cable as well, *that* became the
> problem.
>
> Going back to my original cable, and it works every time. (Except
> after first plugging in - seems that until Chirp has tried to
> communicate the ports are in the wrong configuration, and it opens up
> the mic.)
>
> So my - so far - way of working is:
>
> Plug cable into USB
> Launch Chirp
> Try to download - this will fail
> Plug cable into radio (while it is off) and then turn radio on
> Now download (or upload, I guess - not tried yet) seems to work fine.
>
> I can turn the radio off/on and it will still load.
>
> I have attached a couple of pics that hopefully show the problem. (The
> working one is the Front/Left in these pics.)
>
> Paul
>
> On 24 October 2015 at 15:07, Kearney <mbk7 at comcast.net> wrote:
>> I've had a similar issue with "Error: can't find or read the radio". Sorry,
>> I have no other suggestions. I am working on a 'cheat sheet' to help avoid
>> some mis-steps with CHIRP for first time users in our club so I am curios to
>> find out what causes your problems.
>>
>> Mike KG7KIQ
>>
>>
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: <paul.slootweg at gmail.com>
>> To: "Discussion of CHIRP" <chirp_users at intrepid.danplanet.com>
>> Sent: Saturday, October 24, 2015 6:46 AM
>> Subject: Re: [chirp_users] Mac user - inconsistent ability to contact radio
>>
>>
>>> Done that too - if it worked.
>>>
>>> The issue is connectivity to the radio.
>>>
>>>
>>>> On 24 Oct 2015, at 14:35, Kearney <mbk7 at comcast.net> wrote:
>>>>
>>>> Have you tried to download to a new file?
>>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>>> From: <paul.slootweg at gmail.com>
>>>> To: "Discussion of CHIRP" <chirp_users at intrepid.danplanet.com>
>>>> Sent: Saturday, October 24, 2015 6:21 AM
>>>> Subject: Re: [chirp_users] Mac user - inconsistent ability to contact
>>>> radio
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>> Nope. Same radio. (One of the times that download did work!)
>>>>>
>>>>> Paul
>>>>>
>>>>>> On 24 Oct 2015, at 14:12, Kearney <mbk7 at comcast.net> wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Paul, was your original img. file created on a different radio?
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Mike KG7KIQ
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>>>>> From: "Paul Slootweg" <paul.slootweg at gmail.com>
>>>>>> To: "Discussion of CHIRP" <chirp_users at intrepid.danplanet.com>
>>>>>> Sent: Friday, October 23, 2015 1:15 AM
>>>>>> Subject: Re: [chirp_users] Mac user - inconsistent ability to contact
>>>>>> radio
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> I would have assumed that if the was a compatibility problem, then the
>>>>>>> cable/drivers would work 'never', not 'sometimes'.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> As for FTDI cables - unobtanium in the UK.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Paul
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> On 21 October 2015 at 17:00, Jim Unroe <rock.unroe at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>>>> On Wed, Oct 21, 2015 at 9:43 AM, Paul Slootweg
>>>>>>>> <paul.slootweg at gmail.com>
>>>>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>>>>> I have the latest of everything installed, the Prolific drivers show
>>>>>>>>> up as started in the Console, and the USB serial device shows up,
>>>>>>>>> but
>>>>>>>>> I can rarely download (never mind upload.)
>>>>>>>>> Radio is UV-5RA
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> Am I missing something?
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> Paul
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Paul,
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> When it comes to Prolific drivers, you don't want the latest. They
>>>>>>>> are
>>>>>>>> incompatible with the unauthorized Prolific chip copies that are in
>>>>>>>> most programming cables (including the "genuine" Baofeng programming
>>>>>>>> cable). Try the generic drivers on the MacOS_Tips page or purchase
>>>>>>>> the
>>>>>>>> 3rd party driver.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> http://chirp.danplanet.com/projects/chirp/wiki/MacOS_Tips
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> https://www.mac-usb-serial.com/
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Or to avoid the hassle of finding and installing a compatible driver,
>>>>>>>> get a programming cable with the FTDI chip.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00HUB0ONK
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Jim KC9HI
>>>>>>>> _______________________________________________
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>>>>>>
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