PS needs to keep up with technology.
No interface for IOS (Mac) unless you want to run a Windows App. And that is iffy at best.
In the near future, the majority of home and hobby computing will probably done on tablets or surfaces.
I’d like to hear some of your input about this, with no IOS or PC bashing, please.
Just your thoughts.
I’ve had no problem running the software on my Mac using Parallels and Windows 7. I just assign the interface to the virtual machine, and it connects right up.
I’ve been a Mac guy since the mid-80s (when I was a child), but I recognize that there are things I’m going to need to do in Windows, and accept it. This industry has a lot of mom & pop operations, and the development of cross-platform software is an unreasonable expectation. They go for the largest install base, which is still Windows.
BTW, iOS is the operating system on the iPhone and iPad. That’s different from MacOS (formerly OS X), which runs on the Mac hardware. Though both are BSD derivatives.
Also, you know Phoenix is a small company, and innovation is not their forte.
Just not going to happen for MacOS and most certainly not iOS or Android or Linux.
I have a number of friends that are fine using Parallels and Win 7 also, be sure to get a good USB-Serial dongle…
Greg
Greg Elmassian said:
I have a number of friends that are fine using Parallels and Win 7 also, be sure to get a good USB-Serial dongle…
My Phoenix interface is USB. Maybe older ones were serial? It’s just a USB-serial chipset in it anyway, of course.
Yep, the older ones are serial.
Umm… you have not heard about the great problems with the cloning of the USB to serial chips, and the driver that now detects the clones and refuses to work?
Greg
Yes, but I assume that Phoenix would use a legitimate chipset in their adapter.
I’m talking about people that have the serial programmer, and need to add the USB to serial dongle to go between their Mac and the serial interface on the Phoenix programmer.
Greg
I should be able to plug into my Mac or a PC laptop with a USB cord without dongles, adapters, or any other gizmos.
Just like I do with my Nikon camera, Garmin GPS, Go Pro camera.
I know that you computer enthusiasts like Greg or Eric love this kind of adapting.
Not me, I like the KISS method. 
Yea, but older technology used the 9 pin D connector type, serial communications. For that, one needs an adapter nowadays. Unless you are lucky enough to have a computer that still has the old 9 pin serial D type connector.
Yeah, I guess not everyone remembers the actual serial interface.
Thanks David, I was losing hope.
Greg
Greg, copier technology is behind the rest of the world. I still carry a null model cable in my tool bag for programming some of the copiers/plotters I work on. And for the one model I work on, I have to borrow a floppy drive to save and reload the parameters. That’s my world. (http://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-undecided.gif)
I have many friends that have the original Phoenix programmer with the 9 pin serial interface.
I have a CT Elektronik programmer, which is only available with the 9 pin serial interface. (DCC decoders)
My CNC controller for my mill has a parallel (we used to call printer) 25 pin interface.
Our microprocessor development boards we build have RS-232 from the microprocessor itself
I still have a 3.5 floppy drive in 2 of my computers, and a 5-1/4" 1.2 meg and even a 360k one if needed.
RS-232 is not dead yet…
Greg
My LGB, Older Zimo, and Phoenix are all 9 pin serial cables and so is my Windows XP computer with 2 serial ports.
Biggest issue is remembering the port speed for each.
I still keep a couple of laptops that have “real” serial ports, running XP, since the early serial interface products did not use hardware flow control, so the “timing” of reads and writes were done in software, and if you ran a way faster computer or different operating system, the software stopped working. Also, often the drivers for the USB > serial converters were not reliable and likewise had timing issues.
One day I’ll retire this hardware, but it still gets used.
Greg
