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Topic:
Successful Virtual PC/Mac Setup Details
This thread has 25 replies. Displaying posts 1 through 15.
Post 1 made on Friday November 24, 2000 at 21:24
Ladd Morse
Historic Forum Post
How to Set Up Virtual PC on your Mac for Flawless Pronto Upload/Download

One person's setup that works; your mileage may vary.

Computer: Power Mac 8500 with XLR8 466 MHz G3 upgrade card
OS: Mac OS 9.0.4
Virtual PC: Version 3.0.1 running Windows 95

Mac Serial Port-to-Pronto Interface Cable: Kodak Part Number 1008473

Kodak Interface Cable (MACINTOSH) for
DC20/DC25/DC200/DC200 Plus/DC210/DC210 Plus/DC215
•Item 1008473
•Price $15.00
[Link: kodak.com]


After installing Pronto Edit 1.5 onto my "C" drive in Virtual PC, the following adjustments were required:

Virtual PC Preferences:
select COM port used (in my case, COM 1)
ensure COM 1 is set to "Mac Serial Port"
enable checkbox "non-modem device"

In Windows 95:
Open up Windows "System Control Panel" (Path: My Computer: Control Panels: System)
Click on "Device Manager" tab
Select "Ports"
Select Port used by Pronto (in my case, COM 1)
Click on "Port Settings" Tab
Change "Bits/Sec" setting to 2400

That's it!

OP | Post 2 made on Saturday November 25, 2000 at 13:16
Peter
Historic Forum Post
Can I assume that without virtual PC installed on my Mac, I cannot install/create special macros?
OP | Post 3 made on Saturday November 25, 2000 at 14:54
Ladd Morse
Historic Forum Post
> Can I assume that without virtual PC installed on my Mac, I cannot install/
> create special macros?

A quick look at the index of the owners manual reveals page 25 as where can be found the instructions on how to create and edit macros directly on the Pronto itself.
OP | Post 4 made on Monday November 27, 2000 at 14:28
Peter
Historic Forum Post
Ok, thanks.
Just so I've got this straight. I can do whatever customizing I need on the Pronto itself. Working off the
PC simply allows me to do my customizing there THEN download commands to the unit? I would also guess that having it hooked up to the PC you can download pre-created macros and the like. Is that correct?
As far as the Virtual PC, that's just software, no board necessary?
OP | Post 5 made on Monday November 27, 2000 at 16:38
Ladd Morse
Historic Forum Post
>As far as the Virtual PC, that's just software, no board necessary?

Virtual PC is simply a Mac application and is a wonderful piece of software. There are no Windows apps that I have needed to run that wouldn't load and run flawlessly in Virtual PC. Of course, you're running the Windows software in emulation, so it's not going to be as speedy as if you were running it on hardware, but unless you're playing heavy-duty games or real-time rendering, it works fabulously. Excellent after-sale support if needed from the publisher, Connectix.

There are two other PC-emulation applications for the Mac, but I have no experience with them: Softwindows and PowerEmulator.
OP | Post 6 made on Tuesday November 28, 2000 at 12:46
Jorma Pennanen
Historic Forum Post
Peter,
not ecactly. You can't customise the look of the buttons without computer. Also with computer, practically all commands could be macros. Also with computer you can get rid of the not needed panels.
OP | Post 7 made on Tuesday November 28, 2000 at 18:06
jon
Historic Forum Post
I get alot of crashes in windows. RC5000 edit will crash sometimes when I am saving the file to disk. Virtual PC is very buggy with my OS 8.6 system. It's works mostly but it's moody and I have to save as a different filename because when I crash when saving, I lose the file completely.
OP | Post 8 made on Tuesday November 28, 2000 at 20:10
Ladd Morse
Historic Forum Post
> Virtual PC is very buggy with my OS 8.6 system.

As my original message said, 'your mileage may vary'.

Having said that, I have used Virtual PC with Windows 95 for almost three years, with various incarnations of the Mac OS with essentially zero trouble. I suspect you have something else going on that is helping the problem manifest itself.

If you are so inclined, email me with your details and perhaps I can help you figure out the problem.

OP | Post 9 made on Wednesday November 29, 2000 at 11:58
Spiky
Historic Forum Post
jon, sounds like you either need more memory allocated to VPC, need a new hard drive container for Windows (essentially the same as reformatting a Windows drive), or have problems in Windows itself, which you would need Windows software like Norton Utilities to fix.

I use VPC on my 200Mhz 604e system with OS 8.6 with zero problems except speed. Is it VPC or Windows that is crashing? If it is VPC, try more memory; if Windows, try standard Windows fixes like reinstalling the program or even the whole system. It sounds like VPC ISN'T buggy, Windows is.
OP | Post 10 made on Thursday November 30, 2000 at 21:51
Peter
Historic Forum Post
I looked into getting VPC but at $250-300, I'm not rushing out to get it. I'm sure it was a complex piece of software to write, but what a rip.
OP | Post 11 made on Thursday November 30, 2000 at 23:10
Ladd Morse
Historic Forum Post
> I looked into getting VPC but at $250-300, I'm not rushing out to get it.

I paid less than $100 for my version. You must be shopping in the upmarket side of town! :-)

Regardless of cost, it's an expensive acquisition simply to program a remote control. If you need PC-compatibility for other reasons, then Pronto-editing would be icing on the cake.
OP | Post 12 made on Friday December 1, 2000 at 07:29
Gwynne Harper
Historic Forum Post
I'm a softwindows user - stable on my PB3400, plenty fast enough for non-games work. Santa has my Pronto until 25th :-( but for Mac users in the UK the Kodak interface cable kindly identified by Ladd can be found at:

[Link: kodak.com]

Unusually, it's cheap too!

Thanks for the comments, chaps: it was this thread that proved I can buy a Pronto too


Gwynne
OP | Post 13 made on Saturday December 2, 2000 at 22:53
Christopher Patterson
Historic Forum Post
Anyone have any luck getting it working with a USB PowerMac ? I have a G4 so no serial just USB. I'm using VPC 3.03 with Windows 98 and a Keyspan USB to Serial adapter. No luck, it says Com port open but pronto not responding?? it works fine on my girlfriends windows machine, but I'd rather be using it on my Mac :-)


Any suggestions?
OP | Post 14 made on Sunday December 3, 2000 at 11:43
Ladd Morse
Historic Forum Post
> Anyone have any luck getting it working with a USB PowerMac ?
> I have a G4 so no serial just USB. I'm using VPC 3.03 with Windows 98
> and a Keyspan USB to Serial adapter. No luck, it says Com port open
> but pronto not responding

While I can't answer your questions specifically, I can offer some places to look that might help you figure out the specific quirks of your Keyspan/G4 combo.

Do a keyword search on the following web sites:

MacFixIt web site http://www.macfixit
Accelerate Your Mac! http://www.xlr8yourmac.com
MacInTouch site http://www.macintouch

One of those sites will most likely give you a definitive answer and/or workaround, not addressing the Pronto specifically, but with using other serial devices with your specific hardware combo.

OP | Post 15 made on Sunday December 3, 2000 at 14:18
Christopher Patterson
Historic Forum Post
Thanks for the info:-)
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