Tuesday 13 March 2007

Mac OS 10.4.9 - still without GPS-CS1 support


Update 14th March
It appears that 10.4.9 fixes GPS-CS1 support for Intel Macs, but not PPC ones. Please check the comments to see how people are getting on with different Macs.




Well Mac OS 10.4.9 has now been released. I've downloaded the software update, installed and rebooted. Plugged in my GPS-CS1 and... nothing.

If anyone out there has had a different experience to me, please let me know. Perhaps it's just because I installed USB logging a while back, or something.

For those Core 2 Duo owners out there who did have GPS-CS1 support - install 10.4.9 at your own risk. It may actually break your support. Anyone in this category who has already installed 10.4.9, please let us know what happened.

Now I know Apple never said that it this work. It was just my hope that since a slightly newer version of Mac OS X 10.4.8 running on Core 2 Duo Macbooks supported the GPS-CS1, then 10.4.9 would add that support to my iMac.

However I have also tried bringing this to Apple's attention. To try to make sure 10.4.9 would fix this Mac OS X bug. I've tried raising it through Apple bug reporter. I've tried asking if it would on Apple forums, only to be told that you aren't allowed to ask questions about unreleased Apple software on their forums, and that my question would be deleted. I understand how Apple uses this secrecy in their marketing, but I'm not asking about secret Leopard features.

I just wanted to know if, six months after this device went on sale, it was ever going to "you know, just work" on my Mac. Like Apple say in their adverts.

Like it does on Windows.

12 comments:

iotashan said...

NOOOO! My new Mac Mini & GPS-CS1 will be arriving from Amazon any minute, so I'll try it on there. Will update your blog as soon as I have a result

Anonymous said...

It WORKS! I have a 20" Intel Core2 Duo 2,16 Ghz, just upgraded to 10.4.9 and it works! Mounts, and I can see and download the logfiles.

I will try on my iBook G4 lateron.

Could be for you guys where its not working that you changed too much of your setup while trying to get it work?

Stephen said...

Well I've tried uninstalling the logging version of IOUSBFamily and installing the Combo version of 10.4.9 just to make sure, and it still doesn't work for me.

Maybe whatever fixed this in the version of 10.4.8 for Core 2 Duo Macbooks only exists in the Intel version of the code? I have a PowerPC iMac.

How has everyone else got on? Let us know if it works for you or not, and whether you have an Intel or PPC machine. Thanks

Anonymous said...

Tried it ony my iBook G4 now. Bad luck. :( It seems the Intel version of 10.4.9 supports it, the PPC version doesn't. I don't really understand the reason why this is... Some kernel hacker reading this who might know why?

If more people answer here it probably can be proofed that it works for Intel Macs only.

Unknown said...

Didn't work on my MacBook Pro (Core 1 Duo) under 10.4.8. Now works under 10.4.9..... awesome!

I will try it on my PPC Mac mini later. Even if Apple haven't released a newer IOUSBMassStorage driver for PPC, we should be able to compile one ourselves when they release the 10.4.9 USB family code.

Unknown said...

To confirm this theory, can people please post their versions of IOUSBMassStorageClass and IOUSBFamily along with whether or not it works. If you have a USB disk plugged in you can get it from System Profiler: Software:Extensions. Otherwise go into /System/Library/Extentsions and Get Info on IOUSBMassStorageClass.kext and IOUSBFamily.kext (System Profiler only shows loaded extensions).

Mine are (on the MacBook Pro C1D):
IOUSBMassStorageClass 1.4.7
IOUSBFamily 2.6.5

iotashan said...

WHEW! I just set up my new Intel Mac Mini & GPS-CS1, and it mounted, no fuss.

My IOUSBMassStorageClass is 1.4.7, and my IOUSBFamily is 2.6.5.

So it seems the PPC users are out of luck :(

Stephen said...

Good to see that it seems to have fixed the problem for Intel Macs :)

Anyway, on my non-working PPC (iMac G5):

IOUSBMassStorageClass 1.4.5
IOUSBFamily 2.5.9

Stephen said...

By the way, for those Core 2 Duo Macbooks that were working with 10.4.8, the versions of IOUSBMassStorageClass and IOUSBFamily were:

IOUSBMassStorageClass 1.4.7
IOUSBFamily 2.6.1

Max Headroom said...

It now works with my MacBook CoreDuo under 10.4.9. Mounts as USB-Drive.

But I will return mine to Amazon 'cause it's almost useless.

This devices needs about 15 minutes to find it's position. Sometimes it's a little faster but in general the reception of the GPS signals is very poor. So you have to turn this thingy on long before you'll take the photosgraphs.
Another major issue is the battery life. I wasn't able to operate this device any longer than one hour continously. Even with brand new batteries and NiMHD Cells. The battery light starts flashing after about 30 minutes.

Meanwhile I bought an Garmin eTrex from eBay (even new it costs about 120,- EUR). This device can also record my tracks but has normal navigation functions as well. It has a 12 channel GPS-Chip and finds its position within 60 seconds. So don't waste your money on this buggy Sony device....

rakerman said...

Does not mount on PowerBook G4 with 10.4.9

IOUSBFamily 2.5.9
IOUSBMassStorageClass 1.4.5

Anonymous said...

Mac Pro: 2x2.66 Ghz Dual-core Intel Xeon

10.4.8: didn't work

10.4.9: works



Powerbook G4 1Ghz 17":

10.4.8: didn't work

10.4.9: still doesn't work :-(


That is quite sad since the MacPro is my machine at work and while I am on tour I need to rely on my Powerbook :-(
I guess we need to build a fix on our own. Damm it.

meikel