Subject:
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Re: Lego Mindstorms on Mac using Virtual PC?
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.robotics
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Date:
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Thu, 31 Dec 1998 06:17:15 GMT
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Original-From:
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Scott Cressler <longdogz@mindspringNOMORESPAM.com>
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Viewed:
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1207 times
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Are you sure of this? This will bum me out, but I suppose it would save me
some frustration trying to get it to work. :-(
So, how does the "Robolab" software compare to the Mindstorms software? $90
is quite a bit after you've bought the Mindstorms kit....
And, what is NQC?
Scott
Dave Baum wrote:
> It won't work - even with a perfect cable. Mindstorms uses the RTS/CTS
> handshaking in an unorthodox manner. The fact that the Mac is RS-422 (not
> RS-232) means that the serial port emulation cannot be complete. While
> VPC works for most cases, it will not work with Mindstorms. In theory,
> one could hack Mindstorms RIS (actually spirit.ocx) not to use
> handshaking, or hack VPC to spoof the serial port differently, but noody
> has done anything like that.
>
> Robolab and NQC are currently the two options for using a Mac with the RCX.
>
> Dave
>
> In article <36894A46.BFF80F17@mindspring.com>, lego-robotics@crynwr.com
> (Scott Cressler) wrote:
>
> > I'm new to this list, so forgive me if this has been discussed before.
> >
> > Has anyone managed to get the Lego Mindstorms software/hardware to work
> > on a Mac using Virtual PC? It seems this should be possible, but the
> > cables I currently have to convert from the 8-pin din connector (needed
> > to connect to the Mac's serial port) to the 9-pin serial connector
> > (needed by the Mindstorms cable to the IR tower) don't work. One of the
> > cables was included with the Palm Pilot cradle and the other was an
> > Apple Printer cable I got at Fry's (MII-9808). I've gotten the software
> > to run (slowly) and have even (with the Palm Pilot cable) gotten a green
> > light to appear on the IR tower. With the Apple cable, I don't even get
> > the green light. In both cases, it gets to the point in Setup 2 where
> > it wants to download the firmware to the brick and shifts to a
> > "Troubleshooter" page because it says it can't find the IR transmitter.
> >
> > I've also used the Mindstorms on someone else's Win 95 machine, and it
> > works fine.
> >
> > It seems doing this on the Mac using Virtual PC should be possible, as
> > long as the Virtual PC software is transferring through the Mac's serial
> > port from the Mindstorms software correctly (which it may be doing as of
> > version 2.0 which had a "non-modem device" choice on the config of the
> > COM1 and 2 ports) and as long as I have a cable correctly converting
> > from the 8-pin to the 9-pin. The latter part is where I'm stuck now.
> > If I was going to build my own cable, I don't know what pins to connect
> > to what pins. I'm trying to get the info on the serial connection
> > through Virtual PC from the Connectix people.
> >
> > I have a catalog from Pitsco/Dacta showing a $25 item which is the IR
> > tower and "PC and Mac cables". Do you think this cable would work? The
> > RCX brick pictured to work with this "Amusement Park" kit seems to be
> > the same as the one in the Mindstorms kit.
> >
> > I'm really interested in getting this to work, rather than buying a PC!
> > ;-(
> >
> > Thanks for any pointers or help,
> >
> > Happy New Year,
> >
> > Scott Cressler
> > longdogz@pobox.com
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > Did you check the web site first?: http://www.crynwr.com/lego-robotics
>
> --
> reply to: dbaum at enteract dot com
--
Did you check the web site first?: http://www.crynwr.com/lego-robotics
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Message has 2 Replies:
 | | Re: Lego Mindstorms on Mac using Virtual PC?
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| (...) Yep, I'm sure. Lots of people have tried this (including myself) and always with the same result (software runs, but communication with IR tower fails). (...) Robolab is a lot better. I assume Mindstorms appeals more to younger children (a (...) (26 years ago, 31-Dec-98, to lugnet.robotics)
| | | Re: Lego Mindstorms on Mac using Virtual PC?
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| Thanks for the info! I've been able to use the RCX from the Mac using NQC, it works great! Since I'm a programmer, the C-like syntax and command line interface are just fine. But, since it doesn't cost much, I may investigate the Robolab software (...) (26 years ago, 2-Jan-99, to lugnet.robotics)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | Re: Lego Mindstorms on Mac using Virtual PC?
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| It won't work - even with a perfect cable. Mindstorms uses the RTS/CTS handshaking in an unorthodox manner. The fact that the Mac is RS-422 (not RS-232) means that the serial port emulation cannot be complete. While VPC works for most cases, it will (...) (26 years ago, 30-Dec-98, to lugnet.robotics)
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