Subject:
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Lego Mindstorm software on Virtual PC
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.robotics
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Date:
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Wed, 1 Sep 1999 21:01:57 GMT
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Original-From:
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Eric Traut <traut@connectixIHATESPAM.com>
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Viewed:
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650 times
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Up until now, Mac users have been unable to run the Lego-provided
Mindstorm software on their Macs. The Mindstorm application worked on
Virtual PC, but the serial emulation was not able to handle the
non-standard protocol used by the application to detect the presense of
the trasceiver.
I'm happy to say that, as of Virtual PC 3.0 (coming very soon now), Lego
Mindstorm for Windows will work.
For those who are curious as to why didn't it work in the past... The
Lego software detects their trasceiver using an unusual method. There are
two lines on the PC serial port - DTR and RTS - that map to the single
RTS line on the Mac's serial port. Normally, PC software asserts and
deasserts the DTR and RTS in unison. When they don't match, Virtual PC
needs to decide which one to mirror on the Mac's RTS. For most devices
(modems included), the RTS is the correct choice. But for Lego Mindstorm,
the DTR needs to be mirrored.
As of Virtual PC 3.0, we allow the user to adjust which line the emulated
serial ports mirror. The setting has no UI (we deemed it too complex for
the average user), but it is adjustable via AppleScript. We'll ship a
script with Virtual PC 3 to make the appropriate settings for Mindstorm.
Eric Traut
Connectix Corp.
--
Did you check the web site first?: http://www.crynwr.com/lego-robotics
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