HP-1: Help! Can't use HP1/HP2 Serial Mode on Mac

Status
Not open for further replies.

rbn_rr

Member
Joined
Feb 7, 2015
Messages
41
I have one HomePatrol-2 and multiple HomePatrol-1 scanners for which I've purchased and applied the Extreme upgrade.

I have no problems using these scanners in Serial Mode under Windows, but when I try to connect them to any Mac the scanners immediately go into Mass Storage mode.

Are there drivers I need to install on the Mac?

Thanks in advance for any help with this!
 

rbn_rr

Member
Joined
Feb 7, 2015
Messages
41
Not helpful...

...but then you knew that.

You must have meant to say, "Run a real OS with the right driver installed", as my MacBookPro and my iMac are both running with the same Intel i7 CPU that powers native Windows machines.

I have multiple native Windows machines, including a Lenovo laptop with the same processor that's inside the Macs. I also have Windows 7 running on two Macs (using Parallels 11). On the Lenovo laptop and when using the HPs under the WindowsOS on the Macs, the radio gives the expected "E/." prompt and will go into Serial Mode. Once it's in Serial Mode, my code controls the HPs just fine.

I'd like to be able to run the same code on the Macs under OS X. The only difference between the two is that under Windows I've installed the Uniden-provided drivers, whereas there are apparently no Uniden-provided drivers for MacOS.

I will forgive the previous poster for apparently not realizing there's a difference between the capability of a "computer" (real or otherwise) and the capability of an OS with or without third-party drivers installed for specific purposes.

Now...given that the vote tally is "1 useless and ill-informed troll post, 0 useful posts", I'd love to see someone step up and offer something useful.

Anyone?
 

SCPD

QRT
Joined
Feb 24, 2001
Messages
0
Location
Virginia
Sorry .. but I agree with him. There are somethings that Macs are great for .. this is not one of those things. Sure you can get around it .. and that is likely what you will have to do in this case.

It really comes down to numbers .. use something that 85% of people use vs 9% for the mac.

That is why I would never buy a mac .. strength in numbers. That is not at all related to 'which is better', that is a different topic altogether.

My answer to you .. use your Windows computer. ;-)
 

Blackswan73

Active Member
Joined
Jan 29, 2015
Messages
1,482
Location
Central Indiana
I apologize if you found my previous post to be offensive. It was not meant that way. I always like to tease Mac users. I have a good friend that is a dedicated Mac user, and he teases me about Windows, and I tease him about Macs. I even posted a laughing smiley from my phone, but it showed up as question marks inside of black diamonds. But seriously, as far as I understand, there are no drivers for the Mac. This is also true for Linux. Also the same is true for RS and Whistler scanners as well.
 

BoxAlarm187

Level 6 RR Member (Since 1998)
Joined
Mar 19, 2003
Messages
1,717
Location
Old Dominion
I've been a Mac user for a decade, and they're my dedicated machines for everything but scanner and Motorola programming. For that, I have an old hand-me-down Windoze machine that I keep in the closet. Unfortunately, you just won't find radio software compatible with Macs with an emulator.
 

rbn_rr

Member
Joined
Feb 7, 2015
Messages
41
re: HP1/HP2 drivers for Mac

I've been a Mac user for a decade, and they're my dedicated machines for everything but scanner and Motorola programming. For that, I have an old hand-me-down Windoze machine that I keep in the closet. Unfortunately, you just won't find radio software compatible with Macs with an emulator.

I do exactly the same...I run Sentinel on Windows, and that's fine.

I'm not looking for software, I write my own (see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdvvxOi8RjA for an old example demonstrating menu control for the BCD436HP/BCD536HP). What I'm looking for is an hint of someone finding any driver (FTDI, etc.) that's allowed them to use the HP1/HP2 in Serial Mode.

By the way...in the link provided above, you can't tell whether what you're seeing is running on a Mac or on a PC -- I compile the same source code, with no changes, for Windows (32-bit, 64-bit) and for Mac OS X. With the BCD-x36HP, there's no issue with drivers.
 

N9JIG

Sheriff
Moderator
Joined
Dec 14, 2001
Messages
5,756
Location
Far NW Valley
I have one HomePatrol-2 and multiple HomePatrol-1 scanners for which I've purchased and applied the Extreme upgrade.

I have no problems using these scanners in Serial Mode under Windows, but when I try to connect them to any Mac the scanners immediately go into Mass Storage mode.

Are there drivers I need to install on the Mac?

Thanks in advance for any help with this!

Assuming that you are using a Windows virtualizer on your Mac it should work just fine. When you first plug it in it should ask you if the USB device is intended for the MacOS or Windows. Click Windows, if you hold the ALT key down at the same time it will assume the OS choice as a default for the next time.

Drivers are only needed if you are going to do control etc. with the scanner. The scanner should be in Mass Storage Mode and show up with a drive letter in the Windows OS side of things. This is the proper mode for database and firmware updates.

I use my iMac for the majority of my radio programming and Sentinel works just fine in Windows 7 under Parallels or Bootcamp.
 

rbn_rr

Member
Joined
Feb 7, 2015
Messages
41
Assuming that you are using a Windows virtualizer on your Mac it should work just fine. When you first plug it in it should ask you if the USB device is intended for the MacOS or Windows. Click Windows, if you hold the ALT key down at the same time it will assume the OS choice as a default for the next time.

Drivers are only needed if you are going to do control etc. with the scanner. The scanner should be in Mass Storage Mode and show up with a drive letter in the Windows OS side of things. This is the proper mode for database and firmware updates.

N(JIG, Thank you for jumping into the thread and offering your help. As I clarified in a later post, I have no problem running the HP1/HP2 scanners in Mass Storage Mode in OS X and I have no problem running the scanners in either Mass Storage Mode or Serial Mode under Windows (on either a VM running on Parallels or a native Windows machine running Windows natively).

I write my own control software for the BCDx36HP and HP scanners, and I'd like to be able to run that control software under either OS. The current behaviour under MacOS (without a functional driver installed) is the same as the behaviour under Windows without the Uniden driver installed -- the scanner goes into Mass Storage mode with no option for serial mode.

I'm still hoping someone has found a driver for some other USB HID or other device or chipset that enables the HP scanners to be used in Serial Mode under MacOS.
 

N9JIG

Sheriff
Moderator
Joined
Dec 14, 2001
Messages
5,756
Location
Far NW Valley
Ah, OK. I misunderstood your boggle there!

I get the same results from my HP-1 but the 436 seems to get into Serial Mode in the MacOS and I am going to assume the 536 will too. The HP-1 shows up in the Mac System Information as "HomePatrol1 MSC" and appears as a disk drive while the 436 shows up as a serial device.

If you are adept at MacOS or Unix programming could you create the driver itself and try it with the 436 instead?
 

russinnes

Member
Joined
Jun 29, 2010
Messages
19
Heres a hint:

Heres a hint (Although not sitting in front of a linux box otherwise I'd post a step by step:
-Looking at the INF for the window driver you see this:
[Models,NTamd64]
%USB.PnP%=ComPort, USB\VID_1965&PID_0016

[Models]
%USB.PnP%=ComPort, USB\VID_1965&PID_0016

I'd try this on linux:

modprobe ftdi_sio
echo 1965 0016 >/sys/bus/usb-serial/drivers/ftdi_sio/new_id
-> plug in HP1

If for some reason that V/P is not corrent you can get the proper one by just running lsusb

As for OSX:
You basically need to modify the PID/VID of the driver to recognize the device as an FTDI serial port -
Rather than type it all out ill post this link:
https://www.williamreading.com/2004/11/02/streets-trips-2005-gps-on-mac-os-x.html
and this one:
http://cholla.mmto.org/gtopo/gps/osx_pharos.html
This is basically the same situation for using a microsoft GPS (which used an FTDI serial device with a custom PID so the OS wouldnt recognize it as a serial port - you just need to modify the .plist to acknowledge the different VID/PID. Same process for the HP1 VID/PID). Voila - serial port.
 
Last edited:

dmaria

Member
Joined
May 24, 2010
Messages
295
I've been a Mac user for a decade, and they're my dedicated machines for everything but scanner and Motorola programming. For that, I have an old hand-me-down Windoze machine that I keep in the closet. Unfortunately, you just won't find radio software compatible with Macs with an emulator.

I have 5 scanners:
Pro 106
HP 536
HP 436
PSR 800
WS 1098

I program them all with my Apple computers. They both use a VM (Fusion). The laptop uses Windows 7, and the iMac uses Windows 10. I also program all my ham gear on these same computers. Among these are Yeasu, Kenwood, Icom, Tytera, Wouxonand soon to be Motorola (9 handhelds, 6 mobiles and 2 base units).

So, yes you can.
 

russinnes

Member
Joined
Jun 29, 2010
Messages
19
Just got home and verified the above - use this for reference:
<key>usb0</key>
<dict>
<key>CFBundleIdentifier</key>
<string>com.wch.usbserial</string>
<key>IOClass</key>
<string>wch_usb</string>
<key>IOProviderClass</key>
<string>IOUSBDevice</string>
<key>idProduct</key>
<integer>22</integer>
<key>idVendor</key>
<integer>6486</integer>
</dict>

the kext is part of a usbserial driver which can be found here:
http://kiguino.moos.io/downloads/CH341SER_MAC.ZIP

just edit the Info.plist in /Library/Extensions/usbserial.kext/Contents/ to the above within the <dict>
22/6486 are the decimal equivalents of the hex Vendor and Product ID - the Plist must have decimal not hex :)

note (and likely why most people fight with this): once you are in serial mode, the scanner needs to qualify the port to remain in serial mode.. that is why (if nothing happens) it reverts to MSC mode (mass storage). If you are toying around, something as simple as "screen /dev/tty.usbmodem 115200" (or whatever port it is on your system) will open the port and the scanner will remain in serial mode. I believe when I was playing with this, I almost instantly ran "ls /dev/tty.usb*" to see if the serial port appeared - before it disappeared. Doing that gave me its port identifier, then it was just a matter of opening the port briefly once in serial mode. Note 2: This can be automated with a script upon device appearance so you dont have to muck around.

Last note: You could do this with really any USB/Serial Kext (I referenced PL2303 in my first post, you could use FTDI, etc) - as long as the correct decimal of the VID/PID are in the <dict>. I assumed I had used the PL2303 kext but I was mistaken, so I have referenced what will work for sure above.

Hope this gives you enough to get it up and running...
(Currently using my HP-1 on OSX using the oh-so-handy HPe-rc python script/web control :) )
 
Last edited:

russinnes

Member
Joined
Jun 29, 2010
Messages
19
Heres a script to do it for you

Just run this python script in a terminal and follow the instructions - it will capture the port and then print out the port info which you can use however you wish.

I did not need to do any mods to anything on 10.9 or 10.11, but did need to modify the kexts (above posts) on 10.7. This should work on linux too.

I would try it first, and if it wont capture a port then yo may need to modify the kext. Also, make sure you have PySerial installed in python ( https://pypi.python.org/pypi/pyserial )
 

Attachments

  • hp1-port-grabber.py.zip
    978 bytes · Views: 53
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top