OpenDMX USB not recognized on Mac

[Sébastien Atoch]

Hey There,

Here is my configuration : 

- Mac running OSX 10.11.5 (El Capitan)

- Enttec OpenDMX USB / http://www.enttec.com/index.php?main_menu=Products&pn=70303

- Ola 0.10.2 installed via Homebrew

I'm trying to get OLA to detect the OpenDMX adapter but without success.

I know this adapter is not the best, but this is what I got for my current project and would be happy to get it to work without forking any more cash.

I was able to get the adapter working with the QLC software by unloading the apple kext : sudo kextunload -b com.apple.driver.AppleUSBFTDI
Tried the adapter with OLA on 4 different macs and nothing worked (El Capitan or Yosemite)

The system profiler show the adapter as :

FT232R USB UART:

  Product ID: 0x6001

  Vendor ID: 0x0403  (Future Technology Devices International Limited)

  Version: 6.00

  Serial Number: A6008Y0H

  Speed: Up to 12 Mb/sec

  Manufacturer: FTDI

  Location ID: 0x14400000 / 11

  Current Available (mA): 1000

  Current Required (mA): 90

  Extra Operating Current (mA): 0

By looking into ola-opendmx.conf I see the expected device is /dev/dmx0    but the only thing I got in /dev is /dev/cu.usbserial-A6008Y0H

If I unload the AppleUSBFTDI kext, the /dev/cu.usbserial-A6008Y0H disappears.

I tried many things, like replacing /dev/dmx0 in ola-opendmx.conf by /dev/cu.usbserial-A6008Y0H or disabling all plugins but the opendmx one but nothing worked.

Here is the result of "olad -l 4" > http://pastebin.com/mFZESbgC

Is there anything I can try ?

Thank you for your time.

[Peter Newman]

Hi Sébastien,

See here for more info, but you want to use the ola-ftdidmx plugin:
https://www.openlighting.org/ola/get-help/ola-faq/#What_is_the_difference_between_the_different_USB_plugins

Although that doesn't seem to exist in your plugin list.

It looks like you need to use the with-ftdi option when installing via homebrew:

https://github.com/Homebrew/homebrew-core/blob/master/Formula/ola.rb#L22

[Sébastien Atoch]

Hi Peter,

Thank you SO much for your help ! It's working fine now.

For the sake of clarity I'll add the exact steps I had to take to get it to work.

- Uninstall OLA via homebrew :    brew remove ola

- Reinstall OLA with FTDI support :    brew install ola --with-ftdi

- Start OLA, so it creates all the .conf files then stop it (Ctrl+C) :  olad -l 4      

- Edit OLA .conf files in ~/.ola as so :

* Disable ola-opendmx

* Disable ola-usbserial

* Enable ola-ftdidmx

- Unload AppleFTDI driver (need to do that after everyboot, or find a permanent way)  :  sudo kextunload -b com.apple.driver.AppleUSBFTDI 

- Start OLA again.

Now you should see your adapter in the list when you click "Add Universe"  and you can test it using the DMX console.

Thanks again!

[Sébastien Atoch]

Permanent way to disable AppleFTDI driver, from QLC documentation : 

http://www.qlcplus.org/docs/disable_apple_ftdi_driver.html

7.3 Block with D2xxHelper (OS X 10.9 and later)

Note: this is the only non-temporary method which works on 10.11 El Capitan.

FTDI provides a signed kernel extension (D2xxHelper.kext) which contains no code but acts to prevent OS X from matching an FTDI chip (with standard vendor and product identifiers) with a VCP driver, either Apple's or FTDI's. This leaves the device unclaimed, and available for D2XX programs only.
1. Disconnect all FTDI devices.
2. Download and run the D2xxHelper installer from http://www.ftdichip.com/Drivers/D2XX.htm
3. Reboot.
4. Reconnect the FTDI devices.

On Thursday, 9 June 2016 07:23:29 UTC-4, Sébastien Atoch wrote: