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Parallax Git Administrator edited this page Mar 24, 2020 · 21 revisions

Mac Requirements and Tips

A collection of Mac-specific details, history, and tips.

macOS Version Differences

Mac OS X Mavericks through macOS High Sierra (10.9 - 10.13)

Includes Apple's attempt to directly support FTDI USB chipsets through Apple's kernel extension (kext)
- first at /System/Library/Extensions/IOUSBFamily.kext/Contents/PlugIns/AppleUSBFTDI.kext
- later at /System/Library/Extensions/AppleUSBFTDI.kext (Mac OS X 10.11 "El Capitan")
Introduced a new required destination for third-party driver installation destination
- From /System/Library/Extensions/ to /Library/Extensions/
Apple's FTDI driver
- Didn't support all features Parallax needs (namely, DTR support was missing or inadequate)
- Caused system conflicts on some computers when FTDI's driver was installed (occasional Kernel Panics)
  - The occurrence of this grew very rare as time when on (later versions after Mavericks seemed to solve it)
- Sometimes needed manual administrative help to prevent problems; see KEXT Admin Tips

KEXT Admin Tips

sudo kextunload -b com.apple.driver.AppleUSBFTDI sudo kextload -b com.FTDI.driver.FTDIUSBSerialDriver

FTDI Driver (Mac)

Do not use v2.3 (suffers a "surprise removal" bug)
Use v2.4.2 only on macOS 10.12 "Sierra" through macOS 10.14 "Mojave"
Do not use any FTDI driver on macOS 10.15 "Catalina" (or later); it's not needed as Mac's included driver works