Actisense NGT-1 driver for MacBook M2

[Antipole]

I have an Actisense NGT-1 which connects my NMEA2000 network to the USB port on my MacBook.

This used to work but no longer. This is most likely because I upgraded to a MacBook Air M2 with Apple Silicon.

I have installed the latest driver recommended by both FDTI and Actisense, having given the installer full disk access. The computer can see the NGT-1, as confirmed by this terminal command:

 ioreg -p IOUSB -l | grep -i actisense -A 20
  |       "USB Vendor Name" = "Actisense"
  |       "Device Speed" = 1
  |       "idVendor" = 1027
  |       "kUSBProductString" = "NGT-1-A"
  |       "USB Serial Number" = "1B0D4"
  |       "IOGeneralInterest" = "IOCommand is not serializable"
  |       "kUSBAddress" = 1
  |       "kUSBVendorString" = "Actisense"
  |     }
  |

However, the driver does not show up as a device.

ls -l /dev/cu*
crw-rw-rw-  1 root  wheel  0x9000003  5 Jun 23:18 /dev/cu.Bluetooth-Incoming-Port
crw-rw-rw-  1 root  wheel  0x9000001  5 Jun 23:16 /dev/cu.debug-console

ChatGPT reckons this must be because the device ID (which it says is 0xD9AA) is not in the plist of permitted devices the driver may access. It has offered a very long and complex recipe for disabling system protections and editing the driver's plist. Of course, this may or may not be correct. I am reluctant to go down that route, especially as I rely on the MacBook while cruising.

So far, Actisense has been unable to help, beyond offering a 'test' driver, which is the same as the one on the FTDI site.

Is there any user with an Actisense NGT-1 connected by USB to a silicon Mac that can share the secret or perhaps the driver?

[stevead]

Have you granted permission to the NGT-1?

"Allow accessories to connect" buried under Systems Settings->Privacy and Security.

Recalling from some of the Mac code in the TwoCan plugin, does another ioreg command reveal anything useful?

ioreg -c IOSerialBSDClient -l

[Antipole]

Originally Posted by stevead

Have you granted permission to the NGT-1?

"Allow accessories to connect" buried under Systems Settings->Privacy and Security.

Recalling from some of the Mac code in the TwoCan plugin, does another ioreg command reveal anything useful?

ioreg -c IOSerialBSDClient -l

Can't find anything under Systems Settings->Privacy and Security. about NGT-1 or USB. And it did not ask for permission when I plugged it in.

Re the command

ioreg -c IOSerialBSDClient -l

yes three sections on Actisense. Can't attach text as bigger than 1k limit on this forum and it will not accept .zip

[bcn]

As always (re)name the attachment as xxx.txt.pdf or .jpg......

[stevead]

Can't find anything under Systems Settings->Privacy and Security. about NGT-1 or USB.

Have you selected "Allow" or "Automatically When Unlocked"?

. Can't attach text as bigger than 1k limit on this forum and it will not accept .zip

Rename it to one of the accepted filetypes: Eg. foobar.zip.pdf

[Antipole]

Here's the relevant part of the output.

Actisense.txt.pdf

[stevead]

Certainly looks as if it is recognized, correct Vendor ID.

But as you have observed, no tty devices appear/disappear Eg.

ls /dev/tty.* or ls /dev/cu.*

My only other thought is a permissions issue. Is anything untoward listed in the log in the Console App? Presumably the installation installs a Actisense/FTDI system extension, has it been allowed to load?

Hopefully there must be other NGT-1 users running on current Apple processors who can help.

[Aldebaran17]

I have it running on a MacBook Air M3 using the beta driver 1.5.0. of 2022-06-13 from this site: https://ftdichip.com/drivers/vcp-drivers/

However, I do not use it regularly. So, I can't tell if it still runs after the recent OS updates. I will check next weekend.

[Aldebaran17]

I was not aware that I have the actisense on board today, so I could test it right away.

My test was successful: MacBook Air M3, Sequoia 15.5, OpenCPN 5.11.

Here is the output of your commands:

ls -l /dev/cu*

crw-rw-rw-  1 root  wheel  0x9000005  6 Jun 00:00 /dev/cu.Bluetooth-Incoming-Port
crw-rw-rw-  1 root  wheel  0x9000001  7 Jun 06:25 /dev/cu.debug-console
crw-rw-rw-  1 root  wheel  0x9000003  7 Jun 06:25 /dev/cu.JabraEvolve265
crw-rw-rw-  1 root  wheel  0x9000007 10 Jun 07:00 /dev/cu.usbserial-33E20

The last entry is the actisense.

 ioreg -p IOUSB -l | grep -i actisense -A 20

      |     "USB Vendor Name" = "Actisense"
      |     "Device Speed" = 1
      |     "idVendor" = 1027
      |     "kUSBProductString" = "NGW-1"
      |     "USB Serial Number" = "33E20"
      |     "IOGeneralInterest" = "IOCommand is not serializable"
      |     "kUSBAddress" = 3
      |     "kUSBVendorString" = "Actisense"
      |   }
      |   
      +-o USB-C Digital AV Multiport Adapter@01120000  <class IOUSBHostDevice, id 0x1000ba397, registered, matched, active, busy 0 (45 ms), retain 22>
          {
            "sessionID" = 2719316509944
            "USBSpeed" = 1
            "idProduct" = 5219
            "iManufacturer" = 1
            "bDeviceClass" = 0
            "IOPowerManagement" = {"PowerOverrideOn"=Yes,"DevicePowerState"=2,"CurrentPowerState"=2,"CapabilityFlags"=32768,"MaxPowerState"=2,"DriverPowerState"=0}
            "bcdDevice" = 17664
            "bMaxPacketSize0" = 8
            "iProduct" = 2
            "iSerialNumber" = 3
            "bNumConfigurations" = 1
            "kUSBContainerID" = "8728236e-9302-4880-9f3b-ee4c7125c4e8"
            "UsbDeviceSignature" = <ac0563140045444c433135323330354b4e4b443536415a000000110000>
            "locationID" = 17956864
            "bDeviceSubClass" = 0
            "bcdUSB" = 513

Looking at the output here: could also be an issue with the USB-C to USB-A adapter. I used the Apple one, but used in the past also others.

Here are the connection settings in OpenCPN:



Good luck,

Manfred

[Antipole]

@Aldebaran17 Thank you for testing and the results.
I tried re-installing and it reports success.
Nothing in any of the console logs about it.

I am using a Sandberg USBA to USB-C converter.
The system report shows it can see the device, so unlikely it is the adaptor.

USB 3.1 Bus:
Host Controller Driver:	AppleT8112USBXHCI
NGT-1-A:
  Product ID:	0xd9aa
  Vendor ID:	0x0403  (Future Technology Devices International Limited)
  Version:	6.00
  Serial Number:	1B0D4
  Speed:	Up to 12 Mb/s
  Manufacturer:	Actisense
  Location ID:	0x01100000 / 1
  Current Available (mA):	500
  Current Required (mA):	100
  Extra Operating Current (mA):	0

I am using driver version FTDIUSBSerialDextInstaller_1_5_0
If yours is different, please advise and let me have a link to it.

Tony

[Aldebaran17]

Tony,

I use the same driver. Link was given above already. Here more specifically:

https://ftdichip.com/wp-content/uplo...ller_1_5_0.dmg


However, I use a Actisense NGW1, which transmits NMEA183 data on the USB connector. Your Actisense NGT-1 transmit N2K data on the USB connector. So, my connection settings do not apply to your device.

Do your LEDs blink every 10seconds to show that the actisense receives data?

Manfred

[Antipole]

Originally Posted by Aldebaran17

Do your LEDs blink every 10seconds to show that the actisense receives data?

Yes they do

[Aldebaran17]

I don't know what to recommend in terms of further test. I have no inside technical knowledge on all the components

Just one little point: since O just "recently" allowed to read N2K data natively, and since there are not many Mac users out there, maybe nobody ever has tested to read NSK via actisense on a Mac. So, possibly there is a bug/glitch in O nobody has discovered yet.

Could you test - independenly of O - if the Actisense sends data to the mac. My actisense is just sending data to a serial port, as probably yours does as well. So, any seriell monitor will be able to show the data.

I just misused the Arduino IDE on my Mac for this purpose. Not because it is the best tool for the job just because I have it installed and I used it in the past (for other purposes) and I can see data streaming in:

09:30:00.985 -> $HCHDM,312.1,M*28
09:30:00.985 -> $HCHDG,312.1,,,0,W*24
09:30:00.985 -> $IIMTW,14,C*08
09:30:00.985 -> $WIMWV,36.36,R,17.28,N,A*2F

Obviously, you have to use a different baud rate and your sentences will look differently, but there should be data streaming in.

Alternatively in the terminal, a command similar to this shall do as well:

sudo cu -s 38400 -l /dev/cu.usbserial-33E20