MacOS: o-chart Dongle not detected

[Aldebaran17]

On my mac the USB Dongle is not detected any more. This could be related to an update of the OS a while ago.

The dongles (I own two) are working fine on a Raspberry, but are not detected on a Mac. In the logfile I found the following:

19:36:58.553 MESSAGE o-charts_pi.cpp:634 OSX LIB DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH: /Users/mr/Library/Application Support/OpenCPN/Contents/PlugIns
19:36:58.553 MESSAGE o-charts_pi.cpp:648 Path to oexserverd is: "/Users/mr/Library/Application Support/OpenCPN/Contents/PlugIns/oexserverd"
19:36:58.934 MESSAGE fpr.cpp:98 oexserverd results:
19:36:58.934 MESSAGE fpr.cpp:101 0
19:36:58.934 MESSAGE o-charts_pi.cpp:653 No Dongle detected

I am aware of the same issue a while ago, but as far as I understand the old threat it was related to a previous version of OpenCPN.

Thankful for any hint.

Manfred


OpenCPN 5.9.0, o-chart-plugin: 2.0.1.5
MacBook Air M1 2020

[bcn]

Here on our macMini with 5.9.0 (not for production..) that issue is not seen.


Everything running.

[Aldebaran17]

Thanks for your quick replay. However, it does not help me solve the problem.

I went back to OCPN 5.8.4, no change.

I have also checked with oexserverd, which does not see the dongle:

mr@Halfdome PlugIns % ./oexserverd -h
e4:57E20658
mr@Halfdome PlugIns % ./oexserverd -a
oexserverd Version 1.21

mr@Halfdome PlugIns % ./oexserverd -s
0
mr@Halfdome PlugIns %

Thus I believe, the issue is not with OpenCPN, but with MacOS.

Is there a way to test within in MacOS if the dongle is present or recognized, or available or whatever? Since MacOS is Unix-based, maybe someone fluent in Unix could give a hint.

I did something, which may be helpful to somebody:

mr@Halfdome PlugIns % ioreg -p IOUSB
+-o Root  <class IORegistryEntry, id 0x100000100, retain 28>
  +-o AppleT8103USBXHCI@00000000  <class AppleT8103USBXHCI, id 0x1000002ae, registered, matched, active, busy 0 $
  +-o AppleT8103USBXHCI@01000000  <class AppleT8103USBXHCI, id 0x1000002aa, registered, matched, active, busy 0 $
    +-o USB3.0 Hub@01200000  <class IOUSBHostDevice, id 0x100268445, registered, matched, active, busy 0 (6621 m$
      +-o USB3.0 Device@01230000  <class IOUSBHostDevice, id 0x1002684fc, registered, matched, active, busy 0 (6$
      +-o AX88179A@01240000  <class IOUSBHostDevice, id 0x100268595, registered, matched, active, busy 0 (285 ms$

As far as I understand it:
line 1 & 2 (Apple T810..) correspond to the two USB-C ports of may vomputer
line 3 (USB3.0 hub) corresponds to the USB-C to USB/HDMI/LAN adapter plugged in
line 4 (USB 3.0 Device..) is an external harddrive attached to it
line 5 (AX881...) is something else, coud be the USB-C connector of the adapter

and there is no line corresponding to the dongle, which is also plugged in.

[bcn]

You can as well just look at the device tree at the "AppleSymbol"|About this mac| --> More Information --> General --> System Information

[Aldebaran17]

This is more Mac like and so much more informative.

So, I plugged in the Dongle in my current computer (MacBook Air 2020 with Ventura 16.3.) and the dongle does not appear



Pluging in the same HArdware (Dongle plus UCB-C adapter) in a different computer with an older OS (Macbook Air 2019 with BigSur 11.4) the dongle shows:



It shows up under the USB3.0 bus, as a USB2.0 hub.

With the new OS, there is only a USB3.1 bus und consequenty no USB2.0.

As said before, it seems to be an issue with the OS or possibly an incompatibility with the Dongle and the newer OS?

Which IO does you computer use?

Best,

Manfred

[Aldebaran17]

This is more Mac like and so much more informative.

So, I plugged in the Dongle in my current computer (MacBook Air 2020 with Ventura 16.3.) and the dongle does not appear

Attachment 285443

Pluging in the same Hardware (Dongle plus UCB-C adapter) in a different computer with an older OS (Macbook Air 2019 with BigSur 11.4) the dongle shows:

Attachment 285444

It shows up under the USB3.0 bus, as a USB2.0 hub.

With the new OS, there is only a USB3.1 bus und consequently (?) no USB2.0.

As said before, it seems to be an issue with the OS or possibly an incompatibility with the Dongle and the newer OS?

Which OS does you computer use?

Best,

Manfred

[nohal]

The dongle works fine on macOS 14.2.1 on an Apple Silicon machine on my table. But it's an Air with only USB-C ports, so it is connected using an external USB hub. And that is also what is the generally recommended action for this kind of situations, use an USB hub.

[Aldebaran17]

Originally Posted by nohal

The dongle works fine on macOS 14.2.1 on an Apple Silicon machine on my table. But it's an Air with only USB-C ports, so it is connected using an external USB hub. And that is also what is the generally recommended action for this kind of situations, use an USB hub.

Same for me: Macbook Air with M1 processor, only USB-C ports, thus dongle is plugged in in a hub. Only difference: I use macOS 13.6.3.

So, I will have to update to Sonoma and report then.

Manfred

[bdbcat]

I use one of these. Works fine.


https://www.amazon.com/Syntech-Adapt...93&sr=8-6&th=1


Dave

[Aldebaran17]

So, yesterday, I had the chance to test the dongle with a variety of USB hubs on several MacBooks. The dongle always showed up as a USB2 device with all usb hubs, except on my computer. It is not the dongle, it is not the hub, it is not the version of the OS, it seems to be my computer. As a matter of fact no other USB2 devices show up on my computer as well. USB3 devices show up.

According to a - not exact - quote of Conan Doyle: after ruling out the conceivable explanations, the only remaining explanation, however improbable, must be the truth.

Thus, I believe it is the built in USB-C port dying slowly. Since I also have intermittent charging issues, it could very well be corrosion of the contacts of the USB-C board. Likely possibly when considering the amount of land and sea miles the computer has travelled in the past three years.

So, I will have to repair my computer. Keep you posted. And thanks for your inputs.

Manfred