Velocitek SC-1 and Mac OS X Leopard
I managed to get the Velocitek SC-1 working on my MacBook Pro running OS X version 10.5.2 after a whole lot of effort!
Parallels 3.0 running Windows XP wouldn’t work. I tried for several hours.
I did get the Windows OS to see the units via the USB ports using Parallels and the Velocitek Control Panel software did see each of them too but the firmware update only ran to about 85% before throwing an error. Many attempts either didn’t start because of an error or it only made it to 5% before quitting. Most didn’t even attempt to start without the error message popping up.
Here’s what worked.
Today I installed VMWare Fusion for OS X and reinstalled Windows XP.
Everything went smoothly until I got to the point of doing the firmware updates. The control panel software started throwing errors and that was if it could even get started (again)!
I tried and tried everything I could think of and here is what worked:
- Turn off the Velocitek Control Panel software
- Unplug the SC-1 from the computer
- Remove the batteries
- Put the batteries back in
- Plug the SC-1 back up to the computer
- Start the control panel software
- Run the firmware update
I did this twice with two units. Only in this specific order would the firmware upgrade work but I finally got it.
I was determined to make VMWare play nice with the SC-1’s and now I’m wondering if I just didn’t give Parallels enough trial and error effort.
Anyway… tonight, I used it to map my trip home from work (max speed was 32 knots).
Again though, when plugging in the unit, I had to remove the batteries, then put them back in before plugging in to the computer and starting the control panel software to download the track.
I’ll post again after the first use on the boat, possibly Saturday afternoon. I can’t wait!
May 29th, 2008 at 10:16 pm
Hi Bill,
How are you coming along using your MacBook Pro and the Velocitek? I’m going to have to install Windows on my Macbook Pro as well and thought I’d give you a shout and hope you have some further insights and suggestions for another Mac user.
Warm regards,
Tom Dignam
Still Pond, MD
May 30th, 2008 at 6:05 am
Hey Tom,
Everything is going well. I loaded VMware Fusion and with that program loaded Windows XP, then the Velocitek software and everything is working perfectly. I could not get Parallels 3.0 to recognize the SC-1 on the USB port.
With VMware Fusion, the only oddity is that I have to take one battery out of the SC-1 and then put it back in before I plug it in to the USB port so that XP sees the unit. It is really not a problem.
I did download the latest version of GPS Action Replay directly from their site at http://www.gpsactionreplay.com because there is a JAVA version that runs on the Mac side for replaying races and viewing tracks, etc. without needing to fire up Windows.
The only thing I need Windows for now is to export the data out of the SC-1 and to do the Velocitek firmware updates. There was a firmware update the week after I got everything up and running. That update went smoothly.
I store the raw data in the default folders on the Windows side and also copy them to race date folders on the Mac side just to make things easier when I want to review or show off to friends.
I am still learning to use the unit on the water but the computer part after I get home is going well.
I am using a MacBook Pro with OS X Version 10.5.2 and a 2.16 GHZ Intel Core 2 Duo processor with 4 GB of RAM.
Bill