[duanejager]

Thanks Griffman. That means I'll stick with CrossOver. The only XP version I have is OEM and that's bound to be troublesome for an installation on my MBPro. Shame, because it supports a limited number of applications.

[kelake]

You talk really fast!

[longears]

I agree, it would be nice to not have multiple instances of Windows on your mac. I've run VB for a while now, and there is one huge advantage it has over Boot Camp - Snapshots. This allows you to roll your image back to a previous state. I generally will take a few snapshots of my VB installation: one after the initial install, one after all the updates, and a few along the way in case I install a program that I want to Truly uninstall.

Us mac users have come to appreciate the clean OS. We don't have to reinstall every couple of years like Windows users do. The snapshot option gives those of us who demand a clean product the option of reverting to a clean image instead of having to reinstall the whole OS.

This isn't unique to just VB. It is pretty standard for all virtualization apps.

With the performance being as good as it is, people like me don't need anything more than VB. And given it's snapshot capability, it is a dream come true. What's more? It's free.

db

[longears]

VB has an option to pass USB devices directly onto the virtual OS. Not sure if it has to be recognized on the host first or not. I have a Garmin GPS. Absolutely love the device - hate that it is only supported in Windows. I'll have to see if I can pass it through to VB.

Let me know if you are able to make it work. I'd love to compare notes.

db

[Schneb]

griffman said:

Schneb: I spoke with a Sun representative, and they mentioned both Boot Camp and DirectX support as important items on their roadmap -- so hopefully we'll see it in a future release.

Those are two biggies. Sun seems to have a better priority list than Apple these days! Go Sun!!

[atthecross]

VirtualBox says to use the net x command as a .bat file to get to a shared drive. tried it and it did not work.

What worked for me was adding the shared drive via network neighborhood. Works fine. I was about to drop $$ on the VMFusion software but this app suites my needs for e-Sword and PocketBible for Windows!

[caver01]

For anyone else that runs into this problem, I just downloaded the Virtual Box file which has an extra extension on it, .bz2. In other words, the disk image is not named correctly and double-clicking it launches Expander or other utilities to "unpack" the .dmg file. The now unpacked .dmg file is worthless. It won't mount. SO. . .

The solution is that you simply rename the download and remove that extra .bz2 extension. The file already is a disk image. Once renamed, she mounts no problem. I read in another forum that Sun is trying to fix file hosting or something so that this naming issue goes away. I figured others might run into this and not know what to do.

[caver01]

Ralph,

I think I may have just succeed where others have been failing with USB-to-Serial.

I have been trying a bunch of experiments to get my URC MX-850 editor to work (that's a Universal Remote Control brand universal remote control). The editor for the remote only runs in Windows, and uses a serial cable to program the remote. I LOVE the remote, but despise the lack of USB support (not to mention it's windows-only).

AHEM,
Here's what I did just now to get my Keyspan USA-19HS working in Virtual Box:
I am using XP Pro as my guest OS, so, unless you are setup the same, YMMV.

1. XP installed without a hitch, but it has no COM ports. Ok, fine. I hadn't turned them on in VB.

2. Installed the Keyspan drivers on my mac (Leopard, 10.5.4).

3. Downloaded SerialClient, the excellent app that seems to make this work.

4. Attached the Keyspan adapter.

5. In XP, went into ADD HARDWARE wizard and scrolled down to the bottom to add hardware I pick from a list. Basically, I wanted to force XP to setup an item in Device Manager for a COM port. The device was created, but for some reason, it ended up being a COM3, IRQ4, at address 3F8. (this is important in a moment)

6. Went into VB and edited Serial Ports. Picked Port0. For Port Number, I picked user-defined, and set it to IRQ 4, 3F8 as above. Port Mode is HOST PIPE, put a checkmark in the box Create Pipe, and enter path of "/tmp/serial" without the quotes. Ok to exit.

7. Now, finally, run the SerialClient software downloaded in #3 above. Make the stream path /tmp/serial just like #6 above. Select your serialport KeySerial1. Baud Rade is 115200 and defaults on the rest.

8. Restart XP and while it's coming up, go ahead and click CONNECT in SerailClient.

Windows now seems just fine with the COM3 I created. No yellow "!" in device manager. The Keyspan adapter LED is solid green.

Next, in XP, I headed into my remote control editor program and tried to talk to my remote via the USB-Serial cable. WOOHOO! It's working!

I know this is confusing, but I hope it helps. Good luck!

[rstrauch]

caver01 said:

I think I may have just succeed where others have been failing with USB-to-Serial.

I have been trying a bunch of experiments to get my URC MX-850 editor to work (that's a Universal Remote Control brand universal remote control). The editor for the remote only runs in Windows, and uses a serial cable to program the remote. I LOVE the remote, but despise the lack of USB support (not to mention it's windows-only).

Thanks, caver, for those detailed instructions. I'm getting ready to leave for a conference tomorrow and probably won't have time to play it VB for a couple of weeks, but I look forward to trying it out when I get the chance.

Ralph

[Schneb]

Caver,

Why not submit that as a hint here?
http://www.macosxhints.com/

[caver01]

Excellent idea. Just did that now. I have followed tips on there so many times I suppose it's time to give back. Thanks for the suggestion!

[atthecross]

ok, since installing this software i am getting system crashes on my iMac. Black screen and will only respond to a prolonged power button press, then when it boots back up it says the system restarted unexpectedly. Anyone else?


Model Name: iMac (aluminum)
Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo
Processor Speed: 2.4 GHz
Number Of Processors: 1
Total Number Of Cores: 2
L2 Cache: 4 MB
Memory: 4 GB
Bus Speed: 800 MHz
Boot ROM Version: IM71.007A.B03
SMC Version: 1.21f4

[caver01]

No crashes here. I am on a 2.2 GHz Core 2 Duo Macbook with 4 gigs of RAM. My system has been running 24/7 since installing this with no problems.

[rstrauch]

I'm trying to apply your hint to get my keyspan adapter working, caver, and not getting very far. What did you do to turn on the serial ports in Virtualbox? I'm guessing that's done in the Virtualbox Settings, but those are grayed our for me, both in the VB/Machine menu and the icons in the VB window, regardless of whether the VM is stopped or running. How do I get at those settings?

I did manage to create a com port in Windows, using the Add hardware wizard, but I can't seem to do anything with it. I guess tis is because the com port isn't turned on in VB.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Ralph