[Flying V]

Hi,

I'm new to this group....I found it, while looking for information
related to a puzzling problem I've encountered.

At my day job, we're trying to upgrade our audio production tools--but
on a very tight budget. Our IT guys suggested purchasing a Mac Mini, to
be used on basic audio production projects (Radio Spot production, mostly).

The machine certainly has the processing power, to do this.

However, we're trying to use our Tascam US-122 (USB Audio Device) to get
audio into and out of the Mac....but the USB device won't power up.

I'm wondering if the Mac is able to provide sufficient power to the
device, via the USB connection? Or, if there's no way this is going to
work, as it cannot do so?

We also tried a USB hub, that supposedly also provides power to devices,
but still could not get the USB device to even power up.

Plugging back into the old PC works fine--the device powers up immediately.

Anyone here try this before? Did it work for you? If so, did you have
to do anything other than just plug it into the USB port?

Thanks!

Mike

[hank alrich]

Flying V wrote:

Hi,

I'm new to this group....I found it, while looking for information
related to a puzzling problem I've encountered.

At my day job, we're trying to upgrade our audio production tools--but
on a very tight budget. Our IT guys suggested purchasing a Mac Mini, to
be used on basic audio production projects (Radio Spot production, mostly).

The machine certainly has the processing power, to do this.

However, we're trying to use our Tascam US-122 (USB Audio Device) to get
audio into and out of the Mac....but the USB device won't power up.

I'm wondering if the Mac is able to provide sufficient power to the
device, via the USB connection? Or, if there's no way this is going to
work, as it cannot do so?

We also tried a USB hub, that supposedly also provides power to devices,
but still could not get the USB device to even power up.

Plugging back into the old PC works fine--the device powers up immediately.

Did you use the same exact USB cable for both systems?

Anyone here try this before? Did it work for you? If so, did you have
to do anything other than just plug it into the USB port?

I'm not familiar with that interface, but I have friends who are
successfully using Mac Minis and SUB interfaces. Can't see why this
shouldn't work, unless the USB cable is bad or the Mac Mini has a
problem.

--
shut up and play your guitar * http://hankalrich.com/
http://armadillomusicproductions.com/who'slistening.html
http://www.sonicbids.com/HankandShai...withDougHarman

[Michael Dines[_2_]]

Flying V wrote:

Hi,

I'm new to this group....I found it, while looking for information
related to a puzzling problem I've encountered.

At my day job, we're trying to upgrade our audio production tools--but
on a very tight budget. Our IT guys suggested purchasing a Mac Mini, to
be used on basic audio production projects (Radio Spot production, mostly).

The machine certainly has the processing power, to do this.

However, we're trying to use our Tascam US-122 (USB Audio Device) to get
audio into and out of the Mac....but the USB device won't power up.

I'm wondering if the Mac is able to provide sufficient power to the
device, via the USB connection? Or, if there's no way this is going to
work, as it cannot do so?

We also tried a USB hub, that supposedly also provides power to devices,
but still could not get the USB device to even power up.

Plugging back into the old PC works fine--the device powers up immediately.

Anyone here try this before? Did it work for you? If so, did you have
to do anything other than just plug it into the USB port?

Thanks!

Mike

I've got two Mac Minis one with ProTools Mbox Micro the other with a
'standard' Mbox, both power up via usb without any problems - so Mac
Minis can handle usb audio devices, and should power them up.

If you go to the Apple symbol in the menubar top left, click on About
this Mac, then click on the More info ... button that will bring up
System profiler. In the contents list go down to USB in the Hardware
section, that will show you everything connected to your usb busses.

If your Tascam US-122 shows there the Mac sees it, and maybe needs a
driver (I just looked up the US-122 and it said something about drivers
for Mac Core Audio).

What OS is the Mac running? The Tascam page mentions Tiger and Leopard,
nothing about Snow Leopard though.

You can download Mac drivers at

http://www.tascam.com/products/us-122;9,15,68,19.html

this may help.

[Mike Rivers]

Flying V wrote:

we're trying to use our Tascam US-122 (USB Audio Device) to get
audio into and out of the Mac....but the USB device won't power up.

I'm wondering if the Mac is able to provide sufficient power to the
device, via the USB connection? Or, if there's no way this is going to
work, as it cannot do so?

Rule #1173 applies he "No two systems are exactly alike
so no one can truly replicate your problem."

However, USB is a standard, and if there's a 6-pin USB
connector on the computer (no adapters required to connect
the US-122 to the USB port) it should work. That being said,
when I had a US-122 here to review several years ago, I
found that, although it would power up and work correctly
when connected to my laptop computer (a Dell, probably 8-9
years old now), when I switched on the phantom power, it
apparently drew enough current when starting the DC-DC
converter (to make the 48V mic power) that it would shut
itself down. It worked fine on my desktop computer.

I suppose the Mac Mini's USB port might just be
underpowered. I said there's a standard for USB external
device powering, but I've read at least three different
numbers for the maximum available current, ranging from 100
mA up to 500 mA. The specification page in the manual for
the US-122 lists power requirements as 500 mA max, so it's
possible that the inrush current when you connect it is
dragging down the voltage at the Mac's USB output enough so
the it never powers up.

Since you've already determined, by connecting it to another
computer, that it works, you might see if you can get it
going by connecting it to the Mac with the power off, then
powering up the Mac. Also, there's a driver disk (which
includes both OS-X and pre-OS-X drivers. These days we're
accustomed to not having to install any drivers for a simple
audio/MIDI device on a Mac, but if you haven't loaded the
driver, you might try that. The absence of any lights on the
US-122 panel doesn't necessarily mean that it's not powered,
it only means that it's not running.





--
"Today's production equipment is IT based and cannot be
operated without a passing knowledge of computing, although
it seems that it can be operated without a passing knowledge
of audio." - John Watkinson

[Flying V]

On 6/3/2010 2:27 PM, hank alrich wrote:
Flying wrote:

Hi,

I'm new to this group....I found it, while looking for information
related to a puzzling problem I've encountered.

At my day job, we're trying to upgrade our audio production tools--but
on a very tight budget. Our IT guys suggested purchasing a Mac Mini, to
be used on basic audio production projects (Radio Spot production, mostly).

The machine certainly has the processing power, to do this.

However, we're trying to use our Tascam US-122 (USB Audio Device) to get
audio into and out of the Mac....but the USB device won't power up.

I'm wondering if the Mac is able to provide sufficient power to the
device, via the USB connection? Or, if there's no way this is going to
work, as it cannot do so?

We also tried a USB hub, that supposedly also provides power to devices,
but still could not get the USB device to even power up.

Plugging back into the old PC works fine--the device powers up immediately.

Did you use the same exact USB cable for both systems?

Yes--same cable on both systems.


Anyone here try this before? Did it work for you? If so, did you have
to do anything other than just plug it into the USB port?

I'm not familiar with that interface, but I have friends who are
successfully using Mac Minis and SUB interfaces. Can't see why this
shouldn't work, unless the USB cable is bad or the Mac Mini has a
problem.


I may try a different cable, just in case.

Thanks!

Mike

[Flying V]

On 6/3/2010 2:46 PM, Michael Dines wrote:
Flying wrote:

Hi,

I'm new to this group....I found it, while looking for information
related to a puzzling problem I've encountered.

At my day job, we're trying to upgrade our audio production tools--but
on a very tight budget. Our IT guys suggested purchasing a Mac Mini, to
be used on basic audio production projects (Radio Spot production, mostly).

The machine certainly has the processing power, to do this.

However, we're trying to use our Tascam US-122 (USB Audio Device) to get
audio into and out of the Mac....but the USB device won't power up.

I'm wondering if the Mac is able to provide sufficient power to the
device, via the USB connection? Or, if there's no way this is going to
work, as it cannot do so?

We also tried a USB hub, that supposedly also provides power to devices,
but still could not get the USB device to even power up.

Plugging back into the old PC works fine--the device powers up immediately.

Anyone here try this before? Did it work for you? If so, did you have
to do anything other than just plug it into the USB port?

Thanks!

Mike

I've got two Mac Minis one with ProTools Mbox Micro the other with a
'standard' Mbox, both power up via usb without any problems - so Mac
Minis can handle usb audio devices, and should power them up.

If you go to the Apple symbol in the menubar top left, click on About
this Mac, then click on the More info ... button that will bring up
System profiler. In the contents list go down to USB in the Hardware
section, that will show you everything connected to your usb busses.

If your Tascam US-122 shows there the Mac sees it, and maybe needs a
driver (I just looked up the US-122 and it said something about drivers
for Mac Core Audio).

What OS is the Mac running? The Tascam page mentions Tiger and Leopard,
nothing about Snow Leopard though.

You can download Mac drivers at

http://www.tascam.com/products/us-122;9,15,68,19.html

this may help.


Thanks for your reply! We did download the driver for the US-122, but
that hasn't done the trick.

We're running Windows XP....could that cause a problem?

This configuration wasn't my idea....but I get to figure out why it's
not working.

yipee!

thanks again,

Mike

[Flying V]

On 6/3/2010 4:24 PM, Mike Rivers wrote:
Flying V wrote:

we're trying to use our Tascam US-122 (USB Audio Device) to get audio
into and out of the Mac....but the USB device won't power up.

I'm wondering if the Mac is able to provide sufficient power to the
device, via the USB connection? Or, if there's no way this is going to
work, as it cannot do so?

Rule #1173 applies he "No two systems are exactly alike so no one can
truly replicate your problem."

However, USB is a standard, and if there's a 6-pin USB connector on the
computer (no adapters required to connect the US-122 to the USB port) it
should work. That being said, when I had a US-122 here to review several
years ago, I found that, although it would power up and work correctly
when connected to my laptop computer (a Dell, probably 8-9 years old
now), when I switched on the phantom power, it apparently drew enough
current when starting the DC-DC converter (to make the 48V mic power)
that it would shut itself down. It worked fine on my desktop computer.

I suppose the Mac Mini's USB port might just be underpowered. I said
there's a standard for USB external device powering, but I've read at
least three different numbers for the maximum available current, ranging
from 100 mA up to 500 mA. The specification page in the manual for the
US-122 lists power requirements as 500 mA max, so it's possible that the
inrush current when you connect it is dragging down the voltage at the
Mac's USB output enough so the it never powers up.

Since you've already determined, by connecting it to another computer,
that it works, you might see if you can get it going by connecting it to
the Mac with the power off, then powering up the Mac. Also, there's a
driver disk (which includes both OS-X and pre-OS-X drivers. These days
we're accustomed to not having to install any drivers for a simple
audio/MIDI device on a Mac, but if you haven't loaded the driver, you
might try that. The absence of any lights on the US-122 panel doesn't
necessarily mean that it's not powered, it only means that it's not
running.







Thanks! I appreciate your reply! We're running Windows XP on this
machine...and we did download the driver. I don't think we tried a
complete power down and restart, to see if that might do it. I'll try that.

Our IT guy did find some discussion in a user forum, where others had
found the USB connections to be underpowered on Mini Macs. 500 mA seems
like a good chunk of current to draw via a USB port....but then, I'm no
computer expert!

One other suggestion our IT guy had....we should try using a USB hub
that also supplies power. Maybe we'll give that a shot, too.

I'll keep working on it....

thanks again,

Mike

[Swanny[_2_]]

Flying V wrote:
Hi,

I'm new to this group....I found it, while looking for information
related to a puzzling problem I've encountered.

At my day job, we're trying to upgrade our audio production tools--but
on a very tight budget. Our IT guys suggested purchasing a Mac Mini, to
be used on basic audio production projects (Radio Spot production, mostly).

The machine certainly has the processing power, to do this.

However, we're trying to use our Tascam US-122 (USB Audio Device) to get
audio into and out of the Mac....but the USB device won't power up.

I'm wondering if the Mac is able to provide sufficient power to the
device, via the USB connection? Or, if there's no way this is going to
work, as it cannot do so?

We also tried a USB hub, that supposedly also provides power to devices,
but still could not get the USB device to even power up.

Plugging back into the old PC works fine--the device powers up immediately.

Anyone here try this before? Did it work for you? If so, did you have
to do anything other than just plug it into the USB port?

Thanks!

Mike


You may also want to pay attention to the hard disc in Mac Minis, they
are laptop drives which spin at 5400RPM and can be slower than the
larger desktop drives. There are some 7200RPM 2.5" drives available and
using one of these instead may alleviate any future problems with
getting the data on and off the disc in time to prevent glitches and
dropouts.

[Scott Dorsey]

Mike Rivers wrote:
However, USB is a standard, and if there's a 6-pin USB
connector on the computer (no adapters required to connect
the US-122 to the USB port) it should work. That being said,
when I had a US-122 here to review several years ago, I
found that, although it would power up and work correctly
when connected to my laptop computer (a Dell, probably 8-9
years old now), when I switched on the phantom power, it
apparently drew enough current when starting the DC-DC
converter (to make the 48V mic power) that it would shut
itself down. It worked fine on my desktop computer.

The 122 violates the USB power specs, but then again a lot of other
things do also. However, the original poster reports he tried it with
a hub, and that this didn't help. It doesn't violate them THAT much.
This makes me think it's not a powering issue but that the driver has to
talk to the 122 to wake it up and the Mac Mini does not have anything that
will talk properly do it. Do a dmesg on the Mac Mini and see if there are
any usb errors reported by the kernal.
--scott

--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

[Michael Dines[_2_]]

Flying V wrote:

On 6/3/2010 2:46 PM, Michael Dines wrote:
Flying wrote:

Hi,

I'm new to this group....I found it, while looking for information
related to a puzzling problem I've encountered.

At my day job, we're trying to upgrade our audio production tools--but
on a very tight budget. Our IT guys suggested purchasing a Mac Mini, to
be used on basic audio production projects (Radio Spot production, mostly).

The machine certainly has the processing power, to do this.

However, we're trying to use our Tascam US-122 (USB Audio Device) to get
audio into and out of the Mac....but the USB device won't power up.

I'm wondering if the Mac is able to provide sufficient power to the
device, via the USB connection? Or, if there's no way this is going to
work, as it cannot do so?

We also tried a USB hub, that supposedly also provides power to devices,
but still could not get the USB device to even power up.

Plugging back into the old PC works fine--the device powers up immediately.

Anyone here try this before? Did it work for you? If so, did you have
to do anything other than just plug it into the USB port?

Thanks!

Mike

I've got two Mac Minis one with ProTools Mbox Micro the other with a
'standard' Mbox, both power up via usb without any problems - so Mac
Minis can handle usb audio devices, and should power them up.

If you go to the Apple symbol in the menubar top left, click on About
this Mac, then click on the More info ... button that will bring up
System profiler. In the contents list go down to USB in the Hardware
section, that will show you everything connected to your usb busses.

If your Tascam US-122 shows there the Mac sees it, and maybe needs a
driver (I just looked up the US-122 and it said something about drivers
for Mac Core Audio).

What OS is the Mac running? The Tascam page mentions Tiger and Leopard,
nothing about Snow Leopard though.

You can download Mac drivers at

http://www.tascam.com/products/us-122;9,15,68,19.html

this may help.


Thanks for your reply! We did download the driver for the US-122, but
that hasn't done the trick.

We're running Windows XP....could that cause a problem?

This configuration wasn't my idea....but I get to figure out why it's
not working.

yipee!

thanks again,

Mike

I don't quite understand - you're running Windows XP on the Mac?

If you are that will lose the Mini's processing advantages as you'll be
running XP in a virtual machine (I think this applies even with
BootCamp). Also there are probably problems with getting XP to run usb
connections properly in this configuration.

I've not had problems with either of my Minis powering via usb, although
I don't know what the Mbox requires.

If you are running XP on the Mini I'd advise booting it in the Mac OS,
installing the Mac drivers, and then seeing if your US-122 will power up
from the Mini.

Which DAW program do you use for your Radio Spot productions? If there's
a Mac equivalent you could install that on the Mini and run everything
natively in OSX - so long as the final output is wav files the
originating platform doesn't matter.

Oh, and just to add to your woes, if you are going to use the Mini for
recording and post, you really need something like an Iomega Minimax, an
external hard drive which connects to the Mini by firewire and spins at
7200, to keep the DAW stuff separate from the OS.

[Joe Mama]

On 4/06/2010 9:15 AM, Michael Dines wrote:

I don't quite understand - you're running Windows XP on the Mac?

If you are that will lose the Mini's processing advantages as you'll be
running XP in a virtual machine (I think this applies even with
BootCamp).


Nope, BC lets you install Windows to its own boot drive, and run
normally on an Intel Mac. You lose no processing advantages, apart from
differences inherent with MacOS vs. Windows. For raw power, it'll be
functionally the same in either OS.

[Scott Dorsey]

Joe Mama wrote:
On 4/06/2010 9:15 AM, Michael Dines wrote:

I don't quite understand - you're running Windows XP on the Mac?

If you are that will lose the Mini's processing advantages as you'll be
running XP in a virtual machine (I think this applies even with
BootCamp).

Nope, BC lets you install Windows to its own boot drive, and run
normally on an Intel Mac. You lose no processing advantages, apart from
differences inherent with MacOS vs. Windows. For raw power, it'll be
functionally the same in either OS.

This is sort of a weird configuration.

I'd first see if you can get the thing to work under OSX before worrying
about odd stuff. If you can't get it to work under OSX, you can get support
on that.
--scott

--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

[Mike Rivers]

Swanny wrote:

You may also want to pay attention to the hard disc in Mac Minis, they
are laptop drives which spin at 5400RPM and can be slower than the
larger desktop drives.

That might be important if you're punching in on 48 tracks
but a 5400 RPM drive is no problem for a 2-track recording
device like the US-122. His real problem is that it doesn't
work at all, not that it sputters and coughs.


--
"Today's production equipment is IT based and cannot be
operated without a passing knowledge of computing, although
it seems that it can be operated without a passing knowledge
of audio." - John Watkinson

[Mike Rivers]

Scott Dorsey wrote:

The 122 violates the USB power specs, but then again a lot of other
things do also.

You betcha. I measured a peak of about 4A for a few
milliseconds when switching on phantom power.


--
"Today's production equipment is IT based and cannot be
operated without a passing knowledge of computing, although
it seems that it can be operated without a passing knowledge
of audio." - John Watkinson

[Arny Krueger]

"Flying V" wrote in message



One other suggestion our IT guy had....we should try
using a USB hub that also supplies power. Maybe we'll give that a shot,
too.

That was good advice. It should do the trick, if the problem was lame,
underpowered USB ports on the Mac.

[Joe Mama]

On 4/06/2010 10:08 AM, Scott Dorsey wrote:
Joe wrote:
On 4/06/2010 9:15 AM, Michael Dines wrote:

I don't quite understand - you're running Windows XP on the Mac?

If you are that will lose the Mini's processing advantages as you'll be
running XP in a virtual machine (I think this applies even with
BootCamp).

Nope, BC lets you install Windows to its own boot drive, and run
normally on an Intel Mac. You lose no processing advantages, apart from
differences inherent with MacOS vs. Windows. For raw power, it'll be
functionally the same in either OS.

This is sort of a weird configuration.

I'd first see if you can get the thing to work under OSX before worrying
about odd stuff. If you can't get it to work under OSX, you can get support
on that.
--scott

Well, I wasn't speaking to the weirdness of it (I don't personally think
it's all that weird - I have a Mac Pro, an iMac, and a MacBook Pro all
happily dual booting various flavors of OSX and Windows), but rather to
Michael's assertion that one would theoretically lose any processing
advantages by installing one OS over another.

Cheers,
-joe.

[Scott Dorsey]

Joe Mama wrote:

Well, I wasn't speaking to the weirdness of it (I don't personally think
it's all that weird - I have a Mac Pro, an iMac, and a MacBook Pro all
happily dual booting various flavors of OSX and Windows), but rather to
Michael's assertion that one would theoretically lose any processing
advantages by installing one OS over another.

I have no idea about processing advantages, and it doesn't matter. Right
now the most important thing is to have a configuration that is supported
so you can get help from the support folks at the vendor.
--scott

--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

[Flying V]

On 6/3/2010 6:15 PM, Michael Dines wrote:
Flying wrote:

On 6/3/2010 2:46 PM, Michael Dines wrote:
Flying wrote:

Hi,

I'm new to this group....I found it, while looking for information
related to a puzzling problem I've encountered.

At my day job, we're trying to upgrade our audio production tools--but
on a very tight budget. Our IT guys suggested purchasing a Mac Mini, to
be used on basic audio production projects (Radio Spot production, mostly).

The machine certainly has the processing power, to do this.

However, we're trying to use our Tascam US-122 (USB Audio Device) to get
audio into and out of the Mac....but the USB device won't power up.

I'm wondering if the Mac is able to provide sufficient power to the
device, via the USB connection? Or, if there's no way this is going to
work, as it cannot do so?

We also tried a USB hub, that supposedly also provides power to devices,
but still could not get the USB device to even power up.

Plugging back into the old PC works fine--the device powers up immediately.

Anyone here try this before? Did it work for you? If so, did you have
to do anything other than just plug it into the USB port?

Thanks!

Mike

I've got two Mac Minis one with ProTools Mbox Micro the other with a
'standard' Mbox, both power up via usb without any problems - so Mac
Minis can handle usb audio devices, and should power them up.

If you go to the Apple symbol in the menubar top left, click on About
this Mac, then click on the More info ... button that will bring up
System profiler. In the contents list go down to USB in the Hardware
section, that will show you everything connected to your usb busses.

If your Tascam US-122 shows there the Mac sees it, and maybe needs a
driver (I just looked up the US-122 and it said something about drivers
for Mac Core Audio).

What OS is the Mac running? The Tascam page mentions Tiger and Leopard,
nothing about Snow Leopard though.

You can download Mac drivers at

http://www.tascam.com/products/us-122;9,15,68,19.html

this may help.


Thanks for your reply! We did download the driver for the US-122, but
that hasn't done the trick.

We're running Windows XP....could that cause a problem?

This configuration wasn't my idea....but I get to figure out why it's
not working.

yipee!

thanks again,

Mike

I don't quite understand - you're running Windows XP on the Mac?

If you are that will lose the Mini's processing advantages as you'll be
running XP in a virtual machine (I think this applies even with
BootCamp). Also there are probably problems with getting XP to run usb
connections properly in this configuration.

I've not had problems with either of my Minis powering via usb, although
I don't know what the Mbox requires.

If you are running XP on the Mini I'd advise booting it in the Mac OS,
installing the Mac drivers, and then seeing if your US-122 will power up
from the Mini.

Which DAW program do you use for your Radio Spot productions? If there's
a Mac equivalent you could install that on the Mini and run everything
natively in OSX - so long as the final output is wav files the
originating platform doesn't matter.

Oh, and just to add to your woes, if you are going to use the Mini for
recording and post, you really need something like an Iomega Minimax, an
external hard drive which connects to the Mini by firewire and spins at
7200, to keep the DAW stuff separate from the OS.




Yikes....well, this is what happens when your IT folks don't truly
understand what you're doing and what you need to do it!

We use Adobe Audition for our production. I'm guessing that will run on
Mac's, as it's a very well known/used program.

This is my first time using a Mac for anything...and I wondered if this
particular box would be up to the task.

Perhaps, not....

thanks,

Mike

[Flying V]

On 6/3/2010 11:30 AM, Flying V wrote:
Hi,

I'm new to this group....I found it, while looking for information
related to a puzzling problem I've encountered.

At my day job, we're trying to upgrade our audio production tools--but
on a very tight budget. Our IT guys suggested purchasing a Mac Mini, to
be used on basic audio production projects (Radio Spot production, mostly).

The machine certainly has the processing power, to do this.

However, we're trying to use our Tascam US-122 (USB Audio Device) to get
audio into and out of the Mac....but the USB device won't power up.

I'm wondering if the Mac is able to provide sufficient power to the
device, via the USB connection? Or, if there's no way this is going to
work, as it cannot do so?

We also tried a USB hub, that supposedly also provides power to devices,
but still could not get the USB device to even power up.

Plugging back into the old PC works fine--the device powers up immediately.

Anyone here try this before? Did it work for you? If so, did you have to
do anything other than just plug it into the USB port?

Thanks!

Mike



Thanks to everyone who commented on my post! I've got the USB audio
device running now--the Mac Mini is able to power it, after all.

The problem....we grabbed the wrong driver!

Partly my fault, as I should have caught this. We had installed the
driver for the US-122 MkII....but our device is NOT a MkII.

Once I downloaded and installed the correct driver, the unit powered
right up!

Doh!!

All that's left, is to configure Audition and we should be OK.

Thanks again,

Mike

[Joe Mama]

On 4/06/2010 10:56 PM, Scott Dorsey wrote:
Joe wrote:

Well, I wasn't speaking to the weirdness of it (I don't personally think
it's all that weird - I have a Mac Pro, an iMac, and a MacBook Pro all
happily dual booting various flavors of OSX and Windows), but rather to
Michael's assertion that one would theoretically lose any processing
advantages by installing one OS over another.

I have no idea about processing advantages, and it doesn't matter. Right
now the most important thing is to have a configuration that is supported
so you can get help from the support folks at the vendor.
--scott

So this particular piece of hardware wouldn't be supported when running
on a Windows PC?

I'm confused now.

My point here is that once you install a version of Windows on a Mac
(via Bootcamp or otherwise), you're essentially running a Windows
machine. It's not weird or odd, it's not emulation, it's not virtual,
it's not anything else. You have, for all intents and purposes, a "PC"
running Windows. So if said product is supported on Windows and has
Windows drivers, then it should work (and be supported) on a Mac just as
it would be on a Dell or HP or what have you. If the product has arcane
hardware requirements, that's another kettle of fish, but the OS should
have little, if anything, to do with it.

[Scott Dorsey]

Joe Mama wrote:
On 4/06/2010 10:56 PM, Scott Dorsey wrote:
Joe wrote:

Well, I wasn't speaking to the weirdness of it (I don't personally think
it's all that weird - I have a Mac Pro, an iMac, and a MacBook Pro all
happily dual booting various flavors of OSX and Windows), but rather to
Michael's assertion that one would theoretically lose any processing
advantages by installing one OS over another.

I have no idea about processing advantages, and it doesn't matter. Right
now the most important thing is to have a configuration that is supported
so you can get help from the support folks at the vendor.

So this particular piece of hardware wouldn't be supported when running
on a Windows PC?

It would be. But if you call up the tech support folks and tell them you
are running it under Windows on a Mac, they will freak out. There may be
nothing unusual about the configuration, but they will still freak out.

My point here is that once you install a version of Windows on a Mac
(via Bootcamp or otherwise), you're essentially running a Windows
machine. It's not weird or odd, it's not emulation, it's not virtual,
it's not anything else. You have, for all intents and purposes, a "PC"
running Windows. So if said product is supported on Windows and has
Windows drivers, then it should work (and be supported) on a Mac just as
it would be on a Dell or HP or what have you. If the product has arcane
hardware requirements, that's another kettle of fish, but the OS should
have little, if anything, to do with it.

You know that, but the people on the support hotline don't know that. Get
the thing set up in a supported configuration, then call the support people
and go through it. If you can get it working in their supported configuration,
you'll probably then know what to do to get it working an another one.
--scott

--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

[Joe Mama]

On 6/06/2010 1:35 PM, Scott Dorsey wrote:
Joe wrote:
On 4/06/2010 10:56 PM, Scott Dorsey wrote:
Joe wrote:

Well, I wasn't speaking to the weirdness of it (I don't personally think
it's all that weird - I have a Mac Pro, an iMac, and a MacBook Pro all
happily dual booting various flavors of OSX and Windows), but rather to
Michael's assertion that one would theoretically lose any processing
advantages by installing one OS over another.

I have no idea about processing advantages, and it doesn't matter. Right
now the most important thing is to have a configuration that is supported
so you can get help from the support folks at the vendor.

So this particular piece of hardware wouldn't be supported when running
on a Windows PC?

It would be. But if you call up the tech support folks and tell them you
are running it under Windows on a Mac, they will freak out. There may be
nothing unusual about the configuration, but they will still freak out.

You *could* always just tell them the specs from a PC-centric
standpoint, but I get what you mean.

My point here is that once you install a version of Windows on a Mac
(via Bootcamp or otherwise), you're essentially running a Windows
machine. It's not weird or odd, it's not emulation, it's not virtual,
it's not anything else. You have, for all intents and purposes, a "PC"
running Windows. So if said product is supported on Windows and has
Windows drivers, then it should work (and be supported) on a Mac just as
it would be on a Dell or HP or what have you. If the product has arcane
hardware requirements, that's another kettle of fish, but the OS should
have little, if anything, to do with it.

You know that, but the people on the support hotline don't know that. Get
the thing set up in a supported configuration, then call the support people
and go through it. If you can get it working in their supported configuration,
you'll probably then know what to do to get it working an another one.
--scott

Yeah, that makes sense. It probably seemed like I was arguing against
this way of thinking, but I do agree with it.

The amount of misinformation floating around WRT
Bootcamp/Windows-on-a-Mac is frustrating though, so I wanted to address
that.

Cheers,
-joe.