PicoScope 6 Beta Release for Mac OSX

[mario_]

The long-awaited native version of PicoScope 6 for Mac OS X is on the way. We have just decided to release the current beta build to the public.

To get your copy, go to Pico Labs: http://labs.picotech.com/#mac and download the archive provided. Once downloaded, it can be expanded in Finder (double-click) and moved to the desired location (usually Application).

There is a dependency on the Mono runtime environment (Mono MRE). To get it, go to http://www.go-mono.com/mono-downloads/download.html and download the latest version from the 3.4 series. It comes with its own installer to be used on your system.

Feature-wise we were aiming first to get it in line with the Linux release. While the Linux release is getting closer to feature parity, we expect the Mac OS X release to follow it soon. Drivers don't use libusb - they are built to use the native IOKit framework to communicate with USB. However, as this is a beta release, users may experience some issues with both the UI and device communication. Also the installation procedure is far from ideal, and we would like to have software distributed via Apple Store. We look forward to any reports and user experience details on how the software behaves, so please don't keep it to yourself - share it here.

There were also requests for drivers and SDKs for Mac. For now, the beta version provides that to some extent (and is mainly aimed at experts). Inside the PicoScope6.app folder (cmd-click in Finder and show package contents) you get Contents/Resources with libraries, headers and example programs. Examples are provided as for Linux, using autotools for configuration. Use brew or macports to get those on your system. Libraries are compiled to universal format including x86_64 and i386 binaries.

We hope you find this release great news. We are still working on the Mac OS X version and soon you won't be booting to Windows, using third-party emulation tools or carrying a Windows laptop to use our products.

[KennyM]

Oh dear, It requires Mono, and there's just no way I'm installing Mono on my mac.

[Jeremys]

crashes when I try to "save as" or "save settings as"

I often want to do many slow waveforms over a 20 second screen with lw resolution (100S/s is fine) to keep size down for spreadshet analysis. Curent version does not seem to go belo 750S/s and 15kS on a 2s/div screen timebase.

[BryceM]

I have the same issue as Jeremys, the program crashes when using Save As. One instance required a force reboot of the machine. That is a pretty basic issue.

[BryceM]

The file save crash is fixed with 10.1.10 patch but text files are only saving a part of the file - I have a 40 Sec trace with a sample rate of 0.0005 secs. Windows version saves full file but Mac version is only saving approx 8 secs worth.

Also calculated channels do not seem to be available ?

[Hitesh]

Hi BryceM,

Could you please post the .psdata file here or e-mail it to support@picotech.com indicating your device please so that your settings can be used to test the software?

Many thanks,

[mario_]

The version mentioned by Bryce is now available to broader audience: PicoScope 6.10.1.10 for Mac OSX

We have looked into waveform save problem and fixed it, yet it might require more work.

Also this new version has complete set of drivers included - even those not used in PicoScope: usbpt104, usbtc08 and plcm3.

The problem with poor responsiveness and loosing focus on controls seems to be linked somehow to the screen sharing. It might be worth switching it off to see if helps. We continue to look for fix for that.

Mono allows us to run code across all platforms. Personally I don't see any greater issues with putting it on the system other than taking a bit of disk space. Kenny, could you elaborate your worries?


Regards,
Mario

[BryceM]

Mario,

I have just e-mailed sample files to the support mail address.

Bryce

[Hitesh]

Hi Bryce,

Your e-mail has been received in our Support system.

I've been testing to see if I can replicate the issue here using PicoScope 6.10.1.10 Beta but am unable to do so.

I'll contact you through your support ticket - please click Help -> About PicoScope 6 Beta... and confirm the details shown in the dialog.

Thanks,

[anton.pt]

Thanks for the hard work that's gone into this: I look forward to using it!

Just a small note, as you mentioned that you aim to have the application distributed via the Mac App store in the first post: I highly doubt that the App store guidelines will permit you to submit a Mono application. I wouldn't have thought that this would be a big problem for you, considering your target audience. Us Mac users tend to be a picky bunch and we like our apps to be good platform citizens following the Apple design guidelines and culture but frankly, this is infinitely better than dual booting my Mac or running the PicoScope software in a VM so I'm quite happy!

If you did want to explore a native solution eventually, it's probably worth waiting for Apple's Swift programming language and APIs to be mature enough that you don't have to rely much on Objective-C APIs which will probably be getting deprecated over the next couple of years.

Personally, I am most interested in having native Mac drivers so this release suits me just fine!

[Audioguy]

Hi

I'm on Mac OSX 10.6.8 on my everyday machine and have no plans "downgrading" to a more recent OS.

It's not possible to install Mono on the older OS 10.6.8 which means I'm out of luck using Pico on my Mac without re-booting to my bootcamp Windows installation.

Will this always be the case or can I expect a Mac version of Pico 6 that can be installed on 10.6.8?

I was really glad to first read about Pico for Mac (been hoping and waiting for it for 5 years) but then disappointed when I found out it's not compatible with 10.6.8.

[hitchhikingmike]

OMG!

OMG!!

Picoscope for Macintosh!!! Its about time!!!


THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WORKS GREAT IN OSX.9 IN 13" MACBOOKR PRO RETINA!!!!!

THIS IS THE BEST NEWS I'VE HEARD ALL WEEK!!!

I WANT TO INDIVIDUALLY KISS EACH DEVELOPER THAT HELPED BRING THIS TO OSX!!!

I look forward to the future releases.

Thanks.

[mario_]

The new version is now available: PicoScope 6.10.1.22 for Mac OSX

It adds same set of features as in Linux release, highlighting AWG control dialogue and support for new set of devices.


Mario

[swwa]

Great, PicoScope and Mac are a nice team
Thanks for adding the support of Mac!

I run 6.10.1.22 on a 13" MacBook Pro with OSX 10.8.5. and a Picoscope 2205.
The only issue I noticed is the high load the software has on MacOS. One CPU goes to 100%.
I did not notice that on Windows and Linux.

Best Regards
swwa

[mario_]

We have produced another version of PicoScope 6 for MacOSX - 6.10.1.37, which can be now downloaded from download section of our website. It provides support for new 3000 devices and also start up speed has been improved. The persistent issue of UI being sticky is now less frequent - but only after updating mono installation to newest version - 3.12.

This new version has been built on newest release of SDK and tested on 10.9 and 10.10 versions of OSX. The support for 10.8 has been removed. Libraries built on SDK 10.8 fail on OSX 10.10 and vice-versa. We have decided to not to maintain two sets of packages at this time.

The latest version supporting 10.8 is 6.10.1.22 available here