CCS CDC USB Driver for Apple Mac - Bootloader ?

nurquhar · Joined: 05 Aug 2006 Posts: 149 Location: Redditch, UK

I have just started playing with the CCS USB example ex_usb_serial.c in combination with the PIC18F27J53 chip and CCS v4.133.

Seems to work fine from my WinXP m/c after installing the USB CDC drivers that come with the compiler. I haven't tried it yet but I assume the bootloader will work fine as well. ie. Download new program by sending the HEX file from Hyperterminal or PuTTY on the PC.

However what I could do with understanding is can how I could set this up to work from an Apple Mac m/c. I don't have a Mac and know little about them. However my customer only has a Mac and I want to be able to deliver firmware updates he can download into the PIC. Also I want him to be able to use a simple terminal program in combination with my application. Aka rs232 - dumb terminal operation via the USB port.

My customer seems have a reasonably new and powerful Laptop Mac with USB ports. However being an Artist he can do great things with Photoshop but USB drivers and serial ports are an alien concept to him so I would have to guide him though it. (The blind leading the blind eh ?)

Does the Mac need a CCS USB CDC driver install like my PC did ? None seems to be supplied for the Mac by CCS. Can I avoid the time sink of learning to write one ?

Out of the same curiosity I am also wondering if would need a special USB driver for Linux ? I have Raspberry Pi with Wheezy and a Kubuntu (Ubuntu) running in a VMware on my PC.

dbotkin · Joined: 08 Sep 2003 Posts: 197 Location: Omaha NE USA

The CDC device will automagically be recognized by Linux and (I think) Mac as well. Drivers are rolled into the standard build. When I connect my PIC devices to my Linux box, they show up as /dev/ttyACMx. On the Mac you'll need to figure out what device name they get.

As for software, on Linux I've used both minicom and just screen /dev/ttyACM0 9600. I believe Macs have screen, but it's not exactly Mac-user-friendly. Perhaps someone more Mac-aware can chime in with names of Mac terminal emulators that will let you transfer a text file unmolested. With my USB bootloader I usually just open up the HEX file in a text editor, select all, copy and paste it into a PuTTY window. I honestly haven't tried it with Linux.