Re: parallel port finally obsolete?

Neil

Interesting. Seems like a kludge, but nonetheless one that works OK. What sort of machines do you drive that way?

Some years ago, when EMC was first moving mainstream, I pointed out on this forum that a Mac running OSX was equally able to run Linux, and the absence of a parallel port appeared to be the only serious obstacle to EMC-on-Mac. The answer came back that that was all true, and in fact the only real obstacle was sufficient volunteers motivated to write the needed code. My guess is that is still true.

Also around that time there was a developer in Scotland who had a basic Mac motion control app running; Apple bought him out and after some further investment abandoned the project.

Steve

--- In CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO@yahoogroups.com, Neil Gillies <neil@...> wrote:
>
> @Steve
>
> As the other Mac user in the group :-)
>
> I've been looking for a decent mac cnc solution for at least 15 years LOL
>
> I currently use DeskCNC and have used it for a good number of years - probably the cleanest interface I've seen - it also uses a serial interface (it will work with emulation on the mac) ! I have been communicating with the programmer over a number of years and had been promised faithfully that they would have native Mac and Linux version of their software available to test for Xmas (2011) - sadly, nothing was forthcoming - I gave up waiting in the end.
> I do use LasaurGRBL on the arduino with my Mac to drive my laser cutter though, but that also seems to be taking an age to mature.
>
> Cheers
>
> Neil
>
> Sent from my iPad
>
> Sent from my iPad
>