Rs-232c to USB driver

[Tusentakk2]

I have a Furuno GP-32 GPS that has a serial connection to my navigation PC. The old PC is dying so am switching to use Open Captain on my Mac. But cannot get the GPS to talk to the Mac since I don't have the correct driver to handle the RS-232c to USB connection. It should be either the FTDI or Prolific driver but I done't know which and cannot find any information. It is supposed to come with the device but my GPS is 18 years old.

Anyone have any ideas?

You only can install one of them. Thanks in advance for any help

 

[Taniwani]

The GPS and its age don't really matter, you need to find a seriell to USB or USB-C (depending on your Mac) converter that works with the MAC. I had several working fine on the Mac, but right now use one with USB Typ C-Port and Prolific PL-2303RA-Chipset, works fine without installing any additional drivers on the Mac.

 

[Taniwani]

I checked on this again, and now think that I had to allow the prolific driver to be activated in when updating to High Sierra as the driver ended up on the 'disabled software list'.

You can see what's on that list going to apple menu / about this Mac / System report / software / disabled software.

You have a possibility to enable (allow) it shortly after a restart going to system preferences / security & privacy.

Best to check it out is using SerialTools.

Hope this is of some help.

 

[Taniwani]

And one more thing. If you are unsure if your Serial-USB converter is based on prolific or FTDI, look in system report USB after plugging it in.

 

[Tusentakk2]

Taniwani - Thanks so much for your advice. I found that I have no software disabled but have a Prolific USB- Serial Controller installed - Product ID 0x2303 version 3.00. I downloaded the Serial Tools app and it never sees anything when I plug in the Serial to USB cable. The Serial connection/GPS works fine on the old Windows computer so it is alive and well, but the Mac does not see it. I have three different versions of the USB to Serial cable. Two were used on our Globalstar phone (different Windows versions required different cables years ago) and one we got sometime back. None allow the GPS to be recognized. Maybe need to find a cable like yours?

 

[Taniwani]

I have been using at least four different Serial-USB adapters in the last couple years on the Mac. The one with USB-C that I told you about is pretty new and I used it to verify that it is actually working correctly on the Mac. I also run Windows in Parallels virtual machine, so that most of these adapters are switched to the window side, where they certainly through the MAC USB hardware. But on and off I need them on the Mac side and it works also. Just that I can't confirm that I have tried all of them on OSX.

All the stuff is on the boat and I will be away from it for the next two weeks, so I can't check this out at the moment. One thing you should verify is, if the low level USB recognises your adapter. Go to 'About this Mac' select 'System Report' on 'Hardware' pick USB and check if it shows up on any of the channels. If it does, it tells you what chip it is and you just need the right driver. If it doesn't show up, you might really need another adapter.