OSX 'Snow Leopard' Support

Software
1

height=“500”>Hey all, received shipping confirmation on my new XXL today, so working to prepare some space in my shop. I built a table to support it, and a separate bench to house my Mac Mini to run it (pic attached just 'cuz!) All is well, until I try to install Carbide Create & Carbide Motion on the Mac… it’s a mid 2007 unit (1.83GHZ Core 2 Duo, 1Gb, 80GB HDD, OSX Snow Leopard) - it’s not much, but I thought it’d be fine to run the SW… apparently I thought wrong.

Please tell me I’m not going to have to retire/replace this old work horse in order to operate my new tool??

<img src="/uploads/default/original/2X/9/94a3257425d4b8c5f6c5d88fe3956a680c365a7e.JPG" width=“666”

2

I’ll try that again…

IMG_2391.JPG1632×1224 568 KB

2 Likes
3

If you wish to use Carbide Motion, then yes, I believe it will be necessary to update or replace the machine.

If you’re not using Carbide Create, you can use any communication / control program you might wish — the community maintains a list of them here: http://www.shapeoko.com/wiki/index.php/Communication_/_Control

4

Thanks for the prompt reply, Will. I’d like to start with the SW tools that come with the machine for now.

My wife’s firm have a bunch of “old” (but not really - they’re 2 years old!) computers that they’re offering to employees to purchase ‘cheap’. They are Windows-based notebooks & desktop machines… I run OSX exclusively at home for my other machines, so I’m long out of the loop in terms of min specs for a Windows-based 'poota, capable of running Carbide Create/Motion.

I did check online and found spec requirements for Carbide Motion (http://docs.carbide3d.com/article/26-carbide-motion-min-requirements), but couldn’t locate anything documented for Carbide Create - can anyone help? (or: any reason for them to differ?)

Also: Can I transfer files between OS without issue? (i.e.: use Carbide Create (MAC), then use Carbide Motion (WINDOWS))

5

Carbide Create seems to have pretty much the same system requirements as Carbide Motion, but has a few additional considerations:

  • needs a screen with more than 800 pixels of vertical height — I use it on a small tablet w/ a 1280 x 800 display, and it’s a pain constantly having to scroll the various panes of settings — high resolution screen settings may affect this — I don’t know
  • may want / be able to make use of more RAM and faster processor — this for the 3D simulation

For CM, some additional thoughts:

  • some laptops undervolt the USB ports — check for problems on this front
  • USB2 ports seem to work better than USB3 – try to ensure that you have at least one of the former

Hopefully this is helpful.