Running Shopbot on a Mac

[bill.young]

Don't know if this is a good deal or not, but I got an email from Amazon this morning and they had Parallel v6 listed for $49, marked down from $79. This may be their regular price but thought I would pass it on.

http://www.amazon.com/Parallels-Desk...dp/B0041DVQ8M/

[jastod]

We've been running our Shopbot on a iMac with Parallels for several years without any problems. Not difficult at all to set up. Parallels 6 with XP and the latest version of control software work flawlessly.

[majohnson]

Bill, Thanks for the link!

Alison,
What Mac are you using and how much memory do you have on board.

[jastod]

A 2007 vintage 20" iMac - 2.8 ghz core 2 duo with 4GB memory.

[jkaras2000]

I don't think I would chance using my Mac in my shop. It is too precious to me. With the price of lower end laptops these days, it might just pay to pick up a $400 - $500 laptop to dedicate to the bot. That's my two cents anyway.

[navigator7]

I'm switching back to Apple since the power plug on my Toshiba has broken and went inside the case. I'm thinking of using Parallels so I can run my Shopbot software. I am wondering what others are using on their Apples to allow the use of Windows/Shopbot software.

Not related to SB but I ran a 3D printer from my Mac for 3 years without a single glitch.
Rock Steady
BootCamp and Parallels.

[Roy Harding]

I use a Mac as my "main" desktop. I run Parallels 6 in Coherence mode (fully integrates Windows software with my Mac). I haven't had a problem with any of the Shopbot software (just a note - my Mac is maxed out with 8 Gig of memory - 4 Gig of which is dedicated to the Windows environment).

I use a really cheap "Netbook" out in the shop to physically run the Shopbot (mine's a Desktop, so I don't know if a more powerful computer is necessary for the "big boys"). My Netbook has a 1.0 GHz AMD Dual-Core C50 CPU, and 1 Gig of memory. I only use the Netbook to actually run the Shopbot with the Shopbot Workshop control software - all other functions (design, producing tool paths, etcetera) are done at my desktop Mac. All files are shared between the two computers on a network drive (accessible to both Mac and Windows), when the wireless network is coming in clear enough for the Netbook to pick up (not always the case - depending upon a lot of things). When the network cannot be picked up by the netbook, I just load the toolpath files onto a USB "memory stick" and plug it into the netbook.

I agree with others - my Mac is too expensive to be knocking around the shop. Computers adequate to run your Shopbot can be had CHEAP (my little Netbook was purchased with "store loyalty points" accumulated over the years at Staples - making it effectively free).

Just to repeat - I'm running a little Desktop D2418, I don't know if my little netbook computer could handle a bigger machine, with tool changer, etcetera.

[wcsg]

So installed parraells 8 with XP which was the system of my old OC that failed. Installed the software and the port, any port 1-16 will not connect. Am I missing something?

If I go to load control box firmware it says 4, if I try to Load it says

"Error opening comm port. The comm port identifier is bad"

That's it. Anyone familiar with this have an answer?

[wcsg]

Here is a screen shot.

Is there supposed to be something labeled "Shopbot" or COM under the device manager?

[srwtlc]

Just thought, does your machine/control box have the little USB to Serial adapter and if so, have you installed the drivers for it? The driver files should be in C:\Program Files\ShopBot\ShopBot 3\Drivers\IOGEAR GU232A. Just seeing the yellow !? by USB Serial Controller makes me think you don't have a driver installed.