UsingProntoEditOnMyMac
Rus Scott
4/1/01 (no fooling)

So here's my account of using ProntoEdit
on my Mac. Maybe it will help someone else
do the same. At least it will document the
process for my own use.

Observations:

I long ago set the goal of having only one
remote control. No matter how many entertainment
devices I had, I didn't want a pile of remotes
on my coffee table. The Pronto promises to be
a food solution for my goal.

Thank goodness for web forums like this one.
Studying the subject on line really helped me
get this up and running.

Isn't it amazing how much time, effort, and
money we are willing to spend to program the
Pronto thru our Macs?

Once up and running, the Pronto is a touchy
device. Communications routinely fail, and
retry is one of my main strategies for getting
things to work.

It's likely that ProntoEdit will be the only
Windoze application I ever use on my Mac.

Ok, now my hardware:
Macintosh G4, 400MHz, with 384Mytes RAM
Apple 21" studio monitor with USB ports
Keyspan USB to dual serial port adapter
Kodak interface cable for Mac DC2, item number 1008473
Pronto TSU2000

And the software:
Mac OS 9.04
Keyspan driver serusbdrvrX version 1.1.3
Softwindoze 98 version 5.1
ProntoEdit version 2.0

The setup:
I plugged the Keyspan USB to serial adapter into
one of the USB ports on the side of my Apple monitor.
I pluged the Kodak interface cable into port 1 of
the keyspan, and the other end into the Pronto.
I installed Softwindoze and ProntoEdit per the default
installs for both. No customization required.

After starting Softwindoze, I used the menu:

Setup -> Setup Softwindoze98...

to bring up the setup box. Then I selected the
Serial Ports button. I set COM1 to

Use: Printer Port USB
Connected to: Printer

I left COM2 unassigned:

Use: None

That's it! No baud rates to specify, no extensions to
uninstall, no strange workarounds at all. The program
and the communications worked first time.

Now I am confronting the vagueries of ProntoEdit,
buttons, macros, bitmaps, and so on. But the
connections and communications work.

Weirdness:
I have to keep the Pronto "alive" by tapping a few
random commands on it before it will successfully
communicate with my computer.

If I plug a second serial cable into the second
port on the Keyspan serial adapter, then ProntoEdit,
Softwindoze 98, Mac OS 9.04 and the whole computer
hang as soon as I try to upload/download to/from
the Pronto. The second serial cable is for my
digital camera, but I can't leave it connected
when not in use because of the hanging.

To program the Pronto through ProntoEdit I always
restart the Mac, then directly start Softwindoze
and ProntoEdit without running any other apps. I
don't have to change any system extensions.

Tapping commands on the Pronto, disconnecting and
reconnecting the interface cable to the Pronto,
and retrying are all strategies I use when
communications fail. Hard to say which of these
is the effective one.