Are there any Mac users here that have successfully used ActiveSync?

As per the title, I have been Mac only since about 2006, and stupidly thought I could make ActiveSync 3.8 work through a Windows virtual machine, but no dice so far

I have an old PowerBook with a PCMCIA slot, and connected a serial port card which was recognised immediately by OS X, then opened up my Win 2000 virtual machine and checked the serial port was present. However, ActiveSync could not find and would not connect to my Psion Netbook Pro with CE 4.2.
Next I tried through a Windows XP virtual machine on a much more modern iMac, using the IR port, but again no connection could be made.

Are there any Mac users out there able to comment or help please?

I need ActiveSync to install the drivers for my new wifi and bluetooth cards, or I am stuck with the WEP only card already configured by the previous owner

Cheers

Hugh

Hi Hugh,

Way back I used to use MissingSync by Mark/Space on my Mac.....don't know if you can still get it.

Best,

Mark

I've heard about Missing Sync but cannot find a download for it.

I've just bought a cheap old laptop with XP, so once that arrives I should be OK, although I might just chuck Win 2000 on it or dual boot with Linux

Cheers

Hugh

Are you using Connectix Virtual PC? I always had problems with Virtual PC 2004/2007 and passing serial through.

What driver are you using? I thought most of the wifi ones in the CESD/HCL had inflated.zip attachments containing the raw CAB files.

It's actually been the original Microsoft VirtualPC for PowerPC Macs, on a 2005 PowerBook with OS X Leopard, and on my modern Intel iMac I use VMWare Fusion.

I've bought an Ambicom CF bluetooth card, and an Ambicon CF 54G card, but since I actually looked at your support pages I've been able to extract the cab files in Windows 2000, and then copy them over to the device via SD card

Of course I'm still waiting for the actual cards as one of them is from over the pond, and I suspect from the timescale the UK seller of the other card is getting theirs from overseas

Cheers

Hugh

You'll have better luck using your modern mac on VMWare Fusion. VirtualPC needs to emulate a x86 PC to make Windows run on it, which adds a high layer of complexity to passing serial through. On my intel mac I use VMWare with a USB->Serial adapter and it works all the time. Just make sure that the USB->Serial adapter you have has drivers for the Windows version you're running on your VM. Once you connect the USB device, VMWare will ask if you want to use it on your mac or on the VM. Just select "VM" and then it will be detected by Windows and you can proceed with driver installation as normal. Once the device is installed on Windows, you can use it with ActiveSync as usual.

Thanks for that, very useful info - which model USB to serial adapter are you using please?

Cheers

Hugh

I'm using a generic USB Serial cable I got from Amazon. It is based on the PL2303 chip, which I highly DON'T recommend! PL2303 is basically a cheap Chinese copy of the FTDI FT232 chip. Getting a driver for the PL2303 that actually worked on an old version of Windows (I'm using Windows 2000) was a pain. If you can, try finding an adapter that has the FTDI chip. It is supported all the way back to Windows 98!

OK, I've found one on eBay that says plug and play for Windows and Mac, and as it's fairly cheap I will give it a go.

Cheers

Hugh

That is Connectix Virtual PC, Microsoft brought them out, changed the name and re-released it

OK, thanks for the info

Cheers

Hugh

Not all USB devices are compatible with Virtual PC I could never get mine working

Edited by pacmania1982 2020-10-30 5:48 PM

You edited your answer just as I was replying, so thanks for the video link from Fusion. I also think that's my best bet for compatibility over Virtual PC.

However I think my problem is solved as further above, because I can now extract .cab files from the .exe install files and transfer them across, but mainly because I have bought a Windows laptop on which I can sync the way Microsoft intended.

Cheers

Hugh

I have a PowerMac G5 running Leopard 10.5.8 and a MacBook Pro 2014 running Mojave 10.14 - unfortunately I am not able to locate my MobilePro 790 - I need to go through my boxes again. If I do, I'll keep you in the loop

Have you tried emailing the Missing Sync developer to see if they can provide you an older version of the Mac sync client?

Thanks for that; no I haven't tried to contact the developer yet as a:/ I am now able to extract .cab files from installers, and b:/ I've bought a cheap Windows laptop and so will be able to use ActiveSync natively once it arrives.

In the meantime, extracting .cab files in Win 2000 through VirtualPC is working fine.

Cheers

Hugh

Edited by Hughmac 2020-10-31 5:00 PM