[Ham-Mac] Attention fldigi and TS-590S Mac Users

[Richard Kriss]

Attention fldigi and TS-590S Mac Users. Proceed with caution in upgrading from OS X 10.10.5 (Yosemite) or whatever to OS X 10.11 (El Capitan). The reason for the caution is Apple changed something with regard to port audio or how it interfaces with USB Audio CODEC.  Tests using the OS X 10.11 Gold Master Candidate showed fldigi-3.22.13 works fine with the direct USB connection to the Kenwood TS-590S for rig control and receive audio; however, after two or three transmits (CQ’s or whatever) the waterfall hangs or freezes leaving the TS-590’s PTT keyed with no audio coming in or going out. The only known recovery at this time is to toggle the rig OFF/ON and restart fldigi.  A test conducted for fldigi's developer, W1HKJ, using PortAudio/Playback/Built-in Output cleared fldigi and points to OS X or the driver. Apple changed something in OS X 10.11 and it may have effected the Silicon Labs USB to UART Bridge VCP Driver that was designed to work with OS X 10.10.  I have reverted to OS X 10.10.5 until Apple and/or Silicon Labs releases a fix or an updated driver.

73 Dick AA5VU