macOS Big Sur and Monterey - Pre-release Driver Available

Questions and answers about 3Dconnexion devices on macOS.

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cjadams
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Re: macOS Big Sur - Beta Driver Available

Post by cjadams »

I don't know where they get their programmers from but I'm guessing they don't have a Mac oriented programmer there when I come had a fully working driver along with single function key ability on day one
cjadams
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Re: macOS Big Sur - Beta Driver Available

Post by cjadams »

i meant Wacom
kittonian
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Re: macOS Big Sur - Beta Driver Available

Post by kittonian »

Upgraded to ArchiCAD 25 and my SpaceMouse doesn't work with it at all. Even tried manually adding the application via the system prefs and nothing. Big Sur is almost replaced by Monterey. Are we ever going to see a stable and functional driver?
ngomes
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Re: macOS Big Sur - Beta Driver Available

Post by ngomes »

kittonian wrote: Wed Jul 14, 2021 11:54 am Upgraded to ArchiCAD 25 and my SpaceMouse doesn't work with it at all.
We're not currently tracking any issues with ArchiCAD on macOS.

Did it work as expected in the older version of the application?
zachraven
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Re: macOS Big Sur - Beta Driver Available

Post by zachraven »

I'm still waiting for the Spacemouse pro wireless to fully function in Rhino 7. Most things finally work, but the shift, alt, esc, ctrl keys do not. Its been a year since Big Sur development code has been out, now its already replaced with Monterey. What is the holdup getting software out of beta? Is there going to be a fully stable version released with Monterey or are your customers going to be beta testers forever? If there was competing hardware available, I would have switched months ago
ngomes
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Re: macOS Big Sur - Beta Driver Available

Post by ngomes »

zachraven wrote: Thu Jul 15, 2021 6:52 am What is the holdup getting software out of beta?
Getting the virtual keyboard feature working as in macOS 10.15 and older. In other words, emulating the stand-alone use of modifier keys.
alanfleming
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Re: macOS Big Sur - Beta Driver Available

Post by alanfleming »

ngomes wrote: Thu Jul 15, 2021 7:00 am
zachraven wrote: Thu Jul 15, 2021 6:52 am What is the holdup getting software out of beta?
Getting the virtual keyboard feature working as in macOS 10.15 and older. In other words, emulating the stand-alone use of modifier keys.
You sent the developers the working keyboard-emulating dext example code on Github I linked to earlier in this thread, right?
marcarch
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Re: macOS Big Sur - Beta Driver Available

Post by marcarch »

ngomes wrote: Thu Jul 15, 2021 7:00 am
zachraven wrote: Thu Jul 15, 2021 6:52 am What is the holdup getting software out of beta?
Getting the virtual keyboard feature working as in macOS 10.15 and older. In other words, emulating the stand-alone use of modifier keys.
While we wait for that, what about other fixes or features requested?
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Re: macOS Big Sur - Beta Driver Available

Post by ngomes »

marcarch wrote: Fri Jul 16, 2021 1:04 am While we wait for that, what about other fixes or features requested?
The engineers -- myself included -- are very much looking forward to get back to normality but at the moment we're strictly working to recover the same feature set as we have on macOS 10.14 and older.

Once we have key emulation (modifier keys working stand-alone), then we can close this topic, macOS 11 won't be an issue anymore and go back to improving the solution as a whole.
marcarch
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Re: macOS Big Sur - Beta Driver Available

Post by marcarch »

ngomes wrote: Fri Jul 16, 2021 1:31 am
marcarch wrote: Fri Jul 16, 2021 1:04 am While we wait for that, what about other fixes or features requested?
The engineers -- myself included -- are very much looking forward to get back to normality but at the moment we're strictly working to recover the same feature set as we have on macOS 10.14 and older.

Once we have key emulation (modifier keys working stand-alone), then we can close this topic, macOS 11 won't be an issue anymore and go back to improving the solution as a whole.
I thank you for the effort done and to be done since Big Sur release, but this is the same answer you gave me months ago. I understand that key emulation is the priority but I’m afraid it's doesn’t depend only by 3Dconnexion engineers, otherwise it would have been fixed.
While we wait for an evolution about that, could you please add features to macOS driver in order to have feature parity with Win?

I'm asking hovering on radial menu to perform an action since months, it really impacts everyday working life for people (like me) than use Win and macOS. It shouldn’t be so hard to add…
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Re: macOS Big Sur - Beta Driver Available

Post by ngomes »

marcarch wrote: Fri Jul 16, 2021 1:45 am but this is the same answer you gave me months ago.
It still applies. Since kernel extensions were deprecated (WWDC 2019), we looked at three completely different approaches to emulating keyboard keys. Until recently (up to and including "beta 16" released in May), we worked to stabilise the driver for macOS 11 and had to use a key emulation that works but has limitations (modifier keys don't work stand-alone).

Since "beta 16", we have been working only on replacing the limited key emulation approach with a more powerful (virtual keyboard). The virtual keyboard (implemented as a DriverKit extension) was our first choice last year but we couldn't get it to work before macOS 11 was released in November.

We're days away from the next beta.
rjtiedeman
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Re: macOS Big Sur - Beta Driver Available

Post by rjtiedeman »

Great News that you are days away from your next BETA. However Apple is days away from macOS Big Sur 11.5 and about 2 months away from macOS Monterey. My wireless Spacemouse is working reasonably well on Big Sur 11.4 will it work on the next Apple updates as well?
ngomes
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Re: macOS Big Sur - Beta Driver Available

Post by ngomes »

rjtiedeman wrote: Sat Jul 17, 2021 6:18 am will it work on the next Apple updates as well?
We can't tell until the OS is released. Our expectation is that it will work well but, again, we can only be sure once the update is made available.
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Re: macOS Big Sur - Beta Driver Available

Post by ngomes »

The "beta 19" (revision r3356) of the new driver for macOS was released today, July 19th. The installer is available from the FAQ page linked here. A change history summary is available on the top post.

The keyboard key emulation feature was replaced by a new implementation based on a DriverKit extension. Modifier keys can now be used stand-alone. The memory leak reported by @slbaumgartner should also be fixed.

After installing the driver, ensure the new driver extension is "allowed" in the "Security & Privacy" pane in System Preferences. The system may also launch the "Keyboard Setup Assistant" to select the keyboard type. It is safe to simply close the assistant.

We expect to issue one last "beta" build before publishing 10.7.0 as final.
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Re: macOS Big Sur - Beta Driver Available

Post by ngomes »

slbaumgartner wrote: Mon Jun 07, 2021 9:01 am ngomes, thank you for your reply! Looking forward to the next update.
Beta 19 should fix the memory leak that you reported in beta 16 back in early June.

If you can, please confirm if today's release fixes the leak for you.
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