iVision‐Mac™ 4.0 for Macintosh OS X

• Mac OS X version 10.3 or greater; contact BioVision regarding Mac OS X 10.6 ‘Snow Leopard.’
• Any PowerPC-based Macintosh which can run Mac OS X 10.3, 10.4 or 10.5;
• Any Intel-based Macintosh;
  • iVision‐Mac runs on Intel-based Macs through ‘Rosetta,’ which is a service of OS X that runs PowerPC applications;
  • Devices must have Intel-native drivers;
  • Supported camera with an IEEE 1394 (FireWire) interface;
• At least 512 MB RAM, 1 GB recommended;
• A CD-ROM drive and a hard disk;
• A display card and monitor set to ‘Millions of Colors’ (24-bit or greater) is best.

Macintosh OS X 10.6 ‘Snow Leopard’

Here is the essential information concerning the use of iVision‐Mac under Apple’s Snow Leopard operating system.

There are no problems known to affect analysis-only installations

BioVision Technologies has noted no problems with the basic iVision‐Mac application. If you need to analyze images, iVision‐Mac should work without incident.

There are issues affecting acquisition systems

If you need to control hardware other than a camera that uses a FireWire interface, you must wait for the release of Snow Leopard drivers for USB-to-RS-232 serial adapters. We will update this information as such drivers are released.

If the only equipment you need to control is a camera with a FireWire interface, you might be able to use iVision‐Mac 4.0.14 now. As of 28th August, 2009, our testing is incomplete, but we have turned up no problems with cameras from Hamamatsu Photonics, Photometrics or QImaging. We have yet to test cameras from Diagnostic Instruments or Scion Corporation.

Before upgrading an acquisition system to Snow Leopard or using an acquisition iVision‐Mac on a computer delivered with Snow Leopard, please contact BioVision for advice and help.

PCI boards, Power Mac G5s and Mac Pros

The Power Mac G5 (Late 2005)

This Mac is equipped with ‘PCI Express’ expansion slots which are not compatible with ‘PCI’ interface boards. It includes FireWire ports and can control FireWire-based (IEEE 1394) cameras.

Hamamatsu Photonics offers PCI Express interface cards.

Contact BioVision regarding use of this computer for image acquisition.

Other models of Power Mac G5

These Macs require PCI cards that operate at 3.3 Volts. Most camera cards made prior to 2004 operate at 5 Volts and can not be plugged into a Power Mac G5. ‘Universal PCI’ cards that work with both 3.3 and 5 volt slots are available from the following manufacturers for use in these G5 Macs and older machines:

• Diagnostic Instruments
• Hamamatsu Photonics
• Photometrics

Mac Pros

These Macs are equipped with ‘PCI Express’ expansion slots which are not compatible with ‘PCI’ interface boards. They include FireWire ports and can control FireWire-based (IEEE 1394) cameras.

Hamamatsu Photonics offers PCI Express interface cards.

Contact BioVision regarding use of this computer for image acquisition.

Further information

on the Power Mac G5: Technical Specifications and User’s Manuals published by Apple.

on the original Mac Pro: Technical Specifications and User’s Manuals published by Apple.

on the Mac Pro (Early 2008): Technical Specifications and User’s Manuals published by Apple.