Pantech PX-500 EVDO Rev A and Mac OS X Compatibility

brenodo · EVDO Newbie Joined: 30 Apr 2008 Posts: 3

I have a pre-existing Sprint PX-500 card that I use with my Dell D610 laptop and I was hoping to start to use that same card with my MacBook Pro. I purchased a Express Card to PCMCIA (Duel) adapter and the adapter seems to function fine (the PX-500 shows a power on led and does show up in System Profiler ust not where it's useful to me), my issue is with getting the PX-500 to show up in System Profiler as a modem. It shows up under System Profiler > Hardware > PCI Cards, but not as a modem and therefore I can not configure a new network device.

Does anyone have this configuration working? If so please tip as to what was done to make it so...

Thanks much!
Brendan

anasazi4st

I think the problem could be the adapter...the MacBook Pro "sees" the adapter and that something is plugged into it, but might not know what that is. But, just in case that's not it, here's some ideas that might help you get this fixed and up and running:

1) Have you read my previous posts on getting the PV-500 configured and working? There are three--the first one is the "instruction list".

2) Your modem list MIGHT NOT SHOW the PV-500 AS SUCH...mine shows up as SPRINT PCS VISION. The only thing you'll need to enter in the boxes in the Configuration Screen is the number to dial, which should be #777. Again, read my previous posts if you need help.

3) The modem could quit unexpectedly...this could cause a Kernel Panic. Typically, what happens is two windows will pop up...the first one tells you "Internet Connectioon Lost"...the next one has a red Stop Sign and it says "USB Device Unplugged". You then get a warning that you shouldn't unplug the device without turning it off first. Of course, you have done no such thing (in some cases the green light continues to flash on it!) Just clck on the phone icon up top and it should reconnect. (Mine seems to work better when I don't choose the "automatically reconnect" option.)

Hope this works...please post if you need more help.

anasazi4st
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anasazi4st

brenodo · EVDO Newbie Joined: 30 Apr 2008 Posts: 3

Thank You Thank You!

Apparently I was being mislead my everyone else I was asking for help. Sprint told me the PX-500 will not work with Mac OS (100% wrong). Adapter Mfg tells me the card is broken if it's not showing up in System Profiler > Hardware> Modem (again, 100% wrong), the company that sold me the adapter was trying to help but basically repeated what Duel was saying.

Bottom line is that the PX-500 along with the Duel SW-7429 Express Card to PCMCIA adapter is working perfectly NOW.

Thanks so much to anasazi4st for the tutorial and great posts. There were a few very minor things that needed some tweaking with the "How-To" post, like having to click on "advanced" to get to the MOdem and PPP tabs, but a little poking around and a little experience have made this solution the one I needed.

I hope I can return the favor of good solid technical advice to someone here in the future in return for the help I got today!

Rock on!
Brendan

anasazi4st · Posted: Sun May 11, 2008 9:16 pm Post subject: good news!

Brendan...

That's great news! I'm glad I was able to help...but the credit needs to be spread around, as I merely took what I was shown here and added my experiences to it.

Yes, Sprint says that the PX-500 won't work with Macintosh...and Apple says they don't support it either. But, the fact is, it works!

I'll see if I can revise my how-to to include those items you've suggested. Meanwhile, enjoy! I've been happily using mine in my AlBook for several months now.

I would warn you of one thing: I've heard it suggested that any further PC use could potentially cause problems....any updates automatically downloaded while in use (which could be PC- or Windows-related) could "brick" it for the Mac, as it's not "officially" supported. I've never experienced this, and don't know of any actual cases of this happening. But, it IS something to keep in mind.
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anasazi4st