From OS X Scientific Computing

Contents 1 How to get Powermate Dials v. 2.x to play nicely with O 1.1 Download and Install O 1.2 Download and Install the new PowerMate Driver 1.3 Add this to your on_startup file 1.4 How it works 1.5 Configure it like this 1.5.1 Open /usr/local/xtal/ono/bin in the Finder 1.5.2 Open the PowerMate Preference Pane 1.5.3 Add osx_ono or osx86_ono to the list of applications 1.5.4 Enter the configuration commands 1.5.5 Set the others up like this

How to get Powermate Dials v. 2.x to play nicely with O

Here are instructions for the older, v. 1.x Powermate driver

The PowerMate dial folks have changed their OS X driver software, which requires some changes in how to configure the dials for O on OS X.

Specifically, the "global settings" option is gone, so I had to figure out a new way to get the software to talk to the application.

To get it to work, do the following:

Download and Install O

You might want to use my automatic installation script that does the ftp and a few other things for you.

Download and Install the new PowerMate Driver

Download the PowerMate driver here Follow their instructions.

Add this to your on_startup file

You can add lines like the following to $ODAT/on_startup

! open the fake dialbox window and the user's menu on the right
window_open user_menu 1.0 0.5
window_open dial_menu 1.0 -0.2

The second one, dial_menu, is the important one for using the powermate dials.

When you start O, it will look like this:

How it works

The "fake dials" menu lets you click to select an option (e.g.: "ROT Y") and then the left and right arrow keys mimic dial signals. The up and down arrow keys allow you to move around within the menu, to select other options.

One way (the way that is described below) to configure PowerMate is to have it send right and left arrow key signals when it is rotated to the right (clockwise) or left (anti-clockwise). You can then use the press-and-turn modes with the up and down arrows to select menu options rapidly.

Configure it like this

Open /usr/local/xtal/ono/bin in the Finder

The easiest way is to navigate to this directory in the terminal and then type

open .

Open the PowerMate Preference Pane

Control-click or right-click on the left-hand side column where all the applications are. You will get a contextual menu. One of the items is "Show missing applications". Select it as shown:

Add osx_ono or osx86_ono to the list of applications

Drag the grey rectangular icon from the Finder window into the left-hand column of the Preference Pane window. It should now look like this:

If you close and reopen the preference pane, the application osx_ono will disappear. For some reason it becomes a "hidden application". So if you need to change the settings, show hidden applications first.

Enter the configuration commands

You will see something like what is pictured below. Click on the first row, and for clockwise rotation, enter the right arrow. Make sure you choose "Send Key" and then click on the oval window below it on the left, and then when that window is highlighted, simply press on the right arrow key.

Set the others up like this

Enter the other options so they look like this. I turned off the fifth and sixth options, but maybe you might figure out a use for them.

The powermate dial should now work for O, both by starting from the command line and by drag-and-dropping onto the O icon (O on a stick).