Running ScreenLogic on a Macintosh Computer

[Dirk]

As most of you Mac users might know, the computer version of ScreenLogic will not work on any Mac running anything that came out after macOS Mojave (version 10.14). That's because:
1. Apple's support for 32-bit applications ended with Mojave, and
2. Pentair never upgraded the Mac version of ScreenLogic to run on a 64-bit operating system.

You can't blame either company, of course. They both charge so little for their products that they just can't afford to pay their engineers to manage a solution. Ahem, ahem. I digress...

So my solution, so far, has been to keep one of my computers running macOS Mojave (I have other old 32-bit apps I still use, so it's not just for ScreenLogic). But it's getting to be time to update that computer, so I'm going to possibly lose ScreenLogic. Now, I haven't tried it yet, but I was counting on being able to run the Mac version of ScreenLogic in a virtual environment, like VMWare Fusion. I may give that a go and report back. But what to do if that doesn't work?

Eureka! Some good news! If you have a newer Mac (one that runs the latest OS on Apple's M-series CPU), you can install and run some iOS apps! The same apps that run on iPhones and iPads can now run on Apple computers. I was late learning that news, but when I did I immediate tried to install the iOS versions of ScreenLogic and SLConfig and my new MacBook Pro. They both downloaded and installed. I held my breath, and... and... ugh, only ScreenLogic will run. Well, I should say "ScreenLogic works!!" And that is fantastic news. But for me, at least on my computer, SLConfig doesn't work. It launches, but no windows appear, just the dreaded spinning beach ball. I guess one out of two ain't bad. At least now, I have some control of my pool from my laptop.

So how to run ScreenLogic Config? It still works on my Mojave Mac. It won't when I upgrade. Maybe it'll run on VMWare Fusion, maybe it won't. It works on my phone and iPads, so there's that. At least Pentair is keeping that version working for us. But VMWare won't run on an M1 Mac (so I can't run it, or SLConfig, or any of my old 32-bit apps on my new laptop). Until VMWare solves for that (and they may never), or Pentair fixes why their SLConfig app won't run on an M1 Mac, I won't have a great solution. I've never used Parallel's virtual software, but I don't know that it'll run old Mac operating systems like Fusion can. I could run Windows, I suppose, in a virtual machine, but I'd rather eat pool salt.

I can run ScreenLogic and SLConfig apps on my iPad or iPhone.
I can run ScreenLogic and SLConfig on an old Mac.
And I can now run ScreenLogic on my new Mac.

So close.

But the very good news... for giggles I loaded up Pool Math on my M1 Mac and it seems to be working quite well. So of my integral pool apps, I got two out of three running on a new Mac computer! So, ya know, yay!

If anyone has made any other progress on this front... please share!

 

[guinness]

Dirk, I assume you saw the post below? Might be worth trying if you haven't already.

Pentair Screenlogic and Mac Catalina

Does anyone happen to know if Pentair is going to release a version of Screenlogic Connect that will work with the lates MacOs update (Catalina)? The problem is that it needs to be a 64 bit app and it is only 32 until it receives an update. I can find one for windows but no luck on a Mac.

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[Dirk]

Dirk, I assume you saw the post below? Might be worth trying if you haven't already.

Pentair Screenlogic and Mac Catalina

Does anyone happen to know if Pentair is going to release a version of Screenlogic Connect that will work with the lates MacOs update (Catalina)? The problem is that it needs to be a 64 bit app and it is only 32 until it receives an update. I can find one for windows but no luck on a Mac.

www.troublefreepool.com

I didn't! Thanks for pointing it out. And it's free, so that's good (though you tend to get what you pay for)!

The thread mentions Wine, which I barely understand, but it's basically a kludge that allows Windows developers to quickly port a Windows application onto a Mac, without much or any rewrite. The Mac computer version of ScreenLogic uses Wine. It's really the Windows app running on Wine running on Mac. What's not clear is if it's Wine or ScreenLogic or both that is 32-bit, and which would prevent it from working on the latest MacOS.

So this PlayOnMac looks to make use of Wine in some way as well. If there is a 64-bit version of Wine, then maybe it'll run on the latest MacOS, or maybe not. And then there is the matter of whether PlayOnMac will work on an M1 Mac or not, which is a whole 'nother animal.

Regardless, it's something to explore. I'll give it a whirl and report back.

But what I'd really prefer is that Apple or Pentair fix whatever is preventing the SLConnect iOS app from running on an M1. Well, really, I need both. I need both iOS apps to run on an M1 Mac, and both computer apps to run on an Intel Mac. iOS apps will never run on Intel Macs, so Pentair needs to upgrade ScreenLogic to 64-bit, which I suspect will never happen. To be fair, I can see why Pentair is not so keen on supporting all the flavors it would require even to keep me happy, let alone everyone else!!

 

[DrewLG]

I know it's not exactly what you want, but if you'd settle for just being able to run all the Pentair apps SOMEHOW, low-end Windows laptops are cheap. E.g.:

 

[Dirk]

I know it's not exactly what you want, but if you'd settle for just being able to run all the Pentair apps SOMEHOW, low-end Windows laptops are cheap. E.g.:
View attachment 459374

Wow, that is cheap! But the hidden expense (for me) would be the learning curve. Even for something as simple as loading an app. Windows is a foreign language to me. Then there's the logistical issue. I want to access my pool apps on all my devices, so that no matter what room I'm in, they're available. iPads cover most of my house, and ScreenLogic and Config are still working on those. It's the two rooms that only have computers in them that I'm working on. Whichever room I'm in, the Dell would be in the other!

 

[rstrouse]

Hook up an rs485 adapter to a Mac, PC, Raspberry Pi, or Linux computer and you can access your OCP from any browser.

Quick Start Guide

An application to control pool equipment from various manufacturers. - tagyoureit/nodejs-poolController

github.com

 

[guinness]

So this PlayOnMac looks to make use of Wine in some way as well. If there is a 64-bit version of Wine, then maybe it'll run on the latest MacOS, or maybe not. And then there is the matter of whether PlayOnMac will work on an M1 Mac or not, which is a whole 'nother animal.

Wine 7.0 arrives with a "large" number of improvements: Here's what's new

Wine 7.0 makes life easier for those who want to run Windows software on Linux and macOS hardware.

www.zdnet.com

Wine 7.0 builds on early support for Apple's new silicon-based Macs and now includes support for running x86-64 binaries in Apple's Rosetta 2 translation layer for running apps built for Intel architectures.

If you need to install Rosetta on your Mac - Apple Support

Rosetta 2 enables a Mac with Apple silicon to use apps built for a Mac with an Intel processor.

support.apple.com

 

[JoyfulNoise]

I’m so glad I still use my EasyTouch RF remote … 100% uptime since the day my pool was built 10 years ago and it works fine for 99.9% of anything I ever need to do for my pool.

All of this is why I dread (and stubbornly refuse) ever upgrading to anything computer/WiFi based - too much hassle for too little gain. At some point you have to stop connecting yourself to everything in your home or else you’ll never get any peace.

Good luck @Dirk the Mac versus PC battle lives on!!!

 

[Dirk]

I’m so glad I still use my EasyTouch RF remote

Can you point me to what exactly that is? I have a Pentair Indoor Control Panel, and like you, for the day-to-day stuff I find that gets used quite a bit more than ScreenLogic. I hard-wired it, because I avoid WiFi as much as possible, too. But I like using ScreenLogic when it comes to configuring things, as the menu system of the little screen on the EasyTouch (or the Indoor Control Panel) is a no-go for me.

 

[Dirk]

Wine 7.0 arrives with a "large" number of improvements: Here's what's new

Wine 7.0 makes life easier for those who want to run Windows software on Linux and macOS hardware.

www.zdnet.com

If you need to install Rosetta on your Mac - Apple Support

Rosetta 2 enables a Mac with Apple silicon to use apps built for a Mac with an Intel processor.

support.apple.com

That all sounds promising, so Pentair needs to "re-port" ScreenLogic with the new version of Wine. Which is sad, because I'm guessing a competent engineer could do so in a day and a half, and I'm not gunna hold my breath.

 

[Dirk]

Hook up an rs485 adapter to a Mac, PC, Raspberry Pi, or Linux computer and you can access your OCP from any browser.

Quick Start Guide

An application to control pool equipment from various manufacturers. - tagyoureit/nodejs-poolController

github.com

Huh, well I read that through. And got about 50% of it. How does an rs485 adapter connect to a Mac? Via USB? And the two wires to the EasyTouch, would that be the white and the green that the ScreenLogic interface uses?

Assuming I could muddle through the software component install(s), then what? Is it just a matter of using a specific URL in a browser to get some sort of interface I can use? If I thought I could make use of any of that in my current home automation software, which at the very least can two-way communicate with a webserver and parse its data, it might be worth a go. Especially if I had some assurance I could build something that would future-proof communicating with my EasyTouch.

And I'd want to be able to access it from more than one computer, so there's that. The rs485 adapter would only be available to one, but it runs 24/7, so I'd want to be able to somehow get to it remotely. Ideally over my LAN and a WAN.

PS. Just to give you some idea of where I'd be starting from, I don't even know what "OCP" means! Does that have anything to do with Tina Turner? I have OCD, will that help?

 

[Dirk]

Like this guy?

https://www.amazon.com/Industrial-USB-RS485-Converter-Communication/dp/B081MB6PN2/

 

[rstrouse]

Yes you simply connect the adapter and install the software. Then it will start talking to your EasyTouch. You will have access to all the configuration and be able to control all the equipment. It will also extend a few things like allow you to have sunrise and sunset schedule times.

 

[rstrouse]

Which home automation system do you use? The software creates a web server that allows you to access it anywhere on your network using a browser.

 

[Dirk]

Indigo, which can interface with scripts and plugins based on Python. I've gotten pretty good at Python, and have managed to get my HA and several different web-server-based devices to play nice. My only concern is increasing the number of third-party solutions to keep my systems running. I mean, they're all third-party solutions when it comes down to it, and when one (like Pentair) decides to stop supporting its own software, ya get stranded. The more of them there are, the more likely I'll eventually get stung.

So it's the tradeoff between relying on them to keep their software up-to-date, or building it myself and relying on me to remember how I did it when it comes time to maintain it.

I write code with descriptive variable names, and with limited commenting. Usually enough to jog my memory when needed, but I'll admit it's far from robust (neither the commenting nor the memory!).

There is a beauty in the simplicity of Matt's philosophy about such things that is hard to dispute.

 

[guinness]

And the two wires to the EasyTouch, would that be the white and the green that the ScreenLogic interface uses?

You can also connect the USB adapter to the protocol adapter indoors, just the DATA+ and DATA- wires.

PS. Just to give you some idea of where I'd be starting from, I don't even know what "OCP" means!

Outdoor Control Panel

Indigo, which can interface with scripts and plugins based on Python. I've gotten pretty good at Python, and have managed to get my HA and several different web-server-based devices to play nice.

Presumably you have a Mac running Indigo Domotics and Home Assistant? All you would need to do is install NodeJS and then njsPC on that computer.

 

[Dirk]

If this article is reliable, there's no way to run any 32-bit Mac apps on an M1 Mac. It does point out that I could run Windows on an M1 Mac, but there are some limitations that wouldn't guarantee the Windows version of ScreenLogic would work in that setup. I'm gunna guess it wouldn't. And I really don't want to deal with Windows.

How to Run 32-Bit Apps & Games on Sonoma, Ventura, Monterey, Big Sur, Steam & M1/M2/M3 Macs

macOS Sonoma, Ventura, Monterey, Big Sur, Catalina and Apple Silicon M1, M2 and M3 Macs do not run 32-bit apps or games. Apple dropped support for 32-bit

machow2.com

Unless Apple or Pentair fixes why the SLConfig app won't run on an M1 Mac, I'd say it's never gunna happen.

Which means I'll need to rely on 'Config running on my iPad, or keep a real or virtual 32-bit OS running on an Intel Mac. And that's assuming I could get ScreenLogic to work in a virtual machine. Which I'll report on soon.

Or it's ditch ScreenLogic and try rstrouse's idea.

And, of course, there's nothing ScreenLogic can configure that can't be accomplished with the EasyTouch itself, so there's that. The teeny menu-based LCD screen interface is awful, but it does work.

 

[Dirk]

You can also connect the USB adapter to the protocol adapter indoors, just the -DT and +DT wires.


Outdoor Control Panel


Presumably you have a Mac running Indigo Domotics and Home Assistant? All you would need to do is install NodeJS and then njsPC on that computer.

Well that, sir, is very helpful. I may have to pick your and rstrouse's brains at some point.

My protocol adapter is 2' from my Mac, so that connection was what I was hoping for.

Pentair allows all sorts of devices to connect on that same bus. Any issues with adding the rs485, too? Could I keep the protocol adapter connected, for instance?

Come to think of it, would the rs485 adapter be getting it's data from the protocol adapter, or directly from the EasyTouch? If I got things working, could I get rid of the protocol adapter?

 

[rstrouse]

You can run both ScreenLogic and nodejs-poolController and any integration to Domotics at the same time. It will simply integrate with the rs485 bus when you hook up the wires And download all the data from the EasyTouch. If you change something in any controller it will automatically update the status for each of them.

 

[guinness]

From a reddit post it does seem possible. Whether it's worth the effort is debatable.

Tried Crossover (which is Wine but packaged up and commercial)? I am a beta tester and it definitely works on M1 Macs.

Long story short, M1 Macs are 64-bit and also ARM-based. There's a lot of magic required to compile an app that:

• Can run 32-bit Windows apps (including many 64-bit apps that have 32-bit dependencies) on 'MacOS' [whatever Apple calls it these days] because Apple disabled 32-bit support. The makers of Crossover (who feed lotsa their code into Wine) did the trickery to somehow make this happen. Dunno the tech details but it was HARD!
• Can hook into Apple's x86 emulation layer (Rosetta 2? What do they call it?) in order to run x86 apps... that were built for Windows... most of which have 32-bit dependencies of some kind or another.