[CDBUG-talk] OT - Looking for help and advice.

[Steve Moon]

Not sure about BSD, but Linux has a nifty "lsusb" command that will dump out
all sorts of nifty details about the connected device. That might give you
some more unique strings to try on google to see if anyone else is working
on such a project. If you don't have a linux box handy, I'm 99% sure the
knoppix livecd would have the lsusb utility.

Ultimately you'd probably need to roll-your-own usb device driver, which is
not going to be trivial. However it's probably possible, assuming their
protocol can be decoded (I assume they aren't going to provide any specs).

Their mac comment is total crap since windows didn't support USB well until
XP came out, around the same time OSX did. However there may be something to
it -- if the system as a whole had to go through FDA certification maybe
that component had to be basically static so as not to jeopardize the whole
thing.

Steve-


On 3/21/07, Jonathan Franks <jonathan.franks at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Hi All,
>
> Not really BSD related but I value the expertise within our group and I
> have a question for you guys.
>
> Audrey, my finance,  is a type 1 diabetic,  and has just received  a new
> insulin pump made by Medtronic.
>
> It's a nice little device that supports real time blood glucose monitoring
> and the benefits of what, in my view, amounts to a first generation
> artificial pancreas.
>
> Well okay, that's the background. The system also supports a PC interface
> that allows charting and such things to be organized and emailed to ones
> physician. The software only runs on Windows.
>
> The eager customer service rep who took my call explained that Windows has
> 95 percent market share, and Mac's have gone through several revisions that
> would require multiple Mac support teams. He also asserted that the USB port
> hardware is somehow different on Mac's than it is on PC's, and that this
> would require some feat of driver development to overcome.
>
> My thinking is that this is basically crap, and I'm hoping to network with
> other Apple using insulin pumpers in an attempt to pressure Medtronic to
> suppor OSX.
>
> What I want from you folks are thoughts on whether this is as
> straightforward as it seems to me (as a non-programmer), and any thoughts
> you might have on the subject.
>
> -Jonathan
>
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