Apple Silicon Support

[CaptMoore]

This is more of a feature request than an issue, but I saw on the Xplane 11 for mac facebook page that LinuxTrack doesn't work on the new Macs with Apple Silicon. I would hate to lose this app (I use it with TrackIR) when the inevitable occurs and I upgrade to the new Mac hardware platform.

Currently under Big Sur in my intel iMac, the web camera doesn't work either. Also, I have to put linuxtrack on the desktop rather than in a folder on my hard drive (or in the app folder) to get it to work. I have been able to work around these issues for now, but an updated version (that can live in the app folder, or anywhere on the drive/support for the native build in webcam) would be appreciated, if feasible and you have the desire to.

Please also consider updating the software to the latest MacOS for both intel and apple silicon.

Apple has given two years until all new systems will be apple silicon based, so the need will become more pressing as more models are introduced to the market.

Thank you for listening, even if you choose not to support the mac with this app anymore.

[bushaev-denis]

https://github.com/uglyDwarf/linuxtrack/issues/183

[vaccinemedia]

No I totally disagree @Dez64ru - the issue here is to add Apple Silicon Support to linuxtrack, not to seek out alternative solutions which do not involve the TrackIR sensor. Many people use different games and not everyone uses the built in webcam.

I for one use a MacBook Pro connected to an external monitor where the MacBoom is pointing at an angle and I have a TrackIR mounted in the middle of the external monitor pointing at me, like it should.

Other users will be on a Mac mini M1 with a TrackIR connected via USB connected to their monitor.

Workarounds and alternatives should never be a solution to missing features for an application or driver. You may have well said "use a windows machine" and that defeats the objective of this project. What people are after here is a Mac / Linux compatible driver for a great piece of hardware. It's a shame that the makers of TrackIR never embraced other operating systems in the first place but seeing as they have not, we come here for working alternatives which can utilise the kit which we have purchased in the hope that it was not to be wasted and put on eBay.

[CaptMoore]

Totally agree, I don’t mind having alternative hardware/software available should trackir lose compatibility with a future Apple silicon macos (I don’t even know if it works now) but right now this barely works with my current Intel Mac (for example, can only run fwith the icon on the desktop and not from the application folder, also can’t use native webcam anymore).

Right now there are no alternatives available either for macOS that I am aware of.

I can’t imagine this app working much longer, even on Intel apple computers, and there are no alternatives I know of right now that work with trackir.

Hopefully, the effort will be made to modernize the app, should the author decide to do so. Of course, if the app is at it’s end of life it would be good for others to know before investing in a trackir themselves. This may also stimulate some alternative developer to take up the challenge of head tracking on macOS.

[vaccinemedia]

I've decided to look into this after two years on Apple Silicon. The latest built version loads and I'm even able to get the firmware installed from the extracted TrackIR installed files which I coped from a PC with it installed. The device is detected but when clicking on the start button I see the infrared and green LEDs light up briefly on the device flash briefly and then that's it. They don't stay lit and the start button becomes clickable again. Trying to run ./configure from source I get the error: "configure: error: libmxml not found!"

I have installed libmxml using homebrew but this does not resolve the error.