Hi Teresa, what you are talking about in this instance is the firmware, not drivers. I'm pointing this out not to be pedantic, but because in a Mac context, FS writes the firmware, Apple does the drivers. So when we don't make a distinction between firmware and drivers, it can cause confusion about who customers need to call when they have questions or suggestions. Regarding not knowing when new firmware is out, that's a fair criticism and we'll fix this. I'd suggest, if you have Twitter or Facebook, connecting with FS there. Announcements will be made in future about firmware updates for Focus Blue. On Twitter, they are @FreedomSci, and on FaceBook go to https://www.facebook.com/FreedomScientificInc I can promise very cool things in the very near future. Jonathan On 13/05/2014, at 2:08 pm, Teresa Cochran <batsfly...@me.com> wrote:
> It is possible to update drivers on the display without sending it to Freedom > scientific. i have done it once. Some confusion arose when I realized that my > older model cannot be updated to 4.93. I also don't know when updates are > available, and this would be helpful. Fortunately, however, my display is > working fine thus far. > > teresa > > Visualize whirled peas. > > On May 12, 2014, at 6:59 PM, Jonathan Mosen <jmo...@mosen.org> wrote: > >> Hi Gigi. I am replying to you by Brailling into my Focus 14 Blue, connected >> to a Macbook Air mid-2013 running Mavericks. Apple not only have the >> drivers, they also include them in iOS. >> When you say the display is horrible in USB, there are no specifics I can >> respond to I'm afraid. People who can help really need you to tell them what >> specifically you consider horrible, what you're doing, what results you are >> hoping for and what results you get. And obviously I'm very keen to be >> helpful because you're right, any Braille display is an investment that >> should last you a long time. >> I can only tell you that drivers exist and are functioning for many people >> but not for some others. I'm not at all minimising your frustration but that >> is why I attempted to explain the relationship between a Braille display and >> the screen reader developer in my previous message. >> Apple Braille can be quite quirky, and that's the case with any display. But >> if it's not working at all, then that's something Freedom Scientific is >> always happy to help any screen reader developer work on if they need help. >> The fact that the Focus family is working, and working well for many >> customers, is testimony to the fact that Apple not only have the drivers but >> the documentation to have written the drivers. >> Oh, and to Kawl, very sorry for getting your gender wrong. Major oops. :). >> >> Jonathan >> On 13/05/2014, at 1:40 pm, Eugenia Firth <gigifi...@me.com> wrote: >> >>> Hi Jonathan >>> Okay, but the only problem is that Apple says that freedom scientific has >>> to turn in driver information to them I was told that my focus 14 could run >>> on any computer. It will not pair with a Mac, and I know that this is just >>> not like him Braille display that's the problem because another focus 14 >>> will not pair with other Macintosh computers. The other thing is, mine is >>> horrible even in USB mode. This display is so bad even in USB mode that >>> it's almost unusable. >>> >>> I am sure that you can agree, I hope, that Braille displays are too >>> expensive not to stay working once you get one. This situation is making me >>> a little nervous about the long-term use of this display because how do I >>> know that, even if it is fixed for now, it won't become unfixed down the >>> road. These displays absolutely must work for a reasonable length of time >>> for it to be worth it for us to pay the kind of money that we pay. >>> Regards, >>> Gigi >>> >>> Sent from my iPhone >>> >>> On May 12, 2014, at 6:12 PM, Jonathan Mosen <jmo...@mosen.org> wrote: >>> >>>> Hi Gigi and all, I'd like to try and set some expectations regarding what >>>> customers should expect from what companies when it comes to Braille >>>> displays. >>>> Kawl wrote to me a few days ago, and once we got past some terminology, I >>>> established what he wanted was the ability to install Focus Blue firmware >>>> updates via the Mac. >>>> Freedom Scientific presently doesn't produce any Mac software, but I agree >>>> that it's not unreasonable to hope that if you've brought some hardware to >>>> run on your Mac, you can upgrade it via that Mac. I can't give any >>>> commitments at this point but I do want you and the list to know that the >>>> request has been passed on and it is being taken seriously. Certainly >>>> firmware upgrades are the responsibility of the Braille display >>>> manufacturer, whoever that manufacturer is. >>>> There is another issue, and that involves some displays apparently not >>>> working on certain variations of Mac. In this case, if the device is >>>> working properly in all other situations, this is most likely to be an >>>> issue for Apple to resolve. Any screen reader developer, in this case >>>> VoiceOver, writes their own drivers to interface with a Braille display. >>>> The only drivers Freedom Scientific write are for JAWS, which they also >>>> produce. From time to time, something may happen which breaks support for >>>> certain displays, and naturally this is highly frustrating for those >>>> affected. >>>> I'm using the Focus 40 Blue regularly on a Mac with no issues. This >>>> doesn't help anyone who is having trouble, but it does suggest that the >>>> problem may be isolated to certain kinds of Mac, or even certain kinds of >>>> Mac produced at a certain time, so Apple Accessibility is your best bet >>>> for this. Like any tricky software issue, the more data Apple can get, I'm >>>> sure the more likely it will be that they can isolate and ultimately solve >>>> the problem. >>>> I hope that's of some help. >>>> Jonathan >>>> On 12/05/2014, at 1:18 am, Eugenia Firth <gigifi...@me.com> wrote: >>>> >>>>> Hi there ' >>>>> I hope it works, but I might point out that if you call Freedom >>>>> Scientific about your braille display like I did and you mention the >>>>> words Macintosh computer, you are immediately told to call Apple. They >>>>> won't even talk about it, no matter what your question is. I must say >>>>> they sort of panicked when I asked about that cd that comes with the >>>>> Focus 14. I didn't think it had a Mac installer on it since Apple puts >>>>> those drives on our Macs, but I was hoping. I was told immediately no way >>>>> should I put that cd in my Mac. They didn't know there was no way I was >>>>> going to do that unless it was marked for that or they told me to do it. >>>>> >>>>> Regards, >>>>> Gigi >>>>> >>>>> On May 10, 2014, at 9:38 AM, Kawal Gucukoglu <kawa...@me.com> wrote: >>>>> >>>>>> I have written to Apple and to somebody who works in Freedom scientific >>>>>> to see whether or not we can have firmware drivers as Mac installers. >>>>>> Hopefully, we will get some results from that soon. >>>>>> >>>>>>> On 10 May 2014, at 08:59 am, Annie Skov Nielsen >>>>>>> <annieskovniel...@gmail.com> wrote: >>>>>>> >>>>>>> Hi Kawal. >>>>>>> >>>>>>> It is good to write to apple. It maybe requires a cooperation between >>>>>>> apple and freedom scientiffic to get it to work again. >>>>>>> >>>>>>> Best regards Annie. >>>>>>>> Den 09/05/2014 kl. 22.41 skrev Kawal Gucukoglu <kawa...@me.com>: >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> I have written to Apple access ability or is it the other way round! >>>>>>>> To discuss with Freedom scientific. Hopefully, I will have a response >>>>>>>> soon, and will share it with you all. I have also written an email to >>>>>>>> Jonathan Mosen to ask him to encourage freedom scientific to put Mac >>>>>>>> installers of their products on their website. >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> On 9 May 2014, at 09:19 pm, Annie Skov Nielsen >>>>>>>>> <annieskovniel...@gmail.com> wrote: >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> Hi Kawal. >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> I have 2 macs here, on the older mac it works on this mac from 2011 >>>>>>>>> it will not load the driver as you said. I can not figure out what's >>>>>>>>> going wrong. >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> Best regards Annie. >>>>>>>>>> Den 09/05/2014 kl. 21.05 skrev Kawal Gucukoglu <kawa...@me.com>: >>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>> it has nothing to do with the model, as the driver is stalled on the >>>>>>>>>> bell display successfully. It is when you try and connect this >>>>>>>>>> displayed via Bluetooth with the Mac. >>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>> On 9 May 2014, at 06:57 pm, Teresa Cochran <batsfly...@me.com> >>>>>>>>>>> wrote: >>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>> This seems very strange. I've had a Focus 40 blue since 2010 and it >>>>>>>>>>> has updated perfectly. Is this possibly a difference between older >>>>>>>>>>> and newer models? >>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>> Teresa >>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>> Visualize whirled peas. >>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>>> On May 9, 2014, at 10:38 AM, Kawal Gucukoglu <kawa...@me.com> >>>>>>>>>>>> wrote: >>>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>>> Hello. >>>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>>> After updating the firmware on my Bluetooth Focus 40, it will not >>>>>>>>>>>> pair to the Mac via Bluetooth as it says Failed to load Driver. >>>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>>> Suppose I'll have to send an e-mail to Accessibility. >>>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>>> Kawal. >>>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>>> -- >>>>>>>>>>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >>>>>>>>>>>> Groups "MacVisionaries" group. >>>>>>>>>>>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, >>>>>>>>>>>> send an email to macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. >>>>>>>>>>>> To post to this group, send email to >>>>>>>>>>>> macvisionaries@googlegroups.com. >>>>>>>>>>>> Visit 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