Thanks, will give that a shot!
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Also grab the log file ā¦ that might yield some info
Also check in the Mac OS system information , this will tell us if the bootloader has loaded or not.
Found this in the logs, which Iām guessing might be relevant (Iāve forgotten so much of how this works, where things are locatedā¦)
Can't find interface
eigend: <pico_manager1>: loading firmware /usr/local/pi/release-2.2.1-community/resources/firmware/pico.ihx
eigend: <pico_manager1>: canāt find interface
eigend: <pico_manager1>: Traceback (most recent call last):
eigend: <pico_manager1>: File āplg_pkbd/pico_manager_plg.pyā, line 157, in download_keyboard
eigend: <pico_manager1>: File ālib_pico/ezload.pyā, line 76, in download
eigend: <pico_manager1>: RuntimeError : canāt find interface from picross/src/pic_usb_macosx.cpp:201 ()
eigend: <pico_manager1>: python exception inside functor
eigend: <pico_manager1>: python exception inside functor from tmp/obj/picross/src/picross_native_python.cpp:11375 () caught at picross/src/pic_usb_macosx.cpp:1821
did you install python? as instructions 1st post?
errrrr keep pushing, some of it will come to you 
as they say like riding a bike? (ahah not the best fit)
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OK, just tried the all lights setup and that didnāt seem to work, but then reloaded one the factory setups (pico2), and itās now working 
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ahah, and now if you try my setup again?
Either way you got it working !! ghost-in-the-Pico
Edit: Ohh, my setup only lights up all LED Red ai think; nothing else
And now not working again. Weird. I think Iām going to park this for now and come back to it later on.
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Go for Kai ECMapper/EigenCore its really easy to play Pico this way
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Yes, Iāve also been looking at that, and have just started to get that working 
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Great! let me know if any more ideasā¦
There are many DAW and simple plugin hosts have their usefulness
Besides the āmain playersā (for me Ab Live - Gig Performer)
Latest Iāve found:
DAM
Id recommend NOT doing this before you have EigenD stable, as youāll read below, its not going to solve the issue, as its not eigend thats the issueā¦
so, its just bringing more factors into the equations esp. as I dont use ECMapper, so canāt really support. (despite the fact the actually low level comms is all done with my EigenLite code)
ok, so it cannot find the picoās primary usb interface ā¦
so if you went to the system info on the Mac, under usb, id suspect you will not see the pico at all.
this would be the thing to double check
(ie. its failing to see the bootloader on the pico, so even before it uploads the firmware)
as such there is no indication that there is any āsoftware problemā.
ā¦ so I doubt using EigenLite (which is what ECMapper is based on!) will make any difference.
as for why its intermittent, and then starts working, thats not too surprisingā¦
in fact, thats why once the Mac āseesā the pico, it all suddenly starts working.
so there is an oddity here, which Ive mentioned beforeā¦
Iāve found my pico is extremely sensitive these days with the usb cables, cables that work perfectly well on other devices (or even computers) donāt work, or are intermittent. even had the situation where a particular cable was āgoldenā for the pico, then just stopped working, and another one started working ā¦ and Ive no idea why!
frankly, I do not think its the cables,
Ive wondered if its the connector on the picoā¦ but wiggling it, doesnāt seem to make it start (or stop) working.
so, Im left wondering if its something odd in the pico bootloader firmware, that now sometimes is working, sometimes isnāt.
but then again, Ive seen something similar when trying it with a raspberry PI (running linux), so it does point to the āhardwareā
the only positive thing I can say, is for me, one I find a cable that works, it seems to work every time.
hmm, perhaps one thing to tryā¦ see if a powered usb hub helps? (or dont use it, if you have already been using one)
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I always found those connectors as very sturdy/robust/good quality/āmetal chassisā.
Never failed on me while performing; but yeah with a couple of variables in play (different MBP/Imac/macmini) different macOS over the timeā¦
As this come up:
For me MBP+Mojave+USB hub, I sometimes do have a hard time Pico discovering, about cables, I have 3 original ones and its what I use.
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yeahā¦ it is a weird oneā¦
first it points to the cable, as you try a different cable , and the pico springs into life.
but then you try to the same cable with something else, and it works fine.
(annoying the first cable that stopped working was my original pico oneā¦ I wonder if its started working again 
)
and indeed, Ive never see any evidence its the pico connector, as I said āwigglingā around never causes an issue, and some cables work
then the other thing isā¦ its only ever the pico, the alpha and tau, never have issues !
I will also again repeat, its not softwareā¦ (eigend or mec/eigenlite)
if you look in system information, you will see the usb device is just not thereā¦ and its the same on linux too.
so all the āevidenceā is somewhat contradictory.
if you bring your pico(s) perhaps we can try a few combinations of cables, computers and picosā¦
see if there is any consistencyā¦ and see if some picos are more āsensitiveā than others?!
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So Iām using the original USB cable that came with the Pico and as mentioned it is working just fine on an older laptop.
Iām not using a powered hub (donāt currently own one). Iām using either a USB A/C adapter directly, or an unpowered hub.
So as you say, I think itās something with OSX and the USB system. If I have room Iāll bring the Pico.
Thatās good to know. Getting the Alpha out of its case is also something Iāll try over the next week.
ummmm might be that adapter (I donāt trust USB adapters)
With Pico I donāt advice to use an unpowered USB hub (Pico is very demanding power wise)
I kind of suspected the same, as when I first had the issue, it had been a while since last using Picoā¦ and so a few macOS versions had come and goneā¦
but, I canāt even say that with any real confidence, as Ive seen the same thing on a rPI/Linux.
I do agree with @keymanpal , the pico has always been very āpower sensitiveā ā¦ and this has been a factor at times - some SoCs would only work IF used with a powered hub.
I could even see it being possible that some OS power āsettingsā (possibly hidden on macOS!) could be having an effectā¦ again no evidence though.
this is why itād be handy to have a few picos, cables and computers all in one place, and see which combinations work, and notā¦see if we can start to see a pattern.
e.g. if we have a cable/computer/os combo that doesnāt work with pico A, does pico B work?
so bring your pico, and also the cable you were tryingā¦
but for now, my suggestions isā¦
try a different cable, you might be surprised, and dig up a powered hub (its a useful thing to have anyway ā¦ make sure its usb2)
ā¦ and check the system info to see when/if its connecting, rather than firing up software - its quicker
(oh, remember you need to hit refresh, as I think the panel is not automatically updating iirc)
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My 2 Silver + 1 Black are booked
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Just to close the loop on this. @thetechnobear & I worked through some testing on the Pico connection issue today and have a fix for it. More details can be found on this thread:
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