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macstatic

macrumors 68010
Original poster
Oct 21, 2005
2,001
162
Norway
Is it possible to connect an iPad Mini (1st gen./iOS 9.3.5) to a Mac (OSX 10.14.6) using a Lightning to USB cable?

I've done this with another iPad Mini (5th gen./iPadOS 16.7.2) connected to the same Mac, and using the "Sharing" system preference. But not with the 1st. gen. iPad Mini. Is this a feature which wasn't available with iOS 9, or is there something I need to set on that iPad first?

Screenshot 2024-01-15 at 21.58.07.png

My intention is to run the iPad Logic Remote app (so I can control features of Apple's Logic Pro X running on the Mac, using the iPad's much more intuitive touch-screen than the Mac's own mouse).

PS: does anyone know why there are two instances of "iPad USB" in the Sharing system preference shown above?
 

sahnert

macrumors 6502
Oct 20, 2003
498
57
Seattle
I don’t think you need to enable internet sharing at all for Logic Remote to work. As far as I know all of the communication happens directly between Logic on the Mac and the Remote app. You can use either WiFi or a usb connection, but it’s not related the the internet sharing setting in your screen shot.
 

macstatic

macrumors 68010
Original poster
Oct 21, 2005
2,001
162
Norway
I don’t think you need to enable internet sharing at all for Logic Remote to work.

You're absolutely right!
I tried it again (with "Internet Sharing" on the Mac turned off), which first gave me this error message on the iPad, indicating (to me at least) that this couldn't possibly work:
IMG_2707.PNG



I was wrong!
It turns out I first of all had forgotten to start up Logic on the Mac, so after Logic had started up the iPad screen changed to this:
IMG_2708.PNG


....so now I could see that it was definitely communicating with Logic on the Mac.
Then I pressed "OK" in the warning on the iPad (while still leaving it in Airplane mode/having no Wifi signal available) and it all worked fine!
This is all on the iPad Mini (5th gen./iPadOS 16.7.2).

The much older iPad (1st gen) running iOS 9.3.5 however didn't work. Upon attaching the Lightning cable from the Mac (a Lightning to USB-C cable attached to my Mac Pro's USB-3 PCIe card) I first got this error message:
20240116-081729_IMG_1574.PNG


I'm not quite sure what this means, but it goes away after pressing "Dismiss".
('im using the exact same cable and connection to the Mac as the other iPad, and on the newer iPad I'm certainly not getting any such error message).


Next I start up Logic on the Mac, then start the Logic Remote app on the iPad which results in this message:
20240116-081802_IMG_1575.PNG



So already at this stage I can see something isn't quite right (on my other iPad I would see the mixer window behind the error message). Then I press "OK" (to make the message go away), but I'm left with this:

20240116-081820_IMG_1577.PNG


On the other hand, if I connect the iPad Mini (1st gen./iOS 9.3.5) to Wifi I can use the app fine, so the problem appears to do with using a wired connection.
Does this mean that iOS 9 doesn't support wired network connections to Macs?

UPDATE: I read several online articles about possible causes of the "This accessory is not supported by this device" when plugging the Lightning cable into my 1st. gen iPad Mini (iOS 9.3.5), including cleaning the connector (both cable and iPad ends) and Lightning cables that were not "Made For iPad" (MFI) certified. Thorough cleaning didn't make a difference, neither restarting the iPad, nor the possibility of updating the iOS version any further.
Actually the cable I used was MFI certified (
Ikea Lillhult), but trying out another cable (some cheapo brand, and expected not to be MFI certified) yielded a completely different result with the error message going away and now charging the iPad! But it didn't solve the problem with using Logic Remote, so I'm guessing it's not supported in such an old iOS version, but I'd like to hear from others if this is actually the case or not before giving up :(
 
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macstatic

macrumors 68010
Original poster
Oct 21, 2005
2,001
162
Norway
Have you tried with an Apple branded lightning to USB-A cable?

No,
but I've just searched through my cables and found a white USB-A to Lightning cable which looks like an Apple branded one (is there a way to tell?) and it worked without getting that dreaded "This accessory is not supported by this device" message"!
Perhaps there are differences in "sensititivity" to cables between an old and newer iPad!?!

Next I tried running the Logic Remote app from the iPad Mini (1st gen/iOS 9.3.5) but nothing changed after getting the "Please make sure that a Mac is running Logic, Garageband or Mainstage on the same network as your iPad". It just stayed the same.
With the newer iPad I got this message in Logic on the Mac (I used the same USB cable as I just tested out with the older iPad):
Screenshot 2024-01-18 at 16.26.27.png


And on the iPad it displayed the name of the Mac (which I could press to connect). I guess that concludes testing with the older iPad. One thing that occured to me is that perhaps there's a version mismatch between the Logic Remote app on the iPad (which I assume might be quite old since it's limited to run on iOS 9) and my Logic 10.5.1 (it says (c) 2004-2020) compared to the newer iPad's Logic Remote app which is probably a more recent version which makes it backwards compatible with the Logic version running on the Mac. Could that be it?
 
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