Mac OS Sierra and T:Connect Uploader App (For Tandem Insulin Pump)

[KUguardgrl13]

This question is probably targeted toward a rather small audience, and I'm not sure if this is even the right subforum, so bear with me.

My fiancé has type 1 diabetes (the lifelong juvenile one), and just received his new Tandem t:flex insulin pump. One of the first steps is to connect the pump to a computer via USB (no bluetooth, sadly) and download the T:Connect Uploader app from the manufacturer's website. I got the app downloaded on my rMBP just fine, but it doesn't seem to see the pump, even though the pump says it is charging. It's somewhat inconvenient because you can't create a user account until the app connects to a pump.

Basically I'd like to know from other diabetics who use a Tandem brand pump about whether it's an incompatibility issue with Sierra or because my fiancé hasn't used his pump yet, so there is no data to upload.

 

[kiwipeso1]

Although I am not type 1, here is a friendly suggestion :

I'd check the manual first, then the website, then email support.
If that all indicates an issue with sierra at this time, then I'd suggest running the OS X which is definitely supported in a virtual machine in either VMware fusion, or Parallels. That should let you run T:connect.

Edit: after checking their site, it works with mountain lion, mavericks or yosemite. I would suggest you try it on the MBP running yosemite, then get a virtual machine running yosemite on your rMBP.

I think it may just be a matter of time before they update to supporting sierra, so this should work until then.

 

[JeffyTheQuik]

Please let us know how things go. I am in the market for a pump, and while I love my Dexcom CGM, Minimed's 670G is looking pretty good. The one thing I HATED about the Minimed CGM was the design, and how you had to keep using tape to have it be secure. Tandem and Dexcom are my preferred choice, and this would be a small plus in their favor.

As Kiwipeso said, I'd call Tandem. From my conversations with them, their customer support is excellent. I had an issue with Animas, and they said that they could help me get some different infusion sets, even though I wasn't a customer of theirs.

 

[KUguardgrl13]

Although I am not type 1, here is a friendly suggestion :

I'd check the manual first, then the website, then email support.
If that all indicates an issue with sierra at this time, then I'd suggest running the OS X which is definitely supported in a virtual machine in either VMware fusion, or Parallels. That should let you run T:connect.

Edit: after checking their site, it works with mountain lion, mavericks or yosemite. I would suggest you try it on the MBP running yosemite, then get a virtual machine running yosemite on your rMBP.

I think it may just be a matter of time before they update to supporting sierra, so this should work until then.

Hopefully it is just a matter of time! Luckily we're not in a rush since my fiancé's training to actually start using the pump isn't for two weeks. I saw on a forum for diabetics that support for Sierra may be coming next week.

 

[KUguardgrl13]

Ok, I think I found the issue, but I'm not sure how to resolve it. I tried connecting the pump and using the T:Connect program on my fiancé's ThinkPad running Windows 7, thinking it was a compatibility issue with my Macs. At first it was the same issue until I plugged it into the ThinkPad's powered USB port and it started downloading the device driver. After that the app recognized the pump and was ready to sync.

So the question is, how do I get the device driver on my rMBP? The ThinkPad is fine, but we never use it, and the anti-virus is out of date.

 

[kiwipeso1]

Ok, I think I found the issue, but I'm not sure how to resolve it. I tried connecting the pump and using the T:Connect program on my fiancé's ThinkPad running Windows 7, thinking it was a compatibility issue with my Macs. At first it was the same issue until I plugged it into the ThinkPad's powered USB port and it started downloading the device driver. After that the app recognized the pump and was ready to sync.

So the question is, how do I get the device driver on my rMBP? The ThinkPad is fine, but we never use it, and the anti-virus is out of date.

Ok, so you will either need a macOS program from T:connect, or get bootcamp on your rMBP and load windows as needed either directly, or in VMWare fusion or parallels.

Going back to the website : https://tconnect.tandemdiabetes.com/GettingStarted/
it seems you need yosemite, mavericks or mountain lion, plus you need to run flash 10.0 and browser cookies along with javascript. This will get you the mac program.

So I would recommend that you can run this within yosemite for now in VMWare fusion, or Parallels while running Sierra.
This should work out until they support Sierra.
It may also work with Sierra as is, but this can't be 100% assured and I would be reluctant to recommend that to a more sensitive type-1 diabetic, so for now I would suggest that you will have the least problems with running Yosemite as a virtual machine in Sierra when you run T:Connect.

Hopefully this makes sense and you should be able to acquire either VMWare or Parallels easily.

 

[KUguardgrl13]

Ok, so you will either need a macOS program from T:connect, or get bootcamp on your rMBP and load windows as needed either directly, or in VMWare fusion or parallels.

Going back to the website : https://tconnect.tandemdiabetes.com/GettingStarted/
it seems you need yosemite, mavericks or mountain lion, plus you need to run flash 10.0 and browser cookies along with javascript. This will get you the mac program.

So I would recommend that you can run this within yosemite for now in VMWare fusion, or Parallels while running Sierra.
This should work out until they support Sierra.
It may also work with Sierra as is, but this can't be 100% assured and I would be reluctant to recommend that to a more sensitive type-1 diabetic, so for now I would suggest that you will have the least problems with running Yosemite as a virtual machine in Sierra when you run T:Connect.

Hopefully this makes sense and you should be able to acquire either VMWare or Parallels easily.

Unfortunately buying VM software is pretty cost prohibitive. Looks like we're stuck syncing with the ThinkPad until Tandem extends support to Sierra or at least El Capitan. Of course we might sooner get an iPhone app and Bluetooth capability, which would be ideal.

 

[kiwipeso1]

Ah yes, buying maybe cost prohibitive.
In that case, you can get Oracle's Virtual Box for free here :
https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads

 

[JeffyTheQuik]

@KUguardgrl13, I just ordered my T:Slim X2 today. Looking forward to getting it and looking forward to 2017 when I get the software upgrade to have it talk to my Dexcom!

If I need to, I'll set up a Yosemite VM using VMWare (What I have now).