Unable to establish connection with a laser engraver

We are trying to connect a new xTool laser engraver with a 2018 MacBook Pro (on Sequoia 15.2) and 2017 MacBook Pro (on Ventura 13.7.2) through an up-to-date xTool proprietary software. Neither laptop could connect easily to the laser engraver.


It was not an issue of the USB cable, since we have verified that it worked with a different laser machine. We have run through all the steps xTool suggested us to do, and the only thing that worked was disabling the MacBook's System Integrity Protection. As soon as we disabled the SIP, the USB connection worked. However, as soon as we re-enabled the SIP, we could not establish any connection anymore.


Is there an alternative or workaround to allow us to connect a reputable laser machine to the MacBook without disabling the SIP?

MacBook Pro 15″, macOS 13.4

Posted on Jan 2, 2025 09:53 AM

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Jan 2, 2025 09:42 PM in response to kay612

@Grant is absolutely correct. The manufacturer should fix their proprietary software since no one should have to disable SIP to use any software or hardware.


If the manufacturer won't fix their software to work with SIP enabled, then it says either they are absolutely lazy or incompetent, or perhaps they just don't care about supporting macOS. All are bad signs which signal you should run away from them since things will likely get worse over time where they may drop macOS support completely (I've seen it happen before). Will they support an OS once Apple drops support for that OS? Currently Apple only supports the three most recent versions of macOS which are currently Sequoia, Sonoma, and Ventura. Keep in mind Intel Macs will soon be dropped by Apple....likely within a few years.


Personally if I am looking at purchasing hardware, I would be looking to see if any open source software is able to fully support that hardware. If the open source community is able to properly utilize a piece of hardware, then it either means the manufacturer has shared/provided the necessary hardware documentation, or they are using open standards for communicating with the device, or may be actively supporting the open source community (rare, but it does happen once in a while). You learn a lot by how much the open source community can do with a piece of hardware & what it cannot do. Manufacturer's that don't provide a documented API to interface with their product usually means the manufacturer is your only option for support....and it will usually be subpar.


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Unable to establish connection with a laser engraver

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