Hi,

I am miles from my nearest B&O shop so I am stuck trying to sort things out for myself...

I have recently bought a Mac mini to link to my Beosound 9000 system via a beoport module.... I basically have all my music on iTunes so am not even sure if I need other software.  The software that came with the beoprot was windows based so I went on line and attempted a download of the mac based, BMlink software.  It downloaded ok but running on to the mac mini seems a drama so I have nothing (no Beoport or BMlink screen) coming up on the mac so am stuck halfway through a setup.  Can anyone help?

Does anyone out there have an idiotproof setup regime?  I was only told by my shop to load the software and follow the screens making sure I plugged in the USB cable last... but without a screen to look at I'm stuck at starting post.

Mac mini is working fine and runs other programmes like normal.

Once i get this connected, how am I supposed to run the digital source via the beosound 9000 and/or the beo4 remote?... Simple stuff - you'd've hoped to find in a manual!  Is it via the A Aux button?

Hi,

BM-Link should be visible  in your Macs System Preferences, there you can find options for auto start, showing it in your Apples Menubar etc.

If BM-Link is connected to your Beoport you can adjust volume etc.

The Beoport is conncected via Masterlink to your Beosound and you get the sound out of it by choosing N.Music.

From your Mac there are running 2 cables to your beoport: USB and Audio-Out.

Thanks TWG,

I have a BM link symbol at the top of the mac screen and have set up the beo4 with the exrta buttons and that seems to run the beosound9000 (at least it comes up with N.Music or N.radio when I push the remote.  I have all the cables connected but I am coming around to the opinion that it is either an issue with iTunes (I have the latest version but have read a few postings saying there can be issues) or an issue with my masterlink cable.  Either way there seems to be no connection between Beosound9000 and the beoport box.

Cheers,

Dennis

Dear both,

Please let me step in here and ask my questions regarding this setup:

* Can I use Beoport to link the MacMini to a Beosound 3200 using Masterlink? 

* Can I use Airport Express to Connect BeoPort wirelessly? Airport Express has both . USB and Audio... 

* Can I go through (select in) iTunes with the Beo4 AND the iPhone?

Thanks a lot.

Heribert

Heribert:

Can I use Beoport to link the MacMini to a Beosound 3200 using Masterlink?

Yes.

Heribert:

Can I use Airport Express to Connect BeoPort wirelessly? Airport Express has both . USB and Audio...

No, The USB on the Airport Express is to connect 1 printer.

Heribert:

Can I go through (select in) iTunes with the Beo4 AND the iPhone?

Yes, BUT the current version of itunes is incompatible with BM link, which has not been updated for a while. 

What you can do:

- downgrade itunes to 8.1

or

- run Windows on your Mac mini, but you won't be using iTunes, but Beoplayer/Beoport software.

Phil,

Thanks for the advice on the downgrade of iTunes... I haven't tried that yet!

I am presently only getting a BMlink symbol on the top bar on the mac and guess I should be seeing a proper button along the bottom of the screen.

Dennis

Dennis,

as far as I remember it's correct that you only have one button in the top bar of your Mac. When you click on it you should be able to change volume and mute or power on (it's too long ago).

Any option of BM link is found in the system preferences of your Mac! Open it up and you should see the BM Link prefs somewhere in your system prefs as an icon.
Click it and there you can manage options! Depending on your setup the Beosound 9000 could show track name on its display!
I tried it on the Beosound 3000 but the name feature was not good as it only displayed 8 digits and it is not scrolling.

Hi Dennis,

It all should work okay for you, but here are my settings and observations which I hope will help:

1. You have the BM-link icon in the top menu bar, this is good and you can control local volume and muting of speakers attached to the BeoPort itself with this

2. You will not get any icon in the dock at the bottom of the Mac screen the only way to "see" or control the application is to go to Apple > System Preference > Other - BMLink

3. Settings in BM-Link will vary according to your set-up but please feel free to try these as they've worked for me on a number of configurations:

3.1 PowerLink tab - make sure "Show in menu bar" is ticked (it should be already as you said you could see the icon). The volume, balance, bass, treble etc. are all adjustments for a local set of speakers directly attached to the BeoPort

3.2 Interaction tab - only select "Devices with 8 character displays" and "Devices with 12 character displays" this means you should get the track name displayed on your BS9000

3.3 Advanced tab - only select "Maximise system volume while the USB box is connected", "This computer distributes N.MUSIC and N.RADIO" and Launch BM-Link at Login" Also while on this tab check the firmware version is 1.31 you need this to make the BeoPort work well with iTunes 8. If it's not you can get a download of the 1.31 firmware from http://www.odlund.se/bmlink/download.html 

Also make sure the MasterLink cable is properly connected between the BeoPort and the BS9000 and that at the bottom right of the BM-Link menu in System Preferences says "BM-Link is enabled"

I hope this helps, good luck,

Rob

Thanks Rob,

I am getting closer... I have done everything suggested and now have a weak sound coming through the speakers when the volume is turned up to max on the 9000.  I don't have any control of the mac/iTunes through either the remote or the 9000 though so still not there.

Any more clues?

Dennis

Hi Dennis,

Glad you can hear something albeit too faint. There are two volume levels you need to check:

1. Make sure iTunes volume is set to about 80%

2. Make sure the Mac volume is set to 100% (should be the case as we set BM-Link to force it to max. but worth checking) on the speaker symbol on menu bar

If you're still getting low volume, can you try some speakers connected directely to the BeoPort box? This would be a helpful diagnostic. Their volume is affected by 1 & 2 above plus the BM-Link volume which can be access via the two wavy lines icon on the menu bar or via the BM-Link page in System Preferences. If when all settings are high you still only get faint sound I'd check the cable between the Mac and BeoPort. If you get good strong sound then check your MasterLink connections.

Hope this helps.

Best,

Rob

Dennis, have you tried to attach a headphone to the audio out of the Mac and the respective connector on the BeoPort? (Do not mistake the IR port for it - the latter has the label "IR" next to it). Settings 1 and 2 as described in RobNs post would have an effect on the volume of the headphone port.

Yes thanks Stefan, I get plenty of sound through the headphone jack on the Mac Mini.

Will try the other suggestions and report back.

All settings adjusted and tried - no change...

Tried all the settings and nothing so I swapped for another masterlink cable and bingo!

I'm a happy man!

Thanks everyone for your help. It got me there in the end,

Dennis