McIDAS-V Support Forums

Due to changes in the requirements of the netCDF package, McIDAS-V version 1.0beta4 is the last version that will run under Java 1.5; version 1.0beta5 will require Java 1.6.

We do not anticipate any problems with most operating systems, but some Mac OS X systems do not support Java 1.6 and will not be able to run future versions of McIDAS-V. These include:

- All with PPC processors
- Intel Core Solo and Core Duo running OS X 10.5 or earlier

Core Solo or Core Duo systems running OS X 10.6 and later, as well as any Core 2 Duo (and later) systems, support Java 1.6 and will run McIDAS-V version 1.0beta5.

Please see the System Requirements for more information.

This is a follow-up to the previous message about the new Java 1.6 requirement for McIDAS-V users on OS X.


To check if you are prepared for this change in requirements, you need only to check if Java 1.6 is the default Java version on your machine.

To find and/or update your default Java version, follow these steps:
1. Open the "Java Preferences" application located in /Applications/Utilities
2. Look for "Java SE 6" in the "Java Applications" section
3. The version at the top of the "Java Applications" list is the version being used by McIDAS-V. If "Java SE 6" is not at the top of the list, click and drag it to the top of the list (using the 64-bit option, if available), and you are ready to run McIDAS-V. If "Java SE 6" is not in the "Java Applications" list, you may need to manually run the Software Update feature in the Apple Menu to add it to the list.

McIDAS-V version 1.0beta5 will perform this check for you during installation and will warn you if you need to update Java versions.


If "Java SE 6" is not an option for your processor type and operating system, you may not be able to upgrade to version 1.0beta5. Here are the specifics on what we know about each processor type and the options for running McIDAS-V on Mac OS X 10.5 and 10.6 (to find your processor type and operating system version, go to the Apple Menu and select "About This Mac"):

PPC
- because your operating system version must remain at 10.5, you cannot go beyond 1.0beta4
Core Solo
- if your operating system version is 10.5, you must run 1.0beta4
- if your operating system version is 10.6, you must have java 1.6 installed to run 1.0beta5
Core Duo
- if your operating system version is 10.5, you must run 1.0beta4
- if your operating system version is 10.6, you must have java 1.6 installed to run 1.0beta5
Core 2 Duo
- if your operating system version is 10.5 or 10.6, you must have java 1.6 installed to run 1.0beta5