How to get started on Mac?

Follow these steps to get started diagnosing your car using macOS.

1. Locate the OBD-II port and prepare the car

This step is explained in a separate article: How to locate the OBD connector and prepare the car for diagnostics?

The next step depends on your adapter type.

2. A — Bluetooth adapter

macOS Monterey, Ventura, and Sonoma have some compatibility issues with all the classic Bluetooth adapters and won't connect with any of them. Luckily, this issue does not affect the BLE adapters. Unfortunately, we need to wait for Apple to fix the problem.

No pairing

No pairing or other manual actions are required outside the software to use these dongles. However, if a PIN code is needed, it’s requested during the first connection attempt.

If a pairing code for the adapter is requested, refer to the adapter user guide for the code. The most common codes are 0000 and 1234.

Select your OBD Bluetooth adapter

In OBD Auto Doctor, navigate to File -> Open connection, and select Bluetooth as the Connection method. Then click Search Bluetooth devices and pick your adapter from the list.

Open Bluetooth connection dialog on Mac — Open Bluetooth connection

2. B — USB adapter

Verify driver and operating system support

Most of the USB adapters work out of the box on macOS. However, in some cases, the adapter might need separate drivers to be installed. In this case, please refer to the adapter user manual for the correct drivers.

All supported USB adapters use a USB-to-serial converter. As a result, the operating system will detect them as COM ports or Serial ports.

OBD Auto Doctor can detect and communicate with the adapter only after macOS has appropriately identified the hardware.

Select your OBD USB adapter

In OBD Auto Doctor, navigate to File -> Open connection, and select Serial port as the Connection method. Then select the correct port from the COM port dropdown.

Open USB connection dialog on Mac — Open USB connection

2. C — WiFi adapter

OBD WiFi adapters are a bit tricky because they require that you connect your computer to the WiFi hotspot they provide. So while connected to the adapter hotspot, you can’t use the Internet in a usual way.

Using the macOS network tools, connect to the adapter hotspot. Please refer to the adapter user manual for the proper network (SSID) name.

Select your OBD WiFi adapter

In OBD Auto Doctor, navigate to File -> Open connection, and select WiFi as the Connection method. The default IP address and Port should be fine for most, if not all, adapters. Change these only if you know what you are doing.

Open WiFi connection dialog on Mac — Open WiFi connection

3. Connect to the adapter and car

When all proper connection settings are adjusted, click Connect to start connecting to the car.

While opening the communication channel and detecting components, the software shows you the progress.

After a while, the software should notify that it is connected. If you have problems connecting, continue to troubleshooting.