Instructions in this documentation assume macOS 12 or later. Other macOS versions might work, but have not been tested.

You can use Boot to Qt on macOS with both Intel processors and Apple silicon.

Installing Platform Dependencies

Boot to Qt is using Docker-based toolchains on macOS. This means that before attempting to install Boot to Qt from Qt online installer, you must have Docker Desktop installed and running. You can also use Homebrew to install it.

Qt Creator provides support for using Docker toolchains in the same way as normal toolchains.

Connecting to Target Device via USB

If you are using an USB access for connecting the target device, you must check that you are using a suitable protocol for USB. The USB access to the embedded target device supports two different USB protocols. The default protocol (Remote Network Driver Interface Specification, RNDIS) can be used when connecting the target device to either Linux or Windows host. When you want to connect the target device to a macOS host, you will need to change the protocol to CDC-ECM (Communications Device Class - Ethernet Control Module).

After you have installed Boot to Qt to your target device, you can change the protocol by editing a configuration file on the device.

Editing Configuration File on Device

The USB Ethernet protocol support can be configured from the following file on the target device:

/etc/default/qdbd

Support the RNDIS protocol for Windows and Linux hosts (default):

USB_ETHERNET_PROTOCOL=rndis

Support the CDC-ECM protocol for macOS and Linux hosts:

USB_ETHERNET_PROTOCOL=cdcecm

Connect the target to host with a USB cable. After changing the above file restart the target device.

In case of problems, see Troubleshooting.