What's the weakest link?

Hanno

In my experience, many connection problems that occur with the Propeller Tool and ViewPort can be traced down to a poor USB cable. The "retractable" USB cables that Parallax supplies with the PropPlug are particularly problematic. Lately, one of my customers has had problems with his mouse when he used a 14 foot USB cable to connect to the Propeller.

I'm not saying we should all run out at buy "Monster" usb cable, or non-oxidizing 100% gold plated connectors. However, if you experience connection problems, try using a "standard" USB cable- in many cases your problem will be solved.

Hanno

▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
Co-author of the official Propeller Guide- available at Amazon
Developer of ViewPort, the premier visual debugger for the Propeller (read the review here, thread here),
12Blocks, the block-based programming environment (thread here)
and PropScope, the multi-function USB oscilloscope/function generator/logic analyzer

Harley

Hanno said...
In my experience, many connection problems that occur with the Propeller Tool and ViewPort can be traced down to a poor USB cable. The "retractable" USB cables that Parallax supplies with the PropPlug are particularly problematic. Lately, one of my customers has had problems with his mouse when he used a 14 foot USB cable to connect to the Propeller.

I'm not saying we should all run out at buy "Monster" usb cable, or non-oxidizing 100% gold plated connectors. However, if you experience connection problems, try using a "standard" USB cable- in many cases your problem will be solved.

Thanks for this info, Hanno. Hopefully our cats won't be the cause for problems, though they love chewing anything small.

▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
Harley Shanko

Mike Huselton

I attest to the problems caused by the moving parts in the retractable cables - bad design for wear and tear.
I now use a non-retractable cable for connections that must stay connected for a long time.
A 4-conductor ribbon cable works fine for me as long as I keep the length under 10 feet.

▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
JMH

Hanno

Thanks James, good to use shielded cables. I wonder what the USB standard has to say about this...
Hanno

▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
Co-author of the official Propeller Guide- available at Amazon
Developer of ViewPort, the premier visual debugger for the Propeller (read the review here, thread here),
12Blocks, the block-based programming environment (thread here)
and PropScope, the multi-function USB oscilloscope/function generator/logic analyzer

Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi)

If you do need an extra long USB cable, I recommend one of these: www.usbextensioncable.com/USB-Cat5e-Extender.php. I'm using mine with 100 feet of Cat5, and it works flawlessly — even powering the remote device. The lattter is accomplished by boosting the 5V host supply voltage for the cable run and buck regulating it back down to 5V at the client end.

-Phil