usb to serial cable problems!

TheRobotGuy

I am having trouble connecting my stamp to my computer. I recently replaced my very old laptop with a newer one that does not have any serial ports. To bypass this problem i purchased a usb-serial cable and installed the software that it came with and still my bs2 is not recognized!!

Any suggestions??

Thanks
-TheRobotGuy

Mike Green

Unfortunately, a lot of USB to serial adapters do not work for programming Propellers, Stamps, and even Arduinos. There was a thread some time ago where people described their experiences with various USB to serial adapters. If you want one that just works, stick to those that use FTDI adapter chips, either from Parallax or FTDI. There's a troubleshooting link at the bottom of this webpage.

TheRobotGuy

thanks for the advice! If you dont mind my asking...what is a FTDI adapter chip? I see that the usb adapter product page on the parallax site has a link to download the needed drivers. But, would my old version of BASIC software be able to support the usb cable or would I need a newer version?

Mike Green

FTDI makes, among other things, USB to serial chips. Parallax uses FTDI's chips exclusively for this function and they include FTDI's drivers with their Windows installers.

Because Windows creates virtual serial ports for USB to serial adapters and these virtual ports mostly look like a hardware serial port to programs, some older programs will work with USB to serial adapters. You're always better off installing an up-to-date version of software when that software might need to access newer features of the operating system. I don't know what version of Parallax's Stamp Editor you're using, but it's safest to download a fresh copy and do a fresh install.

RDL2004

Also, you can find the FTDI USB to Serial adapter cables at Mouser Electronics.

http://www.mouser.com

TheRobotGuy

Thanks! I'll have to get a new one asap- I've been having dreams about gettin my bot back up and runnin!