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Prop BOE: get 'No serial ports found' message !!! — Parallax Forums

Prop BOE: get 'No serial ports found' message !!!

HShankoHShanko Posts: 402
edited 2012-03-29 10:32 in Propeller 1
I already had Prop Tool v1.3 installed, so by-passed the "install the software" steps. Should I revert to v1.2.7 (R)?

This is running on an iMac/Parallels/Windows XP setup. When I plug in the USB cable to the Prop BOE, I get a window to select the iMac or 'virtual engine', which I select.

Then under Devices > USB I select Prop BOE to be enabled. But when I try to Identify Hardware I get only the error message "No serial ports found".

Might this board need a different USB device driver than I used with the QuickStart board?

What am I doing wrong?

Comments

  • Mike GreenMike Green Posts: 23,101
    edited 2012-03-26 12:02
    The Prop BOE and the QuickStart board use the same (FTDI) USB to serial adapter. I use a Mac / Parallels / Windows XP with Prop Tool 1.3 with no problems. I've got the Windows FTDI driver installed and the Mac FTDI driver as well since I normally use BST on the Mac.

    Do the usual stuff ... Make sure you have the latest drivers installed. Make sure your board is powered. Make sure the USB cable is good.
  • Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi)Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi) Posts: 23,514
    edited 2012-03-26 12:08
    And don't use the USB cable that came with the Veho speaker!

    -Phil
  • dmagnusdmagnus Posts: 271
    edited 2012-03-26 12:08
    I had the same problem. Turned out I was using the USB cable that came with the speaker. Trouble is - that cable has no IO on it, just power to charge the speaker...
  • HShankoHShanko Posts: 402
    edited 2012-03-26 12:13
    Mike,

    I notice if the USB cable is attached and the power switch is set to the middle or right positions NO power LED comes on. Must one have either a 9v battery or wall wart plugged in?

    (EDIT) I tried powering it via a wall wart (a 5v switching unit) and note now the power LEDs come on for the center and right positions. But still no serial ports found.
  • Duane DegnDuane Degn Posts: 10,588
    edited 2012-03-26 12:19
    HShanko wrote: »
    Mike,

    I notice if the USB cable is attached and the power switch is set to the middle or right positions NO power LED comes on. Must one have either a 9v battery or wall wart plugged in?

    This sounds like a bad USB cable. I hope you give whomever you got it from heck!
  • Mike GreenMike Green Posts: 23,101
    edited 2012-03-26 12:20
    You probably have a bad USB cable. When I plug in my USB cable, the Tx/Rx LEDs near the USB socket flash briefly. When I then set the power switch to the middle position, one power LED comes on. When I move the switch to the right, a second power LED comes on as well.
  • HShankoHShanko Posts: 402
    edited 2012-03-26 12:28
    No bad cable. I plugged the USB cable into a QuickStart board and get Devices > USB .FT232R USB UART !!!!

    Should the Prop BOE board report Devices > USB > PropBOE or something with FT232 type device ?
  • Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi)Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi) Posts: 23,514
    edited 2012-03-26 12:31
    HShanko wrote:
    Should the Prop BOE board report Devices > USB > PropBOE or something with FT232 type device ?
    No, it should report the same as the QuickStart board did.

    -Phil
  • Duane DegnDuane Degn Posts: 10,588
    edited 2012-03-26 12:37
    HShanko wrote: »
    No bad cable. I plugged the USB cable into a QuickStart board and get Devices > USB .FT232R USB UART !!!!

    Should the Prop BOE board report Devices > USB > PropBOE or something with FT232 type device ?

    I noticed the PropBOE and the QuickStart use two different physical connectors for thier USB connection. It might be worth trying a different cable in case the one cable doesn't work with the PropBOE's shorter USB connector.
  • HShankoHShanko Posts: 402
    edited 2012-03-26 12:50
    I tried another cable; about 4 foot length I've used with a PropPlug. Get the same thing: Devices > USB > PropBOE.

    Shouldn't the board also be powered via the USB cable? The power LEDs don't indicate that it does.
  • Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi)Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi) Posts: 23,514
    edited 2012-03-26 12:54
    No, unlike the QuickStart, the PropBOE is not powered from the USB port. It needs a separate power supply.

    -Phil
  • Duane DegnDuane Degn Posts: 10,588
    edited 2012-03-26 12:57
    Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi) wrote: »
    No, unlike the QuickStart, the PropBOE is not powered from the USB port. It needs a separate power supply.

    -Phil

    Are you sure about this? I was just programming my PropBOE with it only connected to a USB cable. I doubt the damage done yesterday suddenly changed the PropBOE so it can get power from the USB connection.
  • HShankoHShanko Posts: 402
    edited 2012-03-26 13:01
    With the power switch in the middle position, when the USB cable is reconnected, the power LED is ON until Virtual machine is selected (instead of 'Your Mac'). Then the power LED goes OFF. No other power input when this is done.

    Should it report PropBOE as USB device?
  • Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi)Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi) Posts: 23,514
    edited 2012-03-26 13:09
    Duane Degn wrote:
    Are you sure about this?
    I stand corrected. 'Just looked at the schematic, and there is a very clever circuit that switches power to the USB source when there's no external power available. 'Tried it, and it works.

    -Phil
  • Mike GreenMike Green Posts: 23,101
    edited 2012-03-26 13:30
    You may not have the FTDI Windows driver installed. When the MacOS surrenders control of the PropBOE to the Parallels virtual machine, it has to be re-recognized by the Windows driver for it to be powered. Something isn't working with this process. Try re-installing a fresh copy of the FTDI Windows driver into the virtual machine. Make sure the PropBOE isn't plugged in while you're installing the driver.
  • HShankoHShanko Posts: 402
    edited 2012-03-26 13:33
    Thanks Phii. I seemed to recall it should.

    Funny thing with mine though, is like mentioned above, when I select PropBOE under Devices the power LED then goes OFF.

    Might this need a latest USB device driver? If so, where would one get that?
  • HShankoHShanko Posts: 402
    edited 2012-03-26 15:58
    Mike Green said:
    ...Try re-installing a fresh copy of the FTDI Windows driver into the virtual machine. Make sure the PropBOE isn't plugged in while you're installing the driver.

    Where is FTDI driver source and how is it installed?

    A month or so ago I had PropTool v1.3 on my desktop, but doesn't show presently. How can I install it if the folder isn't visible? (Recall: Parallels on iMac to run Windows apps)
  • Mike GreenMike Green Posts: 23,101
    edited 2012-03-26 16:11
    Here's the FTDI VCP drivers webpage. You probably need the 32-bit Windows version. Either download it to the Windows desktop using Internet Explorer or download it to the Mac desktop using Safari, then drag it to the Windows desktop. Either way, double click on it with the PropBOE not plugged in, wait for it to install, then plug in the PropBOE. Windows should find it once you tell Parallels Desktop to let Windows use it.

    The PropTool should show up when you use the Start Menu. If not, use the button to show all applications. There'll be a Parallax folder and it should be in there.

    Consider trying BST on the Mac. That's what I normally use for Propeller programming.
  • HShankoHShanko Posts: 402
    edited 2012-03-26 16:58
    Thanks, Mike. That webpage didn't show up for some reason.

    Most of the Windows stuff I download to Mac desktop, then later do the drag to Windows desktop. I seem to have problems using IE.

    (Edit: This may be a bit off topic. Probably should have sent a PM)
    I presently have a strange problem. Thought it was when in Windows side, but find the Mac is spending lots of time moving the HD head and not giving me much access to doing things. Sometimes takes a minute or more before a mouse click is recognized. And gets even worse when I get into the Windows side of things. Have to do a power down every few weeks or so to get access again. For a while. Not sure what 'bug' might have got
  • HShankoHShanko Posts: 402
    edited 2012-03-27 10:58
    Mike Green, you wrote...
    Here's the FTDI VCP drivers webpage...
    but for some reason the webpage didn't appear.

    Could you please identify which one that is? Thanks
  • HShankoHShanko Posts: 402
    edited 2012-03-27 12:53
    Mike Green,

    I don't know if originally the reference to the FTDI webpage was in blue (the 'Here's', first word in your post). Just noticed it today. Thanks so much for reference to v2.2.17.
  • HShankoHShanko Posts: 402
    edited 2012-03-27 15:39
    Got the FTDI serial driver installed. However, something crashed today; left it with no mouse or keyboard access, so had to reboot, which in the process lost all the Windows XP and Parallels apps. In the process of reinstalling that, for some reason Windows installation reformatted the HD partition for Windows. Dang, lost most all the files I had on it; fortunately there are a few on the iMac desktop.

    So time to download Prop Tool and a few other apps, and move a number of Prop files from iMac to Windows desktop. Ugh! Such a bummer. Never had this sort of problem before.

    Might be a while before I can mark this thread 'SOLVED'.
  • HShankoHShanko Posts: 402
    edited 2012-03-29 10:32
    Finally,, yesterday I got Parallels v7 latest version installed, working with Windows XP, and PropBOE is recognized. Now that was a very nice feeling.

    And doing the LED light control, have a LED blinking!!!. Still have the weird HD head sound going on; that greatly delays the response of any mouse selections. But can work around it for now. So can consider this SOLVED.
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