USB BOE, Win XP port problem

argh

I just got a USB Board of Education and Stamp 2P, and am having
trouble getting it to communicate with my PC. I read on the web site
that no drivers are needed with XP, but when I plug the board with
the serial cable into my XP computer, Windows pops up messages
about "Found New Hardware, USB <-> Serial", and launches the
Found New Hardware Wizard looking for drivers. I tried it on a
second PC to see if maybe it was a messed up PC, but the second
one did the same thing. They're both modern PCs, Windows XP with
Service Pack 2, the first has no serial ports, the second has one.

So back to the first PC I tried, I downloaded the FTDI VCP drivers
from parallax's web site, pointed the hardware wizard at those, and
it said it installed something. But going into the Windows stamp
software, it doesn't seem to list USB as an option for the port, you
can only add numerical serial port numbers. I figured maybe the
software isn't really USB compatible, and the BOE just embeds a
kludged USB-to-serial adapater, so I tried putting in COM port
numbers. Numbers 2-8 it said port not found, COM 1 it said couldn't
be opened.

The documentation for the USB BOE doesn't seem to cover any
of this, it just says no drivers are needed for XP. The readme
included with the driver ZIP file I downloaded doesn't mention
XP either, it just addresses Win 98 and Win 2k issues.

So, I'm stuck. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

argh

Whoops, this should be in the BASIC Stamp forum.
Sorry, I'm a newb here. [noparse]:)[/noparse]

Jon Williams

If you have a live connection to the Internet XP should install the drivers for you. Is this not happening? I will look into updating the docs for XP and non-live connections.

On the PC that seemed to install, you need to look at your Device Manager to see where the USB port was assigned, then you can add it to the Editor list of ports. To find the assignment, do this:

Start Menu >> Control Panel >> System >> Hardware (tab) >> Device Manager

Now, look down through the list for "Ports (COM & LPT)", then click on the [noparse][[/noparse]+] icon to expand the list. You should see something that says "USB Serial Port (COMx)" -- the 'x' is the com port number that you're interested in.

In the BASIC Stamp IDE, go to Edit >> Preferences >> Editor Operation (tab). Next to the "Default Com Port" selection there is a browsn [noparse][[/noparse]...] button. Click on this to open the "Edit Available Ports" dialog. Enter your USB Com Port number in the Com # box, then click the Add button. You should now have access to your USB BOE.

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Jon Williams
Applications Engineer, Parallax
Dallas Office

argh

The hardware wizard appeared when I was not connected to the internet,
so I connected to the net, downloaded the drivers, disconnected, then
installed them.

There is no "Ports (COM & LPT)" listed in the Device Manager...this is a
laptop without any COM or LPT ports.

I just tried installing this on the second PC, with a live internet connection.
The Found New Hardware Wizard still popped up asking for drivers,
which I think contradicts the site's description of XP not needing drivers,
but when I clicked "find drivers automatically," it succeeded in finding
and installing them.

However, going to Device Manager, instead of listing it under Ports
(COM & LPT), it lists it under Other Devices as USB Serial Port, with
a yellow exclamation point of death next to it. Clicking on it yields
"This device is not configured correctly. (Code 1) To reinstall the
drivers for this device, click Reinstall Driver."

Ooh ooh...scratch that, I clicked Reinstall, it found it again, reinstalled,
and now I get USB Serial Port (COM3). The windows software is now
able to identify the stamp, so my problem is solved for the 2nd computer.
(I'd delete a couple of the paragraphs above, but maybe they'll help
someone else with the same problem).

argh

I hooked up the first PC to the net, reconnected the BOE,
had the hardware wizard do an automatic driver search/install,
and this time it worked.

One difference I noticed is that the first time it was referring
to "USB <-> Serial", while the second time it was referring
to "USB Serial Port". It is now listed in a Ports (COM & LPT), as
USB Serial Port (COM8).

<Shrug>...the mysteries of plug-and-play. [noparse]:)[/noparse]

Thanks for your prompt after-hours help, Jon.

Jon Williams

I will have that note changed -- as you found out it is a bit misleading; sorry that you had difficulties.

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Jon Williams
Applications Engineer, Parallax
Dallas Office