How can I get serial SXkey working with Mac Intel running Parallels with Win XP
dbg
Posts: 4
I'm trying to use Parallels in order to run PC development software for the Parallax SX family of chips, on my Intel Macbook Pro, under Windows XP SP2.
The programming connection I need to use, called SX/Key, uses a standard serial cable.
I couldn't make my Keyspan 28X USB to Serial adaptor work in the PC environment (it's for Macs only).
So I purchased a Mac/PC Keyspan 19HS USB to Serial adaptor, and have now successfully gotten it to show up in Windows XP in Parallels, when using Keyspan's serial utility. (It took many tries to get that far, because I had to uninstall the Keyspan drivers in the Mac and restart the Mac before Parallels could get control of the adaptor, and it took a while to discover the right combination and sequence to get this to work, especially because I didn't know for sure if it should work or could work.)
Anyway, it seems like the serial port ought to be happy now, but it doesn't work. I've tried setting it up in the PC Keyspan utility as com3 and as com1, with no difference in behavior:
The development software I need to run is "SX-Key v3.2" from
http://www.parallax.com/dl/sw/sx/keyv3.2r3/large/SX-KeyEditor-3.2R3lg.exe
It appears to run fine in the Parallels environment, except that it shows no comm ports as existing in its IDE configuration panel, and so there is no way to make it communicate with the chip I want to program!
This is a showstopper.
Any ideas?
Dave
The programming connection I need to use, called SX/Key, uses a standard serial cable.
I couldn't make my Keyspan 28X USB to Serial adaptor work in the PC environment (it's for Macs only).
So I purchased a Mac/PC Keyspan 19HS USB to Serial adaptor, and have now successfully gotten it to show up in Windows XP in Parallels, when using Keyspan's serial utility. (It took many tries to get that far, because I had to uninstall the Keyspan drivers in the Mac and restart the Mac before Parallels could get control of the adaptor, and it took a while to discover the right combination and sequence to get this to work, especially because I didn't know for sure if it should work or could work.)
Anyway, it seems like the serial port ought to be happy now, but it doesn't work. I've tried setting it up in the PC Keyspan utility as com3 and as com1, with no difference in behavior:
The development software I need to run is "SX-Key v3.2" from
http://www.parallax.com/dl/sw/sx/keyv3.2r3/large/SX-KeyEditor-3.2R3lg.exe
It appears to run fine in the Parallels environment, except that it shows no comm ports as existing in its IDE configuration panel, and so there is no way to make it communicate with the chip I want to program!
This is a showstopper.
Any ideas?
Dave
Comments
The IDE gets the list of available COM ports from Windows. However, since you're working in somewhat uncharted territory, I'm not sure I have any great advice. I do know that the chipset for USB serial ports matters (the FTDI chipset is known to work, all others are suspect), so if there is a way to verify the chipset, that's a good first step. Finally, I have no clue what "Parallels" is (although I assume an emulator or virtual environment of some sort), so that also puts me at a disadvantage.
Thanks,
PeterM
Long story short - You may be experiencing the same problems that happen across all these apps - resource contention. I'm not on my Mac right now but there should be an option for what to emulate the Com port as. The memory address and IRQ (virtual in this case) define to Windows what the serial port should be. The best test is going to be if you can connect to anything using that serial port (ie, a modem, a DCE serial device, a router, etc...)
I haven't tried this yet (don't want to buy the components until I know this works)...
For what is worth I am using Virtual PC and SX Key combination with no issues.
Although I have Keysapn serial devices I do not use them with virtual PC since they do not work properly.
The way I got mine to work was to purchase an IOGEAR USB to RS232 adapter GUC232A.
Load the drivers for XP if required and make sure that the Parallels program "Grabs" the port.
Using this technique I have SX key working on Virtual PC, I am sure it will work for you too.
Reza
Given your experience, I went to Fry's and bought every USB to RS232 adapter they had, hoping one would work.
The cheapest one, that I tried first, works! All the others will go back...
I'm using successfully the Airlink 101 "Phoebe" Model AC-USBS adapter, at $14.99, with "Parallels" PC emulation software trial version, on a MacBook Pro 17 Intel Macintosh.
The Keyspan 19HS I bought earlier for $39.99 seems to work in the opinion of its own support application, but it does not work with the SX-Key software (which can't see any comm port at all). So sometimes buying the most expensive product with the most famous name does not give the best results.
Keyspan support was somewhat helpful (they saved me time by telling me the FTDI drivers would not work with their adapter), but insisted I test their device in Bootcamp before they would consider my problem to be their problem, and I can't use Bootcamp because my XP is an update CD, which Apple explicitly says won't work because you can't install any earlier version to update and there's no way to eject a CD during the BootCamp process.
So happy to be SX'ing at last! (But it's a pity that parallax doesn't make platform independent software, or provide a version that runs on the Mac directly!)
Dave
No, they don't... but I'm working on it. Things have been kinda' crazy around here lately, and I haven't been able to put in as much time on it as I would like (it is, at the moment, on "hobby project" status) - but it is coming along; slowly-but-surely...