USB to Serial adapters

CableGuy67

I've been waiting until X-Mas (dodging that crazy santa bot) to fire up my new Pro Dev Board. Unfortunately I've run into many of the problems that others have faced. Namely, that with my Gateway laptop and a TripLite USB to Serial adapter, using the SXKey is not happening. Fortunately, my Dell Inspiron from work does work well. Odd really.

I have XP on both machines and I wonder if it is just the USB ports themselves. I set up both with the exact same driver (a sort of drop in deal) and settings. So, my question. Would it be sensible to try another (maybe the one Parallax offers) USB to Serial adapter on my Gateway or just give it up and either fire up the defunct desktop or use the work laptop? Seriously, what could be the issue? I thought maybe it was a USB 1 to 2 problem with the Gateway but after trying every available USB I had at my disposal I'm thinking that is not the case.

Any feedback would be great. Maybe from someone with a Gateway Turion and a happy combination. The funny thing is, that the gateway has no problem with the HomeWork board, just the PDB and SXKey.

Other than that, I'm really happy with the dev package. It seems to be just what the doctor ordered. And hello to all my fellow SX'ers out there.

Mark

CableGuy67

Oddly enough, even though the Gateway fails with "no sx key found" or the integer failures, it does seem to sometimes get the programming to the SX28 on my board. Just not very reliable and no good for debugging. Maybe I should just go with the non-debug capable programmer for the Gateway. [noparse]:shrug:[/noparse]

Mark

RobotWorkshop

Hello Mark,

If possible you should consider picking up a different brand USB to Serial adapter. I've found that the ones based on the FTDI chipset seem to work the best overall and i've never had any issues with them. A friend at work also has had the same experience with the USB to serial adapters. I loaned him one of the FTDI based ones and now that is all he will use. It was one of the only adapters that would allow him to update the firmware on some older Serial Modems he had. Other USB to serial adapters just wouldn't do it.

Good luck,

Robert

sylvie369

I've had the same experience as the gentleman above. I tried a generic (no idea what's inside...) serial/USB converter and didn't do so well. The Parallax FTDI one seems to work with everything I've tried.

CableGuy67

Thanks to the two of you. I came to the same conclusion and in my travels today picked up the Belkin model. [noparse]:)[/noparse]

I'm happy to say all went well. Not that I have any problem with purchasing here, I just was a little impatient. On the plus side, now I don't have to remember to undo my key and put the old one in my work bag.

I do appreciate the advice.

Mark

sylvie369

Excellent. Have fun.