Unable to install device via Serial to USB adapter

[kwazimoto]

Hi all,

For work purposes, I have been using an old US Robotics FaxModem to receive periodic faxes. I recently upgraded my motherboard and now do not have a serial input on my mobo. I picked up a USB to serial adapter, however, Windows XP pro is unable to detect my modem.

I have tried installing via device manager, however, it won't let me install the driver by this route stating the driver does not support my device.

I have also tried manually installing the modem via Phones and Modems icon in control panel. This recognizes the driver, however, the last step in installing is to select a port to install the device and no devices are listed (as you can imagine since it is now connected via USB, instead of serial, to the motherboard, and thus no COM ports are listed as active).

Any ideas of how to install the modem via USB to serial adapter?

Thanks in advance.

 

[kwazimoto]

Update:

Problem solved...

Just incase others have this problem. If you buy a USB to serial adapter, you will need to download a driver that recognizes the adapter. I found this one that worked:

http://download.cnet.com/USB-to-Serial-Port/3000-2112_4-126677.html

once I installed this driver, Windows XP was able to automatically detect my modem as P2P hardware.

Not sure how to delete a thread, but figured the solution may come in handy for someone else one day.

 

[B-Unit]

Heh, I just wrapped up a project at work that required the use of several USB-to-Serial adapters. As you said, the key is getting the software/driver for the adapter installed. Once that's done, it behaves just like a normal serial port.