USB to Serial converter cable

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell,comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

We sometimes have to config a Switch or Router,
and therefore connect our laptops to a serial port.

For those laptops that don't have a serial port,
we would like to use one of those USB to Serial cables.

BUT - do I really need to load any software drivers
specific to that USB cable converter.... let's say using Win XP

Basically, can I just grab a USB cable converter,
plug it into the USB port, and have it discovered & work ?

How then do we assign a COM1-4 port to the USB cable connection ?

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell,comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

Whether or not you need special drivers depends on the brand of USB-serial
cable. As a general rule, none would be required with XP. The serial port
usually shows up as a USB port number like USB002 or whatever.

I'm assuming that you would telnet to the switch or router. I do not know if
telnet can be coaxed into connecting to a USB port. If not, I'm certain that
other bits of similar software do work with serial over USB... Ben Myers

On Mon, 16 May 2005 14:42:17 GMT, "Phil Schuman"
<pschuman_NO_SPAM_ME@interserv.com> wrote:

>We sometimes have to config a Switch or Router,
>and therefore connect our laptops to a serial port.
>
>For those laptops that don't have a serial port,
>we would like to use one of those USB to Serial cables.
>
>BUT - do I really need to load any software drivers
>specific to that USB cable converter.... let's say using Win XP
>
>Basically, can I just grab a USB cable converter,
>plug it into the USB port, and have it discovered & work ?
>
>How then do we assign a COM1-4 port to the USB cable connection ?
>
>
>

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell,comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

Hi Phil,

Over the years I have tried; Belkin, Keyspan and a couple of other
Serial-to-USB cables, and none of them have consistently worked. I
can't even guess how many man hours were lost trying to get those
cables to work with some devices.

About 9 months ago, I bought a SIIG PcCard Serial card, and I have
not found anything that it does not work with. At $50, some might
consider it pricey . . . for me it just WORKS and that is worth $50.

Ciao . . . C.Joseph

That which a man buys too cheaply . . .
He esteems too lightly


Phil Schuman wrote:
> We sometimes have to config a Switch or Router,
> and therefore connect our laptops to a serial port.
>
> For those laptops that don't have a serial port,
> we would like to use one of those USB to Serial cables.
>
> BUT - do I really need to load any software drivers
> specific to that USB cable converter.... let's say using Win XP
>
> Basically, can I just grab a USB cable converter,
> plug it into the USB port, and have it discovered & work ?
>
> How then do we assign a COM1-4 port to the USB cable connection ?
>
>
>
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[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell,comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

There is a reason for your findings.

A USB to serial adapter is not a serial port. There are no hardware
registers, and any software that attempts to write to the registers of
the serial port that the software thinks it is talking through will
fail. Unfortunately, that is just about half of all applications that
use serial ports.

However, PC Card serial ports ARE "real serial ports", and they have all
of the registers that a "real" serial port will have. Consequently,
they work almost every time.


C.Joseph Drayton wrote:
> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
> Hash: SHA1
>
> Hi Phil,
>
> Over the years I have tried; Belkin, Keyspan and a couple of other
> Serial-to-USB cables, and none of them have consistently worked. I
> can't even guess how many man hours were lost trying to get those
> cables to work with some devices.
>
> About 9 months ago, I bought a SIIG PcCard Serial card, and I have
> not found anything that it does not work with. At $50, some might
> consider it pricey . . . for me it just WORKS and that is worth $50.
>
> Ciao . . . C.Joseph
>
> That which a man buys too cheaply . . .
> He esteems too lightly
>
>
> Phil Schuman wrote:
>
>>We sometimes have to config a Switch or Router,
>>and therefore connect our laptops to a serial port.
>>
>>For those laptops that don't have a serial port,
>>we would like to use one of those USB to Serial cables.
>>
>>BUT - do I really need to load any software drivers
>>specific to that USB cable converter.... let's say using Win XP
>>
>>Basically, can I just grab a USB cable converter,
>>plug it into the USB port, and have it discovered & work ?
>>
>>How then do we assign a COM1-4 port to the USB cable connection ?
>>
>>
>>
>
> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
> Version: GnuPG v1.4.1 (MingW32)
> Comment: Using GnuPG with Mozilla - http://enigmail.mozdev.org
>
> iD8DBQFCif7B0p5pZd9esrsRAqE6AJsGvxlo4KSxQ6VhmE8+oiIW1CIXKACgkQNr
> ZEk+pbnCa/N9mq1lVBuTnJc=
> =CH5m
> -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
>
>
> x-- 100 Proof News - http://www.100ProofNews.com
> x-- 3,500+ Binary NewsGroups, and over 100,000 other groups
> x-- Access to over 1.6 Terabytes per Day - $8.95/Month
> x-- UNLIMITED DOWNLOAD
>

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell,comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

Barry,

EXCELLENT observations! I had not thought of them previously... Ben Myers

On Tue, 17 May 2005 17:25:53 GMT, Barry Watzman <WatzmanNOSPAM@neo.rr.com>
wrote:

>There is a reason for your findings.
>
>A USB to serial adapter is not a serial port. There are no hardware
>registers, and any software that attempts to write to the registers of
>the serial port that the software thinks it is talking through will
>fail. Unfortunately, that is just about half of all applications that
>use serial ports.
>
>However, PC Card serial ports ARE "real serial ports", and they have all
>of the registers that a "real" serial port will have. Consequently,
>they work almost every time.
>
>
>C.Joseph Drayton wrote:
>> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
>> Hash: SHA1
>>
>> Hi Phil,
>>
>> Over the years I have tried; Belkin, Keyspan and a couple of other
>> Serial-to-USB cables, and none of them have consistently worked. I
>> can't even guess how many man hours were lost trying to get those
>> cables to work with some devices.
>>
>> About 9 months ago, I bought a SIIG PcCard Serial card, and I have
>> not found anything that it does not work with. At $50, some might
>> consider it pricey . . . for me it just WORKS and that is worth $50.
>>
>> Ciao . . . C.Joseph
>>
>> That which a man buys too cheaply . . .
>> He esteems too lightly
>>
>>
>> Phil Schuman wrote:
>>
>>>We sometimes have to config a Switch or Router,
>>>and therefore connect our laptops to a serial port.
>>>
>>>For those laptops that don't have a serial port,
>>>we would like to use one of those USB to Serial cables.
>>>
>>>BUT - do I really need to load any software drivers
>>>specific to that USB cable converter.... let's say using Win XP
>>>
>>>Basically, can I just grab a USB cable converter,
>>>plug it into the USB port, and have it discovered & work ?
>>>
>>>How then do we assign a COM1-4 port to the USB cable connection ?
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
>> Version: GnuPG v1.4.1 (MingW32)
>> Comment: Using GnuPG with Mozilla - http://enigmail.mozdev.org
>>
>> iD8DBQFCif7B0p5pZd9esrsRAqE6AJsGvxlo4KSxQ6VhmE8+oiIW1CIXKACgkQNr
>> ZEk+pbnCa/N9mq1lVBuTnJc=
>> =CH5m
>> -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
>>
>>
>> x-- 100 Proof News - http://www.100ProofNews.com
>> x-- 3,500+ Binary NewsGroups, and over 100,000 other groups
>> x-- Access to over 1.6 Terabytes per Day - $8.95/Month
>> x-- UNLIMITED DOWNLOAD
>>

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell,comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

"Barry Watzman" <WatzmanNOSPAM@neo.rr.com> wrote in message
news:428A2921.9050909@neo.rr.com...
> There is a reason for your findings.
>
> A USB to serial adapter is not a serial port. There are no hardware
> registers, and any software that attempts to write to the registers of
> the serial port that the software thinks it is talking through will
> fail. Unfortunately, that is just about half of all applications that
> use serial ports.
>

This is not necessarily true. The drivers of these devices intercept the
register reads and writes and act accordingly. However, it is true that the
NT drivers are less able to cope than they should be. The Win 9x drivers
were in many respects better because they provided not only a Windows
driver, but a so called 'DOS Box' driver, that fully emulated all of the
registers of the UART and indeed (somehow) the correct interupts as well.

> However, PC Card serial ports ARE "real serial ports", and they have all
> of the registers that a "real" serial port will have. Consequently,
> they work almost every time.
>

 

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Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell,comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

I was looking at the older Keyspan 19Q/W - which is only up to 56kbps,
and the equipment we are using is only running default at 9600.
Does anyone know if the Keyspan "PDA" model
is any different than the normal USB-->Serial model ?
I mean, it has a male 9-pin plug and the same pinouts and polarity
compared
to the serial port on a PC - unless there is something flipped ala null
modem ?
But then, it is replaced by the currenthigh speed 19HS model,
so they all must be the same.... just faster speed capability.