USB To Serial

[nswint]

I have one of those new fancy computers without a serial port. Has anyone had success with connecting any of the x10 controller and any other serial devices using a usb to serial adapter USB To Serial Adapter

[Michael McSharry]

Dont know about that one, but I do have 3 byterunner ones and have used with both W2K and XP and 3 different motherboards over the years and never had a problem with them. They come in a dual configuration for about the same price as two singles in your reference.

[smee]

I'm using two of these:
Byterunner USB-2COM
It sounds the like same one that Michael is using. I haven't had any problems.

I have used some others which didn't seem to always work. They also didn't have the greatest support across operating systems. The ones from Byterunner use FTDI chips and you can always get the drivers from the chip manufacturer: FTDI Chip drivers. I've never had problems with FTDI-based devices.

I'm also using a PCI card with 4 serial ports:
Byterunner PCI-400HS-9
which also works well but it's obviously not USB.

[zoomkat]

I've got one like the ones below and it seems to work without problems, but haven't used it with x10 devices. Note the blurb about not working with a terminal program. Hyperterminal doesn't seem to see it, but I haven't done much tinkering in this area with terminal programs. It does work with a serial port based servo controller when I write bytes to its com port using a batch file.

http://www.compgeeks.com/details.asp?invtid=USB2RS232
http://store.yahoo.com/saveateaglest...toserrs9p.html

[fireball]

I tried using one of the ones zoomkat has but couldn't get it to do what I needed it to do so I put it on eBay and then went to CompUSA and bought a PCI card that had two serial ports. Almost a year now an no complaints with that.
Oh yeah, I run Win2k on my HS box.

[nswint]

Are the ones that you guys are using get recognized as a standard com port? Do you just plug in the usb device, install the drivers, and use or is there a software layer that controls all of this? Also what's the power usage if I want to use in a usb hub.

[Michael McSharry]

standard com port. After drivers are installed it looks and works just like the com1, com2, etc, but has a number like com8 or whatever. I have a large spider network of usb hubs with most using external power. Never had a power issue with these byterunner units. They get their power from the usb source.

I have had a power problem with a high capacity thumb drive plugged directly on a laptop usb. The laptop was too stingy with power. I just routed it through a hub and then there was plenty of power.

[smee]

I would be hesitant to use any that don't show up as a standard com port. It seems odd to me that zoomkat's works when he sends bytes to it but not with hyperterminal. The compgeeks description talks about only working with modems or HID devices (basically mice in this case, I'd imagine) - there must be drivers that recognize this as specific hardware and not as a serial port.

Anyway, I'd stick with the ones that look like com ports. Otherwise, it may be hit-or-miss whether it works or not.

[Barry Gordon]

I use quite a few USB to Serial adapters (8 serial port versions) from IOnetworks. They are a bit pricey, but are fully integrated into windows with tons of flexibility. You can pck the com port assignments, they are indistinguishable from real com ports. I use them to drive RS232 devices in my Home Theater and on my Homeseer system. Using a USB hub (I use the one from IO networks) you can cascade the USB to RS232 up to the limits of windows (256 serial ports).

[Guest]

I am using a 4-port usb hub with an extra serial- and paralel port. External power. I only tried this with a MR26E and this works perfectly. The port shows up as an extra (regular) com-port.

Richard

[fireball]

The USB to serial adapter I had I tried with a Creative Infra remote (allows IR control of Winamp) and a Smarthome PCIR Linc. The thing was a piece of crap that I sold on eBay with the stipulation that there's a good chance it may not work with whatever you're trying to use it for. The guy that bought it from me wrote a couple weeks later saying that, even though he read my description, he was having problems with it.
Not a big fan of zoomkat's converter at all.

[zoomkat]

I think any application that is made to talk to a serial port hardware resource will probably fail with the USB devices. I think the application needs to call the comport via a windows comport api to work with the USB devices. In device manager, the USB comports do not have a resource tab when the propertys are viewed. My computer has one hardware comport and it apparently uses com 1/3. The USB gizmo is assigned to com4. I echo bytes in a batch file to com4 and my webcam pans and tilts just like it does when connected to the com1 hardware serial port. I'll have to do some looking some time to see juat what will see the USB device as a comport and what won't.

[griffined]

I'm using a SIIG USB to Serial converter to attach my W800RF32A. It shows up as Com 5 in XP just fine. I've used the converter with other programs (Hyperterminal, GPS) and they have worked fine.

Ed