Need help with serial/ USB cable

[reefknight]

Hi folks, I'm in hopes that someone can help me with this problem. I purchased a new laptop recently and it does not have a serial port, as the trend is everything is USB. I found a serial to USB cable( Belkin- Used for attaching a PDA) while going through the clearance section of a office supply store and thought that I had the solution. I tried installing the drivers for it and attaching it to my AC Jr. and it won't communicate. What am I doing wrong? Thanks for the assistance in advance!

Bill

 

[reefknight]

Does anyone have any thoughts on this issue? I really need a way to connect my controller to my CPU.

Curt - Is there any plans to change the connection type since serial connections are becoming less common versus USB?

Thanks!

 

[MinibowMatt]

lol....I just encountered this same issue.. I had to go backwards and use a win98 laptop I had laying around!
I tried a cheapo usb-serial adapter and it didnt work *well enough* for me.
I would have loved a USB port on the AC unit!

 

[Moloch_0]

I'm using this one with no problems:

Keyspan
USA-19HS

 

[reefknight]

Well guys after pounding my head into the table time and time again, I got it to work. That is after I went to Radio Shack and purchased a serial/ USB cable from them. It worked after playing with a few settings. Then I got to thinking if I had changed the settings for he Belkin cable, it turns out I did not. After reinstalling the drivers for the Belkin and double checking the COM port settings, it worked. Radio Shack is getting their $35 cable back, and my bargain find will work after all.

 

[reefknight]

Minibow & Moloch - Thank you for the input, as a matter of fact if this did not work I was going to order the Keyspan cable, go figure.

Mini, don't give up on that cable just yet. Have you went into My computer > properties > hardware devices > locate your cable under COM &LPT ports > settings > advance > then change the port number to 1, 2, 3, or 4 (which ever one is available). Then open AquaNotes > Databases > tank database> config > set COM port to match your cable. Please see if that works for you, its eventually what I did and it did work. I hope this helps you and you can make it work for you better than the old laptop.(That was one of my next options as well )

 

[MinibowMatt]

Im actually ok with running it on the older computer. I have that machine now set up to be a media server too, so it isnt a big deal. I had returned that cable a while ago anyway.

Thats good info though, in case I ever try it again!