serial cable won't work?

[saltykelly]

I just received my new ac jr and the serial cable it came with won't work with my computer. It has a female db9 and both my computers only have female db9. What do I do?

 

[d0ughb0y]

the computer should have a male db9, perhaps you are looking at the vga connector on your computer. some computers do not have serial port anymore, so you may need to get a serial to usb adapter. if your computer already has bluetooth, your other option is to get a serial to bluetooth adapter to connect to the end of the ac jr serial cable (not cheap though, cost about $65).

 

[saltykelly]

I think I am looking at my vga. I don't appear to have a serial port. I guess that I'll need to send back the cable. And theres no way I can afford to go blue tooth.

 

[Mako]

Use a USB adaptor.

 

[d0ughb0y]

use at least a usb adaptor (not sure how much it cost, but should not be much). You are going to lose/miss a large portion of the potential usefulness of the ac jr without a serial connection (like driving a sportscar to the grocery, well maybe not that much, but you get the point).. if you are handy at soldering, you can return the cable you bought and wire one yourself for under $10.

 

[iairj84]

I'm using a serial to USB adapter and it works great with XP but it will not work with VISTA. You need a vista specific cable for it and their aren't too many out there that can guarantee that.

 

[clp]

It will work fine in Vista. Most likely there is an issue with the device driver for the USB to serial adapter. Confirm that the serial port is installed and working correctly in the device manager.

Curt

 

[iairj84]

It won't work for me, Their are some cables that are not compatible with XP. Mostly the cheapies from fleabay. I have no issues on my xp machine and I have no reason to connect to the vista laptop.

If someone does need one they just need to make sure it will work with vista if they have it.