Plover and Stentura 8000LX troubleshooting

[Brandon Wu]

Hi,

Does anyone have experience using Plover with a Stentura 8000LX? I recently bought one decently cheap on eBay with a missing serial port - after soldering in a new one, I directly (no inbetween cable) plugged in a 3$ prolific2302-based usb-serial adapter. After setting Plover to Stentura, COM4, 9600 baud (tried 1200), 8/1/N no flow control, it just spins on "initializing" and then says "disconnected." Tried on both Ubuntu Saucy and Win8.

I'm reasonably certain that my repair job was fine, but is there some:
1) special way to activate realtime mode on the 8000LX (I didn't receive the manual, and the "modem" setup options don't seem to be what I want)
2) special cable required in between USB serial adapter and Stentura (null modem cable?)
         (this came up in a previous thread I found in search, when someone could only make their 400SRT work by connecting the 40$ Stenograph official serial cable in between)

Thanks,
Brandon

[Marylynn Cassone]

Hi Brandon,

So you're the one who outbid me :)!   I also purchased an 8000lx machine and have had no success connecting it to Plover (get same result as you mentioned).   I don't know what I'm doing wrong, or if my serial port does not function.  I know the  usb cable (Stenograph Realtime Cable, purchased from Stenoworks) is good because I have a 400SRT that connects to Plover successfully with it.   Sorry I'm of no help but am also anxious to find out if it is meant to work with the 8000lx.

[Brandon Wu]

Marylynn,

Heh, small world. I'm almost regretting it too - I did not know there could be that much hair and assorted gunk wrapped up in a single machine. Yugh.
Did you get the manual with your 8000lx? I'm wondering if there's some special instructions to put it into realtime mode - the only thing you can configure from the interface is dialing a modem (I didn't even know they could do that!)
Also, just for troubleshooting purposes, do you just have a usb to serial cable that you plug directly into the writer, or do you plug that into another serial to serial cable that then goes into the writer?

[Glen Warner]

Hi, you two ....

One thing I remember about the Stentura protocol vs. the Flash protocol in digitalCAT is with the Flash, I could start DC while I was setting up the writer (tripod, paper, etc.), tell it to start the translation ... and then turn on the writer.

With the Stenturas, you couldn't do that; if you started a realtime session with the writer disconnected or off, you would get an error.  If you started the session with the writer on without hitting a key, it would give you an error.

Long story short, try hitting a few strokes when Plover is "initializing."

I don't know if it will work, but it certainly can't hurt to try.

Brandon (and anybody else facing a dirty used writer), go here:

http://www.cheapandsleazy.net/stenostuff.html

Good luck!

--gdw

[Brandon Wu]

Hi Glen,

I tried pressing keys while it was initializing...still no dice.

However, then I thought to point a serial terminal program at the COM port, and it turns out...nothing's coming over the wire at all! I guess it's time to try a new cable?
In the meantime, I submitted a request for the student version of digitalCAT so I can test if it's a problem with my plover configuration.

Thanks for the cleaning [q-]tips - I already had to disassemble it down to the circuit board to solder in the replacement serial port, so I just cleaned each piece with alcohol as I went along =).

Brandon

[Marylynn Cassone]

I also got my machine from ebay cheap, but by the time I ended up getting the add-ons I needed, I could have practically gotten a new machine!!!  I was considering another machine because I can't get my disk drive to format :(

I did not get a manual when I purchased the machine - I ended up having to buy one from Stenoworks, which cost me 27.00 bucks and was nothing more than a scanned/printed word document.  Because my laptop doesn't have the pin serial needed, I ended up having to get a usb/serial cable to connect the serial end to the Stenograph realtime cable, connecting the other serial end to the machine and of course connecting the usb to the laptop (sounds like you're all set with that). 

Have you been able to look into the various menu options from the top row of buttons on the steno machine?  There is also a menu option to select the 8000lx option - which lx is the realtime connection, I believe.  The manual does not go into detail - it just says to select the realtime option from the 'MODE' menu.   I assumed the machine had to be set to this option in order to use Plover, but like you - I tried all kinds of things and still could not connect.

I'm sorry I can't help you more.  The cheap and sleazy site that Glen mentions is where I got alot of my info also (thanks Glen).

[Marylynn Cassone]

I'll have to try that - thanks Glen!

[Glen Warner]

You're welcome, Marylynn.

Glad you found something of use on Cheap and Sleazy.

Sorry I don't have much on there about the 8000/8000LX ... I saw that the floppy drive made a lot of noise and was a high-failure item, so that's just one of the reasons I went with the ProCAT Flash ... but the good (?) news is that there's a USB replacement for those ailing floppy drives!

The bad news:

(1) it's not cheap, and

(2) no matter how large of a flash drive you have installed in there, the writer will only see it as a 1.4 megabyte drive

(3) the only way to fix that would be to reverse engineer the ROMs, and that's just not something that's economically feasible.

So ... if you're thinking about buying yourself a writer, go for the ProCAT Flash ... and if you do that, remember that the Flash cannot use those memory cards that are greater than 500KB (~1500 pages) ... none of which, oddly enough, are sold on ProCAT's website, but you should be able to buy them here:

http://www.amtron.com/sram.htm#Rechargeable_Battery

Well. I should be working on this transcript! Hope that helps a bit ...

--gdw

[grytiffin]

Hello Everyone, 

I'm wonder what operating systems you are using?  I have a stentura 500 that works fine on my windows 7 laptop (with a serial/usb adapter), but is somewhat buggy on my ubuntu laptop. When I use it on windows I have it plugged in, turn on the stentura, start plover, and then sometimes I have to hit the little circular arrow sign in the plover box to get it to see the steno machine.  Usually it takes a second and the red light on the stentura comes on signaling that it's in real time mode.  I'm making a little bit of an assumption here, that the 8000 is similar to the 500. Maybe it's not.

The settings I'm using are below: 

Port: com 4

Baudrate: 9600

Data Bits: 8

Stop Bits: 1

Parity: N

Timeout is checked and set at 2 seconds

Flow control RTS/CTS is checked and Xon/Xoff is not checked.

One last thing, the first two serial/usb adapters I tried didn't work. 

- Ty

[Brandon Wu]

Ty,

I'm on Windows 8.1 & Ubuntu Saucy. I tried both a Prolific-based (no-name from China wholesaler) usb to serial adapter as well as an FTDI-based (marginally more legitimate OEM) one that I got today - neither worked. Those are the same serial parameters I have. Do you have a serial-serial cable in between the serial/usb adapter and your 500?

Also, Marylynn, I discovered there was a setting (from the main screen, [More] > [Setup] > [Print] > [Off]) that says "Realtime ENABLED," but I still can't see anything coming over the serial port.

- Brandon

[Patti Behan]

Hi Brandon:

I have a Stentura 8000 and I already had this realtime cable:

http://www.stenograph.com/ProductDetails.aspx?id=0&prodid=30549 

I tried a generic serial adapater, but it did not work.  Then I purchased this exact adapter to connect to my laptop and it worked.  I found it on Amazon.com for less.
http://www.stenograph.com/ProductDetails.aspx?ProdID=38134&ID=0. 

I can't guarantee it, but according to their website it should work with your 8000LX machine.

Good luck,

Patti Behan

On Tuesday, May 20, 2014 5:21:01 AM UTC-4, Brandon Wu wrote:

[grytiffin]

Hi Brandon, 

Yes, I'm using the serial-serial cable that came with my used 500.  It's a fairly old, grey cable with silver serial ports, it might be original.  The serial-usb adapter I'm using is below...  This works fine on my thinkpad (x61t), running windows 7, and previously worked when I had saucy on my other machine. For unrelated reasons I moved back to 12.04 and now the stentura isn't connecting to ubuntu. I suspect this is a permissions issue the dev folder, but at the moment I'm not going to put in the time to research that. I just need it to work on one of my machines.  

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/dynex-16-usb-pda-serial-adapter-cable/7135664.p?id=1110263657278&skuId=7135664&st=usb%20to%20serial%20db9%20adapter&cp=1&lp=12

[workpj]

[workpj]

Hi, Patti, 

I just ordered what I think looks just like the one you shared here from Stenograph -- but at Amazon for cheaper price.  Does yours say "Keyspan" on it?  The one I ordered is hi speed...  hoping it's the one that is sold for twice as much on Stenograph.  

Just wondering if I got what you got... 

Thanks!  PJ

[Patti Behan]

Yes, It says Keyspan.  Good Luck.

[Workpaulajoy]

Cool!  I got it for $21.  Hoping that is going to make Plover finally talk to my steno machine!  

Thanks, Patti!!

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[Patti Behan]

Let me know how you make out.

Patti

[Paula Welter]

Will try to remember to do so!

[Paula Welter]

did I get back to you, Patti?

I got the new Keyspan device...but I realized I just hadn't installed my driver from the original cable I  have been using in another transcription program, purchased form Stenograph.  I was on a different computer, and once that dawned on me, I got that problem solved with my existing cable working fine now.  Might keep the Keyspan one as a spare.  Looks like good specs on it.

[Glen Warner]

Alas, my KeySpan adapter is no longer working! Too bad; I've had it for about ten years now.

One thing I like about it is if you plug it into another USB port, it will still show up with the same COM port address as it had before, so you don't have to do knee tweaking of the software you're trying to make it talk to.

Another good feature -- well, to me, anyway -- is it also has Mac drivers. I've got another adapter that I picked up somewhere from the company that bought out KeySpan a few years back (TripLite). I don't remember where I got it, but it had no documentation with it, and I had to look at the adapter really closely just to find any writing on it to give me a clue as to where to go to find the drivers!

Well. Found the drivers, but there are no Mac driver, so that adapter is just setting on my coffee table right now, waiting for a call to action or something.

One day.

That said, you should probably install the drivers for your KeySpan, just to make sure it works.

Good luck!

--gdw

[Workpaulajoy]

Thanks, Glen!  I love MACs first, and tolerate Windows.   Thanks for the information and advice. I think I'll keep the key span.

For many years, I wasn't able to use the Mac with professional court reporting software, at least in any easy way. So I was had to work with windows.

When I taught court reporting at a career college, a few students were finally onMacs, thanks to the duo core Macs. It just takes the industry a while to catch up to such things.

Again, thanks for the input.   I will definitely install the driver.

[Patti Behan]

Hi Paula:

Thanks for the update. Glad you are up and running.  Have fun.

Patti

Sent from my iPad

[Brent Nesbitt]

FYI, I find that a lot of these adaptors require drivers for windows, but work out-of-the-box in Linux.  Might be the same on Mac, so it would be worth a try.

Brent.

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[Workpaulajoy]

Thanks!!

[August Personage]

I'm having success connecting a Stentura 8000 standard to Plover with the Stenograph (tm) issued realtime serial to serial cable connected to a tripp lite keyspan

serial to usb. I am using the same exact settings mentioned by grytiffin above (making sure to check "flow control rts/cts," which i think was the final step to making this work). So far it works on both 8000 and 6000+ modes. 

I bought the realtime serial cable direct from Stenograph after spending enough total on other serials / serial to usb combos to have just bought the Stenograph in the first place. Ditto with the serial to USB adapter. The serial to usb that worked for me can be found elsewhere for about $5 less than at Stenograph.

[Pryor Crossley]

You have to remove the plover.cfg file, and then re-add your dictionary once you start it.

1.   Go to your prompt on the start button and then type:

2.   C:\Users\WHATEVERYOURUSERNAMEIS\AppData\Local\plover\plover

3.   Open Plover with right-click open

4    Find the plover.cfg file and delete it

5.   Restart PLOVER, which will indicate that you have NKRO Keyboard connected; change keyboard to TX BOLT -- for older machines, you do not use the cable your machine came with, you have to use this:  USB to Serial Adaptor (RS-232 Male) (9-pin) (available on Amazon for nine dollars approximately).  You insert the 9-pin to the back of your writer and the USB to your laptop.  You have to activate your writer to configure in realtime to TX BOLT (usually on the front of your machine, hitting the inner-most top button of your left-bank -- if your writer doesn't have this, you need to configure to writing in realtime on your writer.  I have been very successful doing this with Mira and Cybra (not yet Diamante, still working on that).  Happy to answer all inquiries to: Pryor, at sig...@gmail.com.  

[Patti Behan]

Hi David:

My machine is up in my attic somewhere and I can’t remember what the cable I used looks like.  But I searched my Amazon account and this is what I bought in April 2014.  Tripp Lite Keyspan High-Speed USB to Serial Adapter, PC & Mac (USA-19HS) 

Tripp Lite Keyspan High-Speed USB to Serial Adapter, PC & Mac (USA-19HS) Looking for a way to connect your serial devices to a USB port on your PC? The Keyspan High Speed USB Serial Adapter is a simple, inexpensive, and reliable way to make this connection. The Adapter is ideal for use with modems, digital cameras, ISDN

It’s worth a shot to try it and if it doesn’t work you could always return it. Good luck and let me know how you make out. 

Patti


Sent from the all new AOL app for iOS

On Sunday, January 16, 2022, 6:51 PM, 'David Bayl' via Plover <plove...@googlegroups.com> wrote:

Hi Patti

I know this comment of yours goes back a ways, but I was hoping you could still be of assistance. The links to the products have expired. Would you be able to identify the serial adapter you used? I think I had better go looking on Amazon for just such a cable. 

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