Problem recognizing USB to serial port adapter

[nw...@escitech.com]

I see that this has been discussed before, but I could not find any
resolution to it. So here it is again.

I have program that uses the serial port and everything works fine
through a normal serial port (COM1-4). I tried to install my program
on a laptop which has no RS-232 port on it so I bought a USB to RS-232
adapter.

My code fails to recognize it as a serial port and therefore will not
accept fconfigure -mode commands. I tried three different USB to RS232
adapters. On Keyspan and Belkin adapters it will not work. On one
from "Manhattan Products" it works fine.

Is this being fixed?

Thanks,
Nathan

[Alan Anderson]

"nw...@escitech.com" <nw...@escitech.com> wrote:

> I see that this has been discussed before, but I could not find any
> resolution to it. So here it is again.

> ...a USB to RS-232
> adapter...

> My code fails to recognize it as a serial port and therefore will not
> accept fconfigure -mode commands.

I have the same problem. I'd like to hear how to fix it.

[Cameron Laird]

In article <1147293751.2...@i40g2000cwc.googlegroups.com>,

.
.
.
No, and it's not even yet been officially logged as an issue,
as near as I can tell.

BUT I'm trying to free up a little money this very afternoon
to address it. From the little research we've done already,
it *must* be a simple error ...

I have absolutely no explanation as to how different adapters
could yield different results.

[nw...@escitech.com]

Thanks for looking into it. Is there a workaround in the meantime? I
have a very important project depending on it.

[Scott]

A couple of years ago, I submitted a patch for (I think) the same issue
(keyspan device not identified as a serial port under windows)

http://sourceforge.net/tracker/index.php?func=detail&aid=819667&group...

It appears never to have been integrated, but feel free to use it
yourself.

[Scott]

Whoops, I screwed up the URL. Here's the correct one.

http://sourceforge.net/tracker/index.php?func=detail&aid=819667&group_id=10894&atid=310894

[nw...@escitech.com]

Just as an update, I went back and tried the Belkin adapter again
(model F5U109). It did not work. Then I downloaded the latest driver
from the web and now it has no problem.

I tried the same on the Keyspan (USA-19HS) but even after loading the
newest driver, I still could not get it to work.

>From what I have been able to gather, there is a function call in the
"open" function which asks windows what type of device it is and if it
does not say it is a serial port, then TCL decides it is a normal file
and disables the "-mode" option. If this is the case, then obviously
the fault is in the driver software and not in TCL (proven by the fact
that the new Belkin driver worked). However, it would be nice if one
could force TCL to consider a file as a serial port, regardless of what
the windows driver says: ie. just add an option to "open" such as
"-serial" so that it will allow "-mode" no matter what. It would then
be up to the user to suffer the consequences (if any) if it was not
actually a serial port.

Nathan

[nw...@escitech.com]

Thanks Scott,

I will look into using that patch (although to date I have been getting
away with using the precompiled tcl and am a bit reluctant to start
hacking now).

I sent a message to Keyspan and told them of the bug in thier driver.
We'll see if anything comes from that.

I personally think that a good solution is to allow an option on the
"open" call to force it into serial mode regardless. That way it will
be generally safe to use, but if you want to force the issue you can.

Nathan

[Cameron Laird]

In article <1147359775.4...@i40g2000cwc.googlegroups.com>,

nw...@escitech.com <nw...@escitech.com> wrote:
>Thanks for looking into it. Is there a workaround in the meantime? I
>have a very important project depending on it.
>

NO. Well, yes, of course; Tcl *never* boxes us in.
My quick expedients all involve writing little pieces
in C. To me, this looks like quite a blemish on Tcl;
there's no pure-Tcl way around it.

Research continues, though.

[Nathan West]

nw...@escitech.com wrote:
> I have program that uses the serial port and everything works fine
> through a normal serial port (COM1-4). I tried to install my program
> on a laptop which has no RS-232 port on it so I bought a USB to RS-232
> adapter.
>
> My code fails to recognize it as a serial port and therefore will not
> accept fconfigure -mode commands. I tried three different USB to RS232
> adapters. On Keyspan and Belkin adapters it will not work. On one
> from "Manhattan Products" it works fine.
>
> Is this being fixed?
>
> Thanks,
> Nathan

As a follow up for anyone who is interested:

I contacted Keyspan and told them of the problem with their device
driver. After some investigation they acknowledged that their driver
was at fault and they would fix it. below is a quote from the customer
service rep:

"In any case, I was wrong and you were right. There is/was a 'bug' in
our USA-19HS/USA-49W code base. This is something we never implemented
that should have been. That being said, looking back on our records,
you are the second person to report this since we have been shipping
our serial adapters (approx 5 years).

We are in the process of writing new drivers for the USA-19HS/USA-49W
as part of a new product release. These driver will include the feature
that you need. I don't have an ETA for the new drivers but I can tell
you that they are in the alpha testing stage at this time."

So hopefully, if there is anyone out there using the keyspan adapters,
you will have working driver before too long.

Nathan