USB to Serial (Good, Bad, Ugly?)

[BobB]

I purchased an Omron USB/232 converter that has worked very well with everything I have tried it on, so far.

The other thing I like about this device is that is has transmit and receive lights. You can see what is going on. Most usefull, not cheap though.

By the way I am running XP Home on a HP laptop. I have successfully connected to Omron C200H - C200 Alpha - CPM1A - CPM2A - ZEN - screens - CS1 - CJ1 with Syswin - CX-Programmer 4.01 - NTSE 4.6 - NS Designer 5 - Device Net Configurator, Hitachi EC with ActsipE - H series with Actsip H and Actwin, Mitsubishi with GX Developer, GE-Fanuc 90-30 with Logicmaster 90, Schneider Twido and smart relay, and several other brands so far. Had to change the com port number in Device Manager as some programs will only recognise coms 1 & 2. Have not been out to service an AB with the new setup yet but it will come shortly I am sure.

 

[Eric Nelson]

Another Update...

I'll test it on the E-700 Operator Terminal soon, but I'm quite sure it will work... :nodi:

I tried it yesterday, and sure 'nuff, it does! So, we can add one more to the 'list'...

Mitsubishi (Beijer) E-700 Operator Terminal (via E-Designer software)

beerchug

-Eric

---

One quick word of caution regarding transferring the E-Designer license (authorization) between computers...

When I originally dicovered that I couldn't connect to the E-700 terminal with my USB adapter, I transferred my license to a laptop (with a REAL serial port) that the customer allowed me to use. I used HIS laptop to make changes to the E-700.

License transfer is simple, but they use copy protection from Crypkey, so it works a bit differently than other methods. You select "Transfer license FROM another computer" on the unlicensed PC. It writes an encryption key to a floppy, which you then stick in the licensed PC. On the licensed PC, you select "Transfer license TO another computer". It reads the key on the disk, and uses this to encrypt the license onto the floppy (which can now only be read by the unlicensed PC). You put the floppy back into the unlicensed PC, and it authorizes the software. Clever method to prevent making 'extra' copies of the license. When it's on the disk, it's useless to anything other than the destination PC.

When I originally transferred the license FROM my laptop TO the customer's, everything worked fine.

Now that I had a working USB adapter, I decided to move the license back to MY laptop (since it's MY license). I did the "Transfer license FROM another computer" on my laptop, then put the disk in the customer's laptop and did the "Transfer license TO another computer" step. Now the license is on the floppy, which can ONLY be read by my laptop. I pop it in my laptop, and get the dreaded "Can't read from A:/" error...

Remember, I can't put the license BACK on the other laptop. So now I have unlicensed software on BOTH laptops, and a unusable floppy... banghead

Thankfully, the customer's laptop WAS able to still read the floppy, so I copied the encrypted files onto his hard disk, then put them on a fresh floppy. STILL no luck. It seems that once his laptop wrote to the floppy, it became unreadable on mine. Even when I formatted a disk on MY laptop. One of these floppy drives is defective, but this was one HELL of a time to find that out...

My final solution was to burn the files to a CD, which my laptop was able to read, and I eventually got the license transferred...

Just sharing my experience in the hopes that it will help prevent someone else from suffering the same frustration I did...

 

[Contr_Conn]

Coulpe notes about Eric's post:

I had E-terminal license transfer problem a couple times:
My HD crashed and I got another temp drive, installed all software packages.
Called activation phone # and they gave me a new key without a problem.
After that we decided to get a new 160GB drive we just Ghosted partition from temp drive and activation was working without any additional action.
Technically we made a second copy of activation because is still was working on the another drive.

So we decided to use this for backup purposes:
If you need a backup activation - legal backup, not a second copy !!! :
- install this software on a sepearate small partition,
- make ghost image of it
- burn image on CD.
It will protect you from bad floppies in future - just restore partition.

 

[Eric Nelson]

Good method Contr_Conn. I may do just that... :nodi:

I tend to be overly paranoid about losing my software licenses...

Life would be so much simpler if it weren't for those damned software thieves!... mddr

beerchug

-Eric

 

[antoine]

Hi folks,

I ran in the same problem with a Compaq laptop.
Using a USB to serial converter to connect a SCHNEIDER MICRO PLC never succeded...
I solved the problem by buying the DOCKING STATION of the laptop.
This gives one real hardware serial port

Think about it...

Regards,

Antoine

 

[atatari]

Dell- NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

I didn't read the whole post but I read the first post and it was about Dell giving such and such warranty.

I bought an 1100 inspiron (right spelling??? who cares!!) laptop.french keyboard they send me..called them "this is not working I don know french "Enter" doesn't work monitor flickers ."we will send you another one" 15 days later another one same ****...
They told me that we will send you english keyboard you have to change it yourself..anyways I told them that I want to send the whole system back...we will send you packing slip after two weeks i called them again...they said oooooooooh after 1 month you can't return it ..we will fix it for you...IMAGINE this ...

story short...DONT BUY DELL....no mather the warranty or whatever ..if comes to this they screw you up ...

 

[tom_stalcup]

I also picked up a port replicator for my Compaq EVO to give a true serial port, and everything I've tested it with has worked so far....(primarily AB).
I've also seen other threads that talked about the IBM port replicators working as well....

 

[Jim Cavanaugh]

Quantech makes a pcmci to serial device, this works great. I have used it with ab equipment, emerson servo drives, sst-pfb-slc and many other things.

jim

 

[Ken Roach]

I have about six different USB/RS232 devices gathering dust while my Keyspan USA-19 model does all the heavy lifting. It is the only one I have found that works with the RSLinx DF1 Autoconfig, and the only one that supported the PIC driver with Windows 98SE (it properly does not with W2K/XP).

Get a Keyspan !

 

[JesperMP]

(I'll post here because it looks like the most thorough thread about USB/Serial converters).

I have a converter from ATEN. It took a little effort to get it to work, so I think i would let you know.

I tested succesfully it on my old laptop with Win 2000 before saying "OK" to the IT guys to get me a new laptop without a serial port.
The swanky new laptop arrives and what do you know, the USB/serial converter no longer functions. On top of that I was standing with a foot in the door to leave on a trip to a customer - and I would need some serial comms on that project. Downloading the latest driver from ATEN didnt help.
What to do, I rush down to the IT department yelling "DO NOT REFORMAT MY OLD LAPTOP !!!". Investigating the driver that worked on the old laptop, it turns out that the chipset in the USB converter comes from a company called "Prolific". With the help from Google I find a website where there is a "driver that will make the USB/Serial converter work under Windows XP". Download it, install it, insert USB/Serial converter - it works !! Me out the door, on the way with my USB/Serial converter to conquer the world.

If I didnt figure out where the innards of the converter really came from, I would have had to delay my flight, because of a stupid USB/Serial converter.

What can you learn from that: Test comms hardware on the intended platform before assuming that it will work, do not assume that it will work because it works on another hardware.

 

[ArikBY]

Pay littel bit more and Go with PCIMCA card.
I used Gold X converter with my laptop and my PC just restart without any wornning when I was connected to my PLC and I lost all.
I think USB port do not work well with Win2K.
I have same problems when I come to connect my cell phone to the USB port.Sometimes it work fine and some time I need to reinstall the driver.

 

[smiller]

I have used one of the adapters, Netgear if I remember correctly, to successfully connect serial to Modicon Quantum and Momentum PLC's using Concept software. I was not able to connect to 984 series PLC's using Taylor Proworx Plus through the adapter. I think that this had to do with the fact that XP doesn't have actual DOS, just the Command emulator that looks like DOS and the Proworx software that I was using is "real" DOS based. I had to use Modbus Plus to talk to the 984 stuff that I have left. I use a Dell Latitude laptop.

Steve

 

[mgvol]

If you are going to be working with AB PLC's, beware the PCMCIA serial expansion cards - RSLinx will not work with these devices.

 

[JesperMP]

If you are going to be working with AB PLC's, beware the PCMCIA serial expansion cards - RSLinx will not work with these devices.

I dont think you are right about this.
PCMCIA/Serial converters should work (the ones that add a genuine UART to the system) - even with a PIC.
Do you care to elaborate ?

 

[mgvol]

See item 9 -Serial Expansion Cards:

http://domino.automation.rockwell.c...310D1DD7CF69924785256AFB005D8953?OpenDocument

I can't find anything in the release notes for RSLinx V2.43.01.23 (CPR 6) that states this is no longer the case.