USB to Serial adapter - how to?

Question

USB to Serial adapter - how to?

Hi all

I just picked up a generic USB to Serial cable. Anyone any idea how I get this up and running? I plan to use it with a Garmin serial only GPS.

Regards

Stephen

Dual 1.8 G5

Posted on Jul 9, 2008 6:41 AM

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Answer 1

Jul 9, 2008 9:02 AM in response to Stephen Bennett

Stephen Bennett wrote:
I just picked up a generic USB to Serial cable. Anyone any idea how I get this up and running? I plan to use it with a Garmin serial only GPS.

There's no such thing as a "generic" USB/serial cable. Such things need drivers. Maybe OS X includes the driver for the one you bought, maybe it doesn't. Did it come with one?

Plug it in and look in the log to see if it's detected.

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Answer 2

Jul 9, 2008 1:46 PM in response to Marc Wilson

I plug it in and get

09/07/2008 22:46:03 kernel PL-2303/X V1.2.1 start, Prolific

No drivers with it - no info either!

Regards

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Answer 3

Courcoul

Level 6

18,684 points

Jul 9, 2008 2:17 PM in response to Stephen Bennett

Ok, plug in the Garmin, start whatever software you plan to run (Garmin WebUpdater?) and try to communicate. See if the software detects a serial port.

You can also download ZTerm (moral equivalent of Windows' Hyperterminal) and see if that recognizes the new serial port.

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Answer 4

Jul 9, 2008 11:20 PM in response to Courcoul

Thanks so far everyone.

No software I've tried sees it - will try ZTerm.

Regards

Stephen

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Answer 5

Jul 10, 2008 3:43 PM in response to Stephen Bennett

Also try going "ls /dev/**.*" from the terminal. This shows the serial devices when I plug in my USB/Serial converter cables (they appear when the plug is inserted and disappear when it is withdrawn).

Susan

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Answer 6

Jul 11, 2008 11:32 AM in response to Aussie Susan

This is what I get

/dev/**.Bluetooth-Modem /dev/**.PL2303-0000101D
/dev/**.Bluetooth-PDA-Sync /dev/**.W300i-SerialPort-1
/dev/**.Nokia6111-Dial-upnetwor-2 /dev/**.usbserial
/dev/**.Nokia6111-NokiaPCSuite-1

So what exactly do I do with Zterm?

Regards

Stephen

Message was edited by: Stephen Bennett

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Answer 7

Courcoul

Level 6

18,684 points

Jul 11, 2008 5:10 PM in response to Stephen Bennett

Well, that's the list of usable serial devices found by ZTerm and it seems that the "adapter" you have is not being recognized by the O.S. as such. I take it that the list doesn't change if you run ZTerm with the dongle connected as when you run it unconnected. In that case, you just got yourself a Windows-only piece of junk, unusable on your Mac, given that there's no manufacturer support. Sorry.

For the record, I just finished setting up our new SunFire T1000 server using only ZTerm and a Keyspan USA-19HS USB to Serial adapter. But that adapter costs a wee bit more...

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Answer 8

Jul 11, 2008 9:36 PM in response to Courcoul

Something is happening: This is without the cable

crw-rw-rw- 1 root wheel 9, 4 11 Jul 21:52 /dev/tty.Bluetooth-Modem
crw-rw-rw- 1 root wheel 9, 10 11 Jul 21:52 /dev/tty.Bluetooth-PDA-Sync
crw-rw-rw- 1 root wheel 9, 6 11 Jul 21:52 /dev/tty.Nokia6111-Dial-upnetwor-2
crw-rw-rw- 1 root wheel 9, 2 11 Jul 21:52 /dev/tty.Nokia6111-NokiaPCSuite-1
crw-rw-rw- 1 root wheel 9, 8 11 Jul 21:52 /dev/tty.W300i-SerialPort-1

And this with

crw-rw-rw- 1 root wheel 9, 4 11 Jul 21:52 /dev/tty.Bluetooth-Modem
crw-rw-rw- 1 root wheel 9, 10 11 Jul 21:52 /dev/tty.Bluetooth-PDA-Sync
crw-rw-rw- 1 root wheel 9, 6 11 Jul 21:52 /dev/tty.Nokia6111-Dial-upnetwor-2
crw-rw-rw- 1 root wheel 9, 2 11 Jul 21:52 /dev/tty.Nokia6111-NokiaPCSuite-1
crw-rw-rw- 1 root wheel 9, 12 12 Jul 06:35 /dev/tty.PL2303-0000101D
crw-rw-rw- 1 root wheel 9, 8 11 Jul 21:52 /dev/tty.W300i-SerialPort-1

Which looks different than before!

Regards

Stephen

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Answer 9

Aug 5, 2008 3:47 PM in response to Stephen Bennett

What baud rate does the Garmin expect?

In Terminal, run

screen /dev/tty.PL2303-0000101D baud-rate

No need for ZTerm...

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