COM-Port Setting

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Level 1

9 points

COM-Port Setting

I have to use an older Windows XP application with a serial interface (Keyspan 19HS) adapter.
The programm settings allow to select the COM-Port 1 or 2 only.
In Windows running on my MacBook Pro only COM-Ports 3,4,... are available.
How to connect the adapter to the application and the MacBook ?

Thanks in advance for help !
Alex

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.4.11), 4GB RAM

Posted on Sep 19, 2008 11:55 PM

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Answer 1

Sep 20, 2008 7:37 AM in response to alucky

Hi,

This is a qualified maybe... Try the Keyspan adapter in a different USB port. You may find the driver allows different COM port mappings based on the USB port's device index.

I don't have a Keyspan adapter, but I do have a generic serial adapter based on a Prolific chip, and I have a generic driver installed from Prolific's web site. I notice that if I don't manually set the desired COM port, the driver assigns a different COM port number depending on which USB socket I use to connect.

To over-ride the default port number, I can go to device manager, properties of the port, settings, then click the advanced button. I noticed that on the lowest USB port, the advanced port defaults to COM3. It is a drop-down selector. It doesn't look like it, but it is possible to scroll up to COM1 and COM2.

You might need to try a different driver - there is chance the generic Prolific driver may work, because Prolific is a very popular chip for USB-to-serial drivers. Otherwise, you can try a different adapter. I've seen generic USB-to-serial adapters for about $5-$10 at Geeks.com. See the cables web page: http://www.geeks.com/products.asp?cat=CBL, the scroll down.

-Bill.

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