If you are having trouble programming an Atom with a USB to serial cable from a laptop please report here. We need information to help.
Laptop make and model.
Laptop processor and USB driver info.
OS details.
USB to serial adaptor make, model and driver info.
Atom model, and carrier model.
Dell Inspiron 5100 - 2.8GHZ pentium 4 with 512mb memory
Windows XP home edition 2002 with service pack 2 and auto update on
Built in Intel USB 2.0 enhanced USB controller - 24CD
Atom Pro in min ABB
The USB cable that works 
:
FTDI based driver date 5/19/2006 version 2.0.0.0
Not sure if you want all of the Driver details?
Not sure if you want Advanced settings?
The USB to serial cable that does not work 
:
BAFO - 810
Prolific 7/25/2005 version 2.0.2.1
Advanced settings, I have tried turning on and off FIFO buffer
Tried changing buffer sizes as well
Driver details:
ser2pl.sys - prolific 2.0.2.1
serenum.sys - Microsoft 5.1.2600.2180(xpsp_sp2_rtm.040803-2158)
Atom Pro (8.0.0.0) advance Comm settings:
RI: 967295
RTM 429496
RTC 500
WTM 0
WTC 0
Connection retry: 5
Reset Hold time 50 (tried others)
Let me know if you would like any additional information
Dynex DX-USDB9
Dell Laptop
Windos XP
Hank
Update
I am now able to make the BAFO 810 work!!!
The secret is that I tried plugging the BAFO into a powered linksys USB hub and it now works!
It appears that it needs that extra juice from the hub to get the signals correct…
I’m using a macbook pro, running Windows XP under parallels, a keyspan USA-19HS, and I can’t connect to the Atom28 board.
The board starts up with a couple of clicks, then quiet, then it starts clicking rapidly unless the serial cable is attached (and the other end attached to the live USB/serial adapter).
Does anyone know what is the default baud rate (57.6k I take it) data bits, stop bits, parity, flow control this thing takes? I’ve used this setup with other serial devices that I use at work and it works fine…and I’m no clueless newbie with this serial setup, I write software that works just fine with it on both macs and windows. I can see that the computer is writing to the usb/serial adapter, it has an LED that blinks when data is being transferred.
I tried the 5.3 beta of the Atom IDE, then tried the 2.2, now back to the 5.3 because it seems to give me more options with the serial port, tried the above serial port timeouts and stuff but no joy.
Oh, and also, the board starts up when not connected with the green power light on, then the red,green and yellow lights come on in sequence when not hooked up to a serial line.
I’ll try to give it a go with a PC box at work tomorrow
thanks for any and all.
Hello,
I use Profilic USB to Serial (on Toshiba Portege r200) and I must retry and retry “Program” button to program my Atom Pro. 90% error, 10% pass (but is completly random!)
Reset BB / unplug-replug Profilic / change advanced options -> same problem…
I have no problem with real rs232.
Thanks,
Pascal
Hello friends:
I’m having trouble programming an Atom with a USB to serial cable from a laptop as follows
Laptop make and model: Lenovo ThinkPad T61
Laptop processor and USB driver info: 2.6 GHz Core 2 Duo, USB drivers say Intel Family USB Universal host controller (2830 - 2832, 2834-2836, 283A)
OS details: Vista Ultimate 32 bit
USB to serial adapter make, model and driver info: Prolific USB to serial bridge, Prolific chip set, driver 2.0.0.24
Atom model, and carrier model: Bot Board II, Basic Atom Pro.
Thanks for any suggestions. -Migs
I have the T61, and have had good experience with this USB to serial dongle from B & B:
bb-elec.com/product.asp?SKU=UC232A&Trail=45&TrailType=Main
However, I am using XP Pro, NOT Vista. Check for updates and the proper driver for Vista.
Alan KM6VV
The ONLY way I got this to work was with the Parallax USB to Serial Adaptor. I tried several others and it didn’t work.
Parallax USB to Serial (RS-232) Adapter
I know there are several threads on problems getting USB to serial adapters to work properly, maybe even a sticky one…
I have had luck in the past with some cables that are based on FTDI chip set. I think they were by Startech. My current one is a BAFO 810? I purchased one of these as this is what Nathan at Basic Micro (Acidtech) uses and recommended. At first I had problems with it and resolved it by installing a powered USB hub to my machine. I have since updated to a new machine and still use this configuration. I may not need the hub on the new machine, but it works, so…
Kurt
P.S. - This machine is running Vista…
Hi Kurt:
Good to know about the BAFO 810 adapter. I have also tried a National Instruments PCMCIA card with two serial ports and been unsuccessful with that one as well, even though it is a very high end device with excellent software. I don’t know why but it is frustrating that so many cables don’t work. -Migs
The Parallax one works with Vista and also the Bafo 810 (see other post on Bafo and Parallax for links). Bafo 810 has drivers for Vista 32 and 64 bit on their website: bafo.com/menu-support.asp
Also, these can be had at Amazon for about $14 so its a good choice. -Migs
Acer Aspire 5315.
Intel celeron 540
from what i can tell there are a buch of usb device drivers installed.
running Vista Home Basic.
Belkin F5U109
Atom pro 28m with ABB
the strangest thing is that when i first installed the drivers it worked a treat. went back 1 week later and it stopped working. no idea why. hadn’t even turned the computer on that week!
i should also mention that if i plug it in direct to the usb port on the laptop it doesn’t work, but if i plug it up through a 4 port un-powered hub it works but takes about 10 minutes to program. it acts as though IDE crashed but if you let it go it eventually completes.
One of the things I’m going to try is a powered hub between my USB port and the USB-Serial converter. I have a feeling that the connection might run out of amperage to function properly, and that is where maybe the hub will help. If it causes any good, I’ll be back to confirm it here. -Migs
What ever happened with this? What did you find out?
HP Pavilion tx2500 notebook
Processor: AMD Turion X2 Dual- Core Mobile RM-70 2 GHz
DYNEX Usb to serial cable
AND when i plug the cable into the computer it never recognize the cable
Hi,
It was unclear from your post where the problem is.
Is it that your computer does not recognize the USB cable? Does it properly find a device driver and then assign it a communicaton port? If not what is the error message?
If it did assign it a comm port, have you configured the IDE for your Atom or Atom Pro to try to use this comm port? If you do a find under preferences does it find your chip on the appropriate comm port?
If it does, is the problem that it fails during the download of a program?
Thanks
Kurt
yes my computer recognizes the usb to serial cable adapter.And assigns it com port 8 however when i open BasicATOM-Pro IDE and then go to preferences I get a pop up and when i select find AtomPro it searches com port 3 and com port 8 then says Could not find AtomPro
Some Atom Pro programmers find that their laptop usb port isn’t powered sufficiently. This is usually corrected by connecting the usb to serial cable into a powered hub. Have you used the usb to serial cable successfully with other applications before?
Yes i have a powered usb hub and i tried plugging the cable into that then into the robot still nothing (and yes i installed all the software for the hub and the serial cable)
