Hey there, I’ve spent some time looking for what I need and I can’t seem to find it. I’m a bit of a newb when it comes to this so bear with me.
I have a SSC32 and it powers up just fine - solid green light
I installed the USB to Serial Cable and it prompted me for the driver which I used Prolific V1417 PL2303 which I think is the latest. I get an exclamation mark and the com port it chooses is random but when I plug it into the board the green light turns off.
Today it chose COM 2 which I read is good but when I launch LynxTerm I can’t choose Com 2. Com 1 it sees but I can’t type anything. Com 3 it sees and I can type commands but nothing happens.
I also have a serial cable but I didn’t have any luck with that at all.
My Com settings are as follows:
BPS 115200
DB 8
Parity None
SB 1
Flow None
Any advice would be appreciated, I’m in new territory here.
You don’t mention the make of the USB to serial adapter or your operating system. If you need to test your adapter, the easiest way is to jumper the tx/rx pins on the adapter and then use a serial terminal program to see if what you type into the program is echoed back. This can be done by rotating the serial input pins on the ssc-32 90 deg.
ah true. Windows 7 and I’m not sure of the brand on the adapter. It came with the board from my vendor. I’m not sure if it helps but it has clear light blue ends and a clear casing of a silver braided wire. Also, can you clarify this statement?
“If you need to test your adapter, the easiest way is to jumper the tx/rx pins on the adapter and then use a serial terminal program to see if what you type into the program is echoed back. This can be done by rotating the serial input pins on the ssc-32 90 deg.”
I’m not sure I follow. Everything that needs to be jumpered on the board appears to be in the right position and I don’t technically have any serial pins since it’s a female input jack.
I’m not sure if this matters or not but I might as well throw it in. The use for the board is to control 6 servos on a 3 axis halloween skull. I know that works since I tested it with another board but apparently this device was set up with servo limits matching the SSC 32 and I don’t know how to reset servo limits either. So I’m sort of screwed on both ends lol.
Is the “it” that was tested the USB to serial adapter? Was the test done on the same computer that you are using now? What is the “this device”? I use XP and in device manager I can see in the “ports” when I plug in a prolific based usb to serial adapter (with the assigned com port). Is your adapter recognized when it is plugged in? I really don’t understand the “servo limits” thing and how it would apply to the ssc-32 basic setup.
Sorry no. The “it” is the 3 axis skull and all the servos. That connection is made through a USB to DMX adapter.
In the device manager I can see the ports and I can see them change when I plug the adapter in. When nothing is plugged in I only see COM 1 but when the adapter is plugged in I do get a randomly assigned COM port but it’s usually 2 or 5. Although each time it says code 10 the device cannot be started which would indicate a driver error but I think I have the latest driver or at least the latest I could find. It also sent me to Prolific when it auto detected. All attempts to upgrade the driver has Windows telling me that I’m using the right one.
I also have a serial cable which I thought would have been on COM 1 but I never had any luck with that either.
This might be of value. LynxTerm only gives me the option to connect to COM 1 and COM 3. I found that COM 3 is my modem which I changed to COM 7 and LynxTerm modifed as well. Confirmed that COM 1 is my laptop serial port.
I’d leave the modem on what ever port it was assigned and assign the usb adapter to a com port number 5 or higher. Com ports 1-4 are usually used by hardware like the modem and the serial port on the computer. Lynxterm has a drop down that provides the selection of available ports. Only one device can use a port at a time. Make sure you have the ssc-32 jumpers and lynxterm set to the same baud rate. When the ssc-32 is powered up, the onboard green led is lit. When electrical activity is sent to the ssc-32 rx pin, the led will flicker and go out. You can use lynxterm to thest this. If everything is set correctly, you should be able to type in ver and hit enter, and the ssc-32 will send a reply.
There is a pretty good list of things to try to fix serial port issues. viewtopic.php?f=2&t=4702
The only thing I would add to zoomcats post is the LED will blink when it is receiving data. This can be a good troubleshooting tool. If the LED never goes out it means it’s not receiving any data.
That’s the thing, I think this is a driver issue but I can’t get the driver to load right.
Solid green light, can’t seem to get it to go out and I went through that post for the troubleshooting tips before I posted.
If I use come one, Lynxterm for some reason will connect but I can’t enter any commands.
If I use the usb to serial cable I can’t get the device to start at all
both jumpers are installed on the board which should equal 11 aka 115200
If the LED never goes out it means it’s not receiving any data.