Windows VISTA and radio shack serial port adapter vista install

[intermod]

UPDATE - I tried the executable and the drivers - niether worked. Problem here is that nobody has indicated what specific driver chip is in use in this radio shack device; this would verify if the drivers were the correct ones.

I tried using PCW on my Vista Business 32 bit and it worked fine per the instructions, using WinXP SP2 as the selection.

Greg

 

[intermod]

Just missed your post - which FTDI release did you use? No joy here....

G

 

[DonS]

Just missed your post - which FTDI release did you use? No joy here....

Here's a direct link to the setup executable I used:
FTDI's 2.06.00 EXE

 

[intermod]

Yep - same one I used. Also downloaded this from same page:

http://ftdichip.com/Drivers/CDM/CDM 2.06.00 WHQL Certified.zip

and pointed windows to this folder (after decompression) after it failed to find anything through the web. Confirming you have a RS 26-183 cable?

Thanks for your help...

G

 

[SCPD]

Virtual COM Port Drivers. follow Don;s link, it's there & it does work

 

[DonS]

Ah - different cable. I have the "orange" RS 20-047 USB-Scanner cable that was mentioned above.

You'll have to find out what chipset is used in the cable, then find the appropriate drivers.

I downloaded the driver package from the RS site and, embedded within one of the files, found references to files that make me think it's based on a "Prolific" chipset. You might want to visit the Prolific web site. My best guess would be the "PL-2303".

EDIT: You may be able to confirm that it's a PL-2303 -based cable by looking in Device Manager and trying to find a device (I'm guessing it would be one that "isn't working", and is so flagged) that has some identifying info, like: USB VID_067B&PID_2303.

 

[DonS]

After further investigation, the cable is almost certainly based on the Prolific PL-2303. An "INF" file referenced in the 2006 driver package from RadioShack contains: %DeviceDesc%=ComPort, USB\VID_067B&PID_2303

I'd go to the Prolific web site, click on "PL-2303 Software and Drivers", and download the "PL2303_Prolific_DriverInstaller_v110.zip".

 

[intermod]

The radio shack 26-183 shows the following in Vista 64:

USB\VID_1453&PID_4026&REV_0300
USB\VID_1453&PID_4026

I now understand PID is "Product ID" (not Process ID). Thanks for that hint. But - further searching on FTDI and Prolific sites, and others yields nothing relating to this product. So - I am going to throw this thing in the weeds. Thanks for your help, DonS.

G

 

[DonS]

That's pretty horrible. Apparently, the cable is reporting a "custom" VID and PID (RadioShack's), even though all of the files in the driver package indicate "Prolific PL-2303".

You _might_ be able to force Windows to use the Prolific driver. I'm pretty certain that the driver to which I linked above is the correct one for that cable's chipset. Windows likely won't want to install it (will probably complain that it doesn't appear to be the correct driver for the device), but Windows _may_ allow you to select it anyway. I'd give it a shot.

 

[intermod]

Not sure how to force windows to use a specific driver.....

G

 

[DonS]

Not sure how to force windows to use a specific driver.....

Here's how I would do it in Vista (64-bit)..
1. With the cable not connected to the PC, install the Prolific driver from the ZIP file I described above
2. Connect the cable to the PC
3. In Device Manager, find and double-click the entry for the cable
4. On the "Driver" tab, click the "Update Driver" button
5. Select "Browse my computer for driver software"
6. Select "Let me pick from a list of device drivers on my computer"
7. Uncheck the "Show compatible hardware" box
8. If the Prolific driver has been installed, you should be able to pick it from the displayed Manufacturer and Model lists

If you cannot select the Prolific driver in #8 above, try this instead of steps 7 and 8:
1. Click the "Have Disk" button
2. Browse to:
\Windows\System32\DriverStore\FileRepository\ser2pl.inf_XXXXX
(XXXXX on my machine is 8105e9be)
3. Select the ser2pl.inf file and click Open
4. Continue with the installation (I'm not going further than that point on my machine)

 

[intermod]

Got busy here - i will try your suggestion over the next few days. Thx

 

[n5ims]

My experience with Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit. This was a new install (just built it out and got all updates installed, but haven't loaded any radio SW previously).

I plugged the USB cable (orange one) in and let Windows 7 find the right drivers itself. After a short while it said that the drivers were installed OK and that the COM drivers were installed and configured OK and were using COM-3.

Downloaded WIN-95 from StarSoft's site and ran it. Set the configuration to COM-3 and downloaded from scanner. Made my changes and uploaded. Changes were reflected in the scanner.

This couldn't have been easier for me, but your milage may vary.

 

[DonS]

My experience with Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit. This was a new install (just built it out and got all updates installed, but haven't loaded any radio SW previously).

I plugged the USB cable (orange one) in and let Windows 7 find the right drivers itself. After a short while it said that the drivers were installed OK and that the COM drivers were installed and configured OK and were using COM-3.

In the immediately preceding posts, as well as the original post in this thread, we're talking about a different cable. The GRE/RS cable (FTDI-based, blue from GRE, orange from RS) works just fine under all versions of Windows.

The cable described by intermod and the O.P., however, is based on a Prolific device and seems to have been customized by RadioShack. The USB device's VendorID and ProductID are specific to that particular cable (they're not the "normal" values for a cable based on the Prolific part), making it difficult to install any more recent drivers; and RadioShack has not released any drivers that work with Windows 7 (or, most likely, with any 64-bit version of Windows).

 

[n5ims]

Thanks for the clarification. That is one reason why I was so specific on my configuration so no additional confusion was added to this mix. I'm glad I have the cable that's fully compatible and easy to configure!

 

[lacountyscanner]

I just bought that radio shack cable a couple weeks ago. the vista drivers never worked. the vista drivers on radioshack.com did not work. oh...and neither did the prolific vista drivers work. however, the windows xp ones did.

 

[SCPD]

I just bought that radio shack cable a couple weeks ago. the vista drivers never worked. the vista drivers on radioshack.com did not work. oh...and neither did the prolific vista drivers work. however, the windows xp ones did.

Again, what cable do you have?.. All cables that have been mentioned here are in use & do work for MOST users??. I use the 2047( RS cable) & have been for quite sometime with NO problems

 

[fmon]

This image is from DM of Windows 7 Home Premium 64. The three green GRE cables auto set when first plugged in but I had to go to Prolific web page to get new Vista/7 drivers. All work but each required running as Administrator the first time.

 

[lacountyscanner]

This is the cable I bought

Gigaware 6-ft. USB-A to Serial Cable : Gigaware Cables | RadioShack.com

 

[DonS]

This image is from DM of Windows 7 Home Premium 64. The three green GRE cables auto set when first plugged in but I had to go to Prolific web page to get new Vista/7 drivers. All work but each required running as Administrator the first time.

The 26-183 cable (which poster intermod has) won't let you get that far on Windows 7 (or, likely, 64-bit Vista). The problem is that the cable, though it appears to use the Prolific PL-2303 part, has "custom" VendorID and ProductID fields. Since those fields don't match what's in Prolific's own driver package, Windows won't install that driver "automatically".