USB to Serial Adapter - Windows 8 Thread

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garys

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I know that there have been several on this subject, but my hope is that we can have one listing what works and what doesn't.

I just bought a new Asus Vivobook with Windows 8 installed. I spent much of the weekend setting it up and customizing it for my use. I was mindful of the issues that others reported and so I decided to test some different USB adapters I have in my miscellaneous computer cable box.

First up was the IoGear GUC232a. This has been around for a while and has always been a stable adapter for me. I have several left over from an IT project at work. I plugged it in to the computer, the computer recognized it and installed the drivers. I used ARC XT and read the data out of my 396XT. The first couple of times, the program froze up half way through. I restarted ARC XT, plugged and unplugged the adapter, and then rebooted the computer. The third time was a charm and it has worked ever since.

This unit is supposed to have a Prolific chip set, but Device Manager shows ATEN as the device manufacturer. Either way, it worked for me.

Next I tried one sold by Startech. The computer would not install drivers for that and reported that it was a Prolific chip set.

I moved on to an older adapter marketed by Keyspan. The computer installed the drivers and I was able to upload from the scanner with no problem. Again, I'm not sure what chip set this has, but it works fine.

Finally, I tested the USB cable for the GRE/RS scanners. That worked fine and shows FTDI as the chip set.

I have one more to test once I can dig it out of my truck. That's a generic one I bought on Ebay several years ago. I know that it has a FTDI chipset, so it should work.

Does anyone else have specific brand information?
 

kd8x

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I have the usb to serial adaptor that I bought from Scanner Master for the Uniden 396/996xt and it has worked fine on windows 7 but my computer blew up and had to buy a new one which has windows 8 on it and now can't get it to work with my unidens and freescan software...It loads up the prolific software from the computer but freescan doesn't recognize the scanner being hooked to the computer...I cannot select a port number on the menu or auto detect doesn't work...Its like the computer is not allowing the ports to open up to my serial cable...mouse and external drives etc are working okay....Don't think I like Windows 8.....Any help appreciated...
 

slypx

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Workaround that worked for me

Just bought brand new PC (An Ultrabook with Win 8) and migrated my desktop PC to Windows 8 and found I couldn't connect to my 396xt with the USB-1 (XA/HXA chip) cable anymore, only the DB9 would work on my PC and nothing on the Ultrabook (as there is no DB9 of course ...)

Reading a review on the Scannermaster USB-1 cable specs page, I found this workaround that worked great for me ... It worked at step 7, didn't have to go thru step 15 ...

Here's the link :
Uniden USB Cable

and the PDF is attach ...

This is what the Customer said ...

"
star4.gif
Windows 8 Help
April 29, 2013Reviewer: Jackson Gibbs from Corvallis, OR United States
I have the older cable that's not supported by Windows 8 by default. After taking about five runs at getting the 1.5 driver to work I discovered this how-to for the workaround:

http://www.actisys.com/Manuals/ACT-IRx24UN-Win8Drv-Workaround-120926.pdf

That did the trick right off!"

Slypx
 

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kd8x

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Just bought brand new PC (An Ultrabook with Win 8) and migrated my desktop PC to Windows 8 and found I couldn't connect to my 396xt with the USB-1 (XA/HXA chip) cable anymore, only the DB9 would work on my PC and nothing on the Ultrabook (as there is no DB9 of course ...)

Reading a review on the Scannermaster USB-1 cable specs page, I found this workaround that worked great for me ... It worked at step 7, didn't have to go thru step 15 ...

Here's the link :
Uniden USB Cable

and the PDF is attach ...

This is what the Customer said ...

"
star4.gif
Windows 8 Help
April 29, 2013Reviewer: Jackson Gibbs from Corvallis, OR United States
I have the older cable that's not supported by Windows 8 by default. After taking about five runs at getting the 1.5 driver to work I discovered this how-to for the workaround:

http://www.actisys.com/Manuals/ACT-IRx24UN-Win8Drv-Workaround-120926.pdf

That did the trick right off!"

Slypx

Thanks for info...I got it to run a day after my post by referring back to an earlier version of the pl2303 driver and it worked perfectly.
 

ka3jjz

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Feel free to add your findings to the USB wiki, folks - no doubt that this question will come up again

Mike
 

fernrock

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Dont know if my question is in the right place.
I have a uniden ubc 3500XLT (europe)

when I try connecting to my pc I am asked for my baud rate
Does anybody know what the baud rate should be.
 

kd8x

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Dont know if my question is in the right place.
I have a uniden ubc 3500XLT (europe)

when I try connecting to my pc I am asked for my baud rate
Does anybody know what the baud rate should be.

I've got mine set to 115200.....
 

N9JIG

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I have a Microsoft Surface Pro with Windows 8-64. I was able to get ARC-XT to work with a StarTech ICUSB2321F USB-Serial adapter and the Uniden serial cable with no problem. Windows installed a driver automatically without needed the included CD.

I could not get ARC-XT to work with one of 4 different USB-1 cables however. The same cables worked fine with FreeScan but for some reason ARC-XT just wouldn't recognize the radio with a USB-1. (I tried both an older one and a new one with the HXD chipset.)
 

ekim223

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I have tried several different convertor cables which all work on my Windows 8.1 Intel 32 bit machine.
But when I try to use them on my Windows 8.1 AMD 64 bit machine, I receive a error message when installing the cable: A service installation section in this INF is invalid, along with a code 28 the driver is not installed..
So far I have not been able to get around this problem. Anyone have any ideas?
 
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I have had good success with the Keyspan adaptor, have yet to find an application that didn't work with it including programming an assortment of commercial LMR radios.
 

ekim223

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Well I received a XS8801 from USB Convertors.
And I am back to where I originally started: "A service installation section in this INF is invalid."
I cannot believe no one else has no idea what that means. The manufacturer of these devices say it is the DEVICE DRIVER, see FTDI. And of course FTDI says discuss with manufacturers. Meanwhile I cannot get the silly device to work on a Windows 8.1, 64 bit on a HP2000 Notebook with a AMD. There must a something I am missing, but what? I get the first part of the install- USB Serial Convertor to install no issues. Then the USB SERIAL PORT becomes the hassle. "A service installation section in this INF is invalid." Now must PORT count is up to 85 and still no positive results. Anybody have similar results? Found a work around?
Thanks,
Mike
 

ka3jjz

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The one thing missing from your description - did you load the drivers first? They can be found about 1/2 of the way down this page...

USB Serial Adapter

There's also a link for tech support there....Mike
 

ekim223

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More info on error message

I ran the trouble shooter.
It States the driver is not installed. But when I try to use the update I get "...Service installation section in this INF is invalid.
The COM port gives the following under the properties tab:
The drivers for this device are not installed. (Code 28)
A service installation section in this INF is invalid.
To find a driver for this device, click Update Driver.
It is a endless loop, no matter how I go about it, I always have the same results:
The drivers for this device are not installed. (Code 28)
A service installation section in this INF is invalid.
I un-install clean everything up, and try again. I have used the link you supplied, the files with the CD, The FTDI web site and US Converter's web site files.
Same results. But only on the AMD processor. The laptop with the Intel Pentium works.
The laptop: HP 2000-2C29WM Notebook PC, Product: D1E81UA, AMD E-21800 APU with Radeon HD Graphics 1.70 GHZ. I went thru making sure all was updated, but same results:
A service installation section in this INF is invalid.
Also when the device is first connected, the SERIAL CONVERTOR is installed under the USB Controller.
The USB SERIAL PORT appears under the PORT table with exclamation mark with no driver installed message. When I try to update it, that is when the final result is A service installation section in this INF is invalid.
Thank you,
Mike
 

ka3jjz

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There is a tech support link on that same page. Sounds to me like it's time to call them with the information you've supplied and see what the story is....Mike
 

wa2chj

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For programming radios, both commercial and amateur, the only USB to Serial adapter I've found that works first time, everytime is the one sold by RT Systems for their software. I've used it with every serial programming cable I have whether it came from RT Systems, a radio manufacturer, or a third party, and all of them work. Sometimes you have to search for the correct Com port, but once you find it, it communicates. I've used it with Windows 7, Windows 8, and now Windows 8.1.
I've probably tried 6 or 7 others with varying degrees of success. Some never worked, some worked for a while, some sort of worked, and some crashed.
 
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