ARC780 with serial to usb cable converter HELP

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Bullseye0105

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Hi. I have a UBC780xlt with ARC780.

I just bought a new laptop computer, and it doesnt have a serial port... So I bought a cable that has one end serial and one end USB... There were drivers that came along with the cable and I installed them.

-I configured the cable drivers, ARC780 and the UBC780 scanner all at 19200 bauds.

-I set up ARC780 to connect trough com port 4 (which is the com port the cable drivers have set up to)

-I activated the "RMT" function on the scanner

but unfortunately ARC780 won't detect that my scanner is connected! Can someone help me?


Ps. I have the most recent ARC780 version, which is 1.181.
Also, I have successfully connected my scanner to my desktop computer many times, which has a serial port.
 

garys

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Go to Control Panel in Windows, find the System Icon and open the program. Find HARDWARE and DEVICE MANAGER. Open DEVICE MANAGER and look to see if there are any exclamation points. You'll probably find the USB to Serial adapter under Comm Ports. That's where I'd look for the exclamation point. If you see one, there's a problem with the driver installation or resource allocation. It might be an IRQ conflict, or two devices might be trying to use Comm 4.

I don't know your level of computer savey so I kept this single. You might also try rebooting. I've used USB to serial adapter in a variety of computers and generally don't have any problems getting devices to attach.

Gary
 

Bullseye0105

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garys said:
Go to Control Panel in Windows, find the System Icon and open the program. Find HARDWARE and DEVICE MANAGER. Open DEVICE MANAGER and look to see if there are any exclamation points. You'll probably find the USB to Serial adapter under Comm Ports. That's where I'd look for the exclamation point. If you see one, there's a problem with the driver installation or resource allocation. It might be an IRQ conflict, or two devices might be trying to use Comm 4.

I don't know your level of computer savey so I kept this single. You might also try rebooting. I've used USB to serial adapter in a variety of computers and generally don't have any problems getting devices to attach.

Gary


no exclamatuin points in the device manager, and I had already checked that com 4 was not already used
 

garys

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And when you plug the adapter in Windows recognizes it? Are you using WinXP or Win2K?

Gary
 

datainmotion

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I may be wrong, but I don't think the BC780XLT/ARC780 will work with virtual COM ports, which is what you are using when utilizing a USB to Serial adapter.
 

garys

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I've used that combination on a laptop successfully. Butel doesn't officially supprt USB or USB to Serial adapters for the older software, but it does work.

Gary
 

datainmotion

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garys said:
I've used that combination on a laptop successfully. Butel doesn't officially supprt USB or USB to Serial adapters for the older software, but it does work.

Gary

Good to know.
I wonder if he has tried any of the following:
  • used that adapter with another known-good serial device to see if the adapter is passing data
  • checked to make sure he isn't using a null modem serial cable
  • tried another serial cable altogether
  • tried re-assigning the COM port number (1-5 are usually assigned to system devices)
 

Al42

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datainmotion said:
I may be wrong, but I don't think the BC780XLT/ARC780 will work with virtual COM ports, which is what you are using when utilizing a USB to Serial adapter.
Since all COM ports in NT (Win2k, WinXP) are virtual, including 9 pin "serial" ports, all scanners work with virtual ports.

The fact that Butel won't officially support USB adapters doesn't mean that the program won't work with an adapter that has the correct driver installed.
 

trafficdan

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I know this is going to sound really dumb, since I think all the USB ports are tied together anyway. (I know enough to screw up my computer and find a real computer person)

I got my RS adapter to work just by using a different USB port. I have three on my laptop and when it wouldn't fire up on the first USB port, I just moved it to another one and it worked.

Is the radio in remote mode?

Something to try.
Dan
 

datainmotion

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Al42 said:
Since all COM ports in NT (Win2k, WinXP) are virtual, including 9 pin "serial" ports, all scanners work with virtual ports.

The fact that Butel won't officially support USB adapters doesn't mean that the program won't work with an adapter that has the correct driver installed.

I guess I'm not following the part about NT based O/S having only virtual ports. We regulary have to interface serial devices that require a legacy COM port (using XP as an O/S). Older EDACS radios being used for data only as an example (they require a TTL level signal, I've been told) - and they will not communicate with a virtual port.

Please be aware that I'm not trying to argue the point, just trying to educate myself.
 
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Bullseye0105

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Replies to your questions :

-I use windows XP
-I also tried com ports 5, 6 and 7, not successful
-My adapter cable works, I have tried it with another device successfully
-I did put the scanner in RMT mode


BUT, in the drivers setup window of the adapter cable, there are these options, that I have tried changing but there are so many combinations... Anyway, here are those other options available...

Bits per second : I tried 9600 and 19200, a lot of other speeds available to choose too...

Data bits : 4, 5, 6, 7 or 8 (tried them all)

Parity : None, Space, Mark, Even, Odd

Stop bits : 1, 1.5 or 2

Flow control : None, Xon/Xoff, Hardware

I also tried to plug it in a different usb port, didn't help
 

MetalCarnage

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I figured i wouldnt post a new thread since i found this one which is about the same problem as me....i am using ARC250 for my 250D and i have the same issues, it wont detect the scanner at all with the Serial-to-USB.

Just to go over the obvious so no one needs to point out the obvious...

-Scanner is in proper mode, as just after it wouldnt work with the DB9-to-USB i tried programming it from the PC and it worked no probs.

-I know the Driver for the DB9-to-USB is installed properly because i use it on a daily basis interfacing/linking my GPS unit with Microsoft Streets and Trips on my laptop and also using the docking cradle for my Palm V which has a serial cable. Works perfectly for both, hence NO problems with the actual DB9-to-USB device.

-Baud rates are fine on the scanner as well, it just seems that ARC250 is horrible at detecting devices...they need to build into their software an autofind feature like microsoft streets and trips....i just plug in my GPS and click find device and it will automatically detect and link to my GPS unit.

So in final, unless ARC250 doesnt support it very well, is there anyone else who has figured this out?
 

wyldman

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I'm having the same problem with a recently aquired 780.The ARC software states that virtual com ports are not supported.I have tried everything I can think of so far to get it to work.

The USB to serial convertor works perfectly with my 246,330,396,etc.
 

Bullseye0105

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At least I'm not alone with the problem ;)

I'd really wish I could make the darn thing work. I bought this laptop mainly because I wanted to be able to work on my scanner without having to uninstall it from my car every time...


Ps. I wrote to butel about this but they didn't even bother replying... I'm starting to regret having actually PAID for this software when I knew how to crack it...
 

wyldman

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I just got mine to work.I was getting a COM port in use error when I tried to connect.I was using COM 2,which is unused and works for all my other scanners.I switched to COM 4 (which windows shows as in use,and gave me a warning,but i tried it anyways).I lowered that port speed to match the 780's max (and set) speed.

Also,I find when using USB virtual COM ports,you must always use the same USB port,or it screws things up.Once you find what works,just stick with it.
 

Bullseye0105

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wyldman said:
I just got mine to work.I was getting a COM port in use error when I tried to connect.I was using COM 2,which is unused and works for all my other scanners.I switched to COM 4 (which windows shows as in use,and gave me a warning,but i tried it anyways).I lowered that port speed to match the 780's max (and set) speed.

Also,I find when using USB virtual COM ports,you must always use the same USB port,or it screws things up.Once you find what works,just stick with it.

Ok I guess I'll try with com ports 2 and 3 which are shown in use...



Well, it didn't work... I'm really starting to get angry at this..
 
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MetalCarnage

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So i got ARC250 to DETECT my scanner, now what happens is when i try to read or write to the scanner it times out on about 4 second intervals. I checked the driver for the USB-Serial adapter to make sure that it was set to appropriate baud rates and i adjusted the flow control to slow/stable as opposed to the fast/performance setting, this didnt help either. Damn butel for creating software that cannot interact properly with USB. Like its not like many ppl even have laptops anymore where serial is even an option. Butel needs to get with the times and start making products that support USB as opposed to basically obsolete serial......
 

wyldman

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Try another USB or COM port.Once I got it working,it works fine.

You may also try unplugging any other stuff,and closing as many programs as possible,as it may be something else causing the disconnects.
 

MetalCarnage

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wyldman said:
Try another USB or COM port.Once I got it working,it works fine.

You may also try unplugging any other stuff,and closing as many programs as possible,as it may be something else causing the disconnects.

There is only two USB ports, tried both, nothing else is plugged in and its a clean install of XP as of two days ago, so all that is installed on it at the moment in MS Office XP and ARC250
 

Al42

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datainmotion said:
I guess I'm not following the part about NT based O/S having only virtual ports.
If you address the hardware in NT, the OS will barf and refuse to allow the software to continue. You address the driver, which works through the HAL (hardware abstraction layer) which addresses the actual hardware.

"Virtual port" means that the software addresses a software driver, not the actual hardware. So almost all "hardware" in NT is virtual. (You can't address the hard drives either - Norton's Diskedit is useless in NT.)
We regulary have to interface serial devices that require a legacy COM port (using XP as an O/S).
But the software is talking to the legacy COM port driver, not the hardware.
Older EDACS radios being used for data only as an example (they require a TTL level signal, I've been told) - and they will not communicate with a virtual port.
The software will if it addresses a COM port - it won't if it addresses hardware. Whether that hardware is TTL or has RS-232 converters on it is totally invisible to the software, as is whether the COM port is implemented as an RS-232 chip or a USB chip; the software only knows what the driver tells it - and the driver doesn't tell the software what voltage is on the pins connecting to the world. As far as the radio itself is concerned, if it's TTL it won't work on a real serial COM port at +/- 12 volts, and it won't work on a USB->RS-232 converter - because that's also not TTL. But one has nothing to do with the other. The radios will work on a TTL-level serial port and the software will work with a properly-written driver - for any kind of port.
 
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