New 996XT, USB-1 Cable, Driver Install Problems

[calpalmer]

I am new. I have a 996XT, am attempting to upload FreeScan programming I've constructed to the scanner using the USB-1 cable Uniden supplied. They provided no disk or instructions for installing the driver for this cable. My PC is a Windows Vista 64-bit machine, and no USB-to-serial port software is installed. From the FreeScan wiki I determined there should be a driver from Prolific.com to run on this system. I downloaded this file: http://www.prolific.com.tw/support/...none/PL2303_Prolific_DriverInstaller_v110.zip, which says it will operate on Vista64 machines.

It took forever to install, but finally completed. However, the port is not functional yet. It's properties via Device Manager says there is a problem:

"Windows cannot determine the settings for this device. Consult the documentation that came with this device and use the Resource tab to set the configuration. (Code 34) Click 'Check for solutions' to send data about this device to Microsoft and to see if there is a solution available."

Check for Solutions yielded a determination that the latest driver is installed. Nevertheless, FreeScan doesn't see the port.

Are the Uniden tech support people helpful with this kind of basic stuff? You'd think this scanner would be plug and play at least up to this point.

Cal

 

[W4ELL]

Did you try rebooting your machine after installing the driver?

 

[calpalmer]

Yes I did. Thanks.

 

[randalltows]

I downloaded My driver from the scannermaster website (vsta basic) and I am usingte arc-xt pro software wich gave me the "no serial port available" message for a while untill I found the auto detect
button.
This is everything I know and cannot help anyfurther.

Good luck

 

[calpalmer]

Vista/W7-64-Bit a No-Go

After a few days and several installs/uninstalls/reinstalls of various Prolific drivers to enable the USB-1 cable, News Flash: Uniden customer service reports to me that NO DRIVERS WORK WITH 64-BIT PCs....

I guess no surprise here, since lots of stuff doesn't work on 64-bit systems. But Uniden should put something in Red on their website (as should Scanner Master) to this effect. The CS rep said that he'd recommend that.

The odd thing is, both the Prolific web site and the Uniden site somewhere says that the cable is compatible with a certain version of the PL-2303 driver. Yet, it doesn't work on either of my PCs.

Cal

 

[UPMan]

I'll correct their reply to you. I've been using the Prolific 64-bit drivers for well over a year with no problems. Two differnt laptops. The current one is also running W7.

Can you reconfirm that the cable you are using is the USB-1 cable (has a USB plug on one end, a custom scanner plug on the other end, and a 1-inch square (well really kind of oblong) lump midway up the cable).

 

[calpalmer]

Thanks UPMan. Yes, that's the cable I received from Scannermaster. Your drivers installed without difficulty? Several times, the drivers hung the OS (like over night). Once the drivers installed, but checking DeviceManager showed an error, reporting that the driver (ver. 3.3.xxx) had installed but Windows could not determine the resources it should use, etc. etc. Checking for "online solutions" yielded the message that it is the most up to date driver. Free Scan could not recognize the driver, and I could never eliminate the error report from Device Manager.
At minimum, if that driver can be made to work, it certainly is not anywhere close to plug-and-play on either of my 64-bit machines.
If you have other suggestions, I'm all ears. Thanks,
Cal

 

[UPMan]

I'd start by plugging in the cable, then opening up device manager, right-click on the device load that has the error and click "Uninstall". Once that finishes, unplug the cable.

Then, go to Uninstall Programs and uninstall "PL-2303 USB-to-Serial" if it exists. You might want to sort by publisher and see if there are any old Prolific drivers on the system...if so, uninstall them, too. Hopefully this will get you back to a clean state vis-a-vis the cable and its drivers.

Next, go to USB-1Drivers < UnidenMan4 < TWiki and follow the link to Prolific' site to download the latest driver (takes about 20 seconds) and unzip it to a directory.

The assumption is that you are administrator on your PC, but to be sure right click on the installer file and "Run as Administrator." The install takes less than 20 seconds.

Then, plug in the cable. It should be recognized and install as a COM port (this takes about 30 seconds the first time you plug the cable into a port).

I just did all of the above as I wrote this to confirm.

 

[calpalmer]

OK, I'll try that shortly. I remembered my work laptop, being an older Dell, has a serial port. So I'm currently loading FreeScan onto it so I can get my initial programming uploaded to the 996. When I try your instructions above, I'll report my results back on this thread. Thanks again,
Cal

 

[UPMan]

Ok. I am heading to CES early tomorrow so probably won't have a chance to follow up any time soon, but if this resolves it or if you find another way to resolve it it would be great to hear back. I've alerted our team to this thread so that they can update their knowledge base.

 

[calpalmer]

UPMan, this worked perfectly on my Windows 7 64-bit machine! Thank you VERY much... now we need to get the same info to your CS Reps. I'm going to try it on my Vista 64-bit laptop next. Thank you again, I just got the initial programming from freescan onto the 996.
Cal

 

[UPMan]

Great to hear. And, they are following this thread so they have the info, now. I'll add some tips to the Twiki, as well.

 

[calpalmer]

Well, 1 for 2 so far. The install does not complete on my Windows Vista Ultimate 64-bit laptop. It has completed install once out of many tries -- the others never finish. The one time it completed, I restarted the PC, and DeviceManager reported an error in its configuration. I attempted to manually adjust its speed and settings, but the scanner was never recognized. I'm stumped on that machine, but at least I can use it on the Windows 7 PC.
If anyone solves this on a Vista64, let me know. Thanks,
Cal