Serial to USB

[TyeDyeSkyGuy]

It seems I have my Magellan working again after a short call to Magellan customer service. I know , what a surprise, but hey, it works again!

Now I just need to solve the issue with comunication from my new PC to the GPS. I bought a USB to serial adapter, but after trying everything, it still won’t work. I posted to the Easy GPS forums and got several responses telling me the cheap cable is just that, and it won’t do. Can anyone sugest a brand that might work better. I don’t even know the name of the manufacturer. the software that came with was from Prolific.

I was told Kensington was a good one, but cannot locate one yet.

[Buy_The_Tie]

I use a Keyspan USA-19HS and I haven’t had anything that it wouldn’t work with.

http://www.keyspan.com

[Team Deejay]

You probably need a new driver for your USB/Serial adapter. I’m hoping you don’t use Vista, as Prolific is choosing not to support Vista. Otherwise, you can try this link. It appears they have both Windows and Mac drivers available for download.

[LMcGisme]

I use a Belkin adapter and have never had any problems – after it was installed. I found out just how important it was to install the driver software before plugging the adapter into the computer. It wouldn’t work at first and it was a pain to completely un-install everything and reinstall, but that was my fault for not reading the instructions, not Belkin’s fault.

[TyeDyeSkyGuy]

I ordered my new computer with XP installed. I updated the driver as soon as I got it, using the driver update feature on the computer. It said it was the most recent driver. I thought I’d give it another try through the Prolific web-site, but the page won’t display when I go to downlaod. I’ll try again later.

[K0rpl]

I have a few USB To serial adapters.

one is a IOGear from Wally World. Also got one of them for Da FU, and I don’t think she has had any problems with hers either.

I also have two that I bought for like 99 cents off of ebay, and they come with this little Dinky CD Driver Disk. Thing is cute, like 1 1/2″ in diameter. Both of them work as well.

The IOGear one from Wally world was like 17.99 or something.

Hope this helps

Justin

[TyeDyeSkyGuy]

I’ve tried everything with the no-name one I got on e-Bay and nothing works, so I went with another e-Bay purchase and scored a Belkin F5U109 for $10.88 including shipping. Hopefully this will solve the problem.

[gkrone]

Make sure you plug the USB converter into the computer befoare attaching the GPS to it. Since I started doing that I have had no problems with communicating to my Legend.

[TyeDyeSkyGuy]

@gkrone wrote:

Make sure you plug the USB converter into the computer befoare attaching the GPS to it. Since I started doing that I have had no problems with communicating to my Legend.

Thanks for the heads-up.

[hogrod]

tyedyeskyguy – Didn’t you just have to rest your unit because you were having some issues with it? maybe you don’t the the comport settings matching in your PC and on the unit anymore.

I’ve never used one of these serial to USB adapters so maybe this makes things a bit different, if so disregard.

[TyeDyeSkyGuy]

@hogrod wrote:

tyedyeskyguy – Didn’t you just have to rest your unit because you were having some issues with it? maybe you don’t the the comport settings matching in your PC and on the unit anymore.

I’ve never used one of these serial to USB adapters so maybe this makes things a bit different, if so disregard.

That’s what I thought to. I went over everything and it all matches.

[TyeDyeSkyGuy]

Got the adapter today, but there is no install cd. So, I went to Belkins website to get a driver, and downloaded it. There is no set-up file though. Just a dat file, uninstall, system file catalog file and an info file. Did it automatically install the driver? Where can I check?

[TyeDyeSkyGuy]

Nevermind. I took the risk and plugged it in, and it works just fine. Even at 115200 baud rate!

[reesefamily5]

I also am having problems with an adapter I bought off of e-bay. I got it for $5.99 and it also came with this cute litte disc. I tried to install the drivers but this is the message I get:

Cannot Install this Hardware
There was a problem installing this hardware
USB Device
An error occurred during the installation of the device
Access is denied.

I’m not all that computer smart when it comes to this stuff. I have tried everything I can think of. Any suggestions from anyone would be great.

[TyeDyeSkyGuy]

You are going to end up having trouble with these adapters unless you buy a good one. I’ve read over and over about problems with the cheapers ones, and had them myself too. Get yourself a Belkin off e-Bay. They aren’t much more money and they work perfectly.

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