usb serial adapter

[chassyp]

I am trying to get my computer to accept a usb serial adapter. I have installed the driver that came with it but alas it doesnt seem to find it!! Will it show on "my computer" when attached?? My comp makes the "Ive found sommet noise, but it doesnt show! I have uninstalled the software, shut the comp down and up and down and aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!Please help me. Best regards

[ChuckFickens]

No it won't appear in "my computer" it's not a drive it's a serial port.

It should appear in the device manager, probably under ports

Have you tried using whatever it is you want to plug into the serial port to see if it works?

[chassyp]

Thanks for that. Yea Ive plugged in my external drive but it doesn`t seem to recognise that!! Cheers.

[ACtheTROLL]

with USB it's generally - install the driver - attach the device
it won't work the other way round

your problem then is that (as chuck says) a serial port is the only indication

you've then got to connect something to the port and install the drivers (device first drivers second this time!)

I've had mixed success with these beasties
kit that works with 1 won't work on another (seemingly identical PC)

on a new desktop I've still got serial port
on laptops - I've sometimes had to buy docking stations

luckily kit is quite rare - mainly telnet on expensive old kit

what are you fitting?

[ChuckFickens]

Hold up....

Did you say external drive!

I've never seen a serial external drive (OK I know USB and SATA are serial... but you know what I mean!)

That is going to be sooooo slow

[ACtheTROLL]

115kb/s???? hdd no way

parallel - 2mb/s - I had a cd burner and a zip drive
also had a jaz drive that worked from a pcmcia scsi card and a flip disk that did parallel and pcmcia

i've seen a rubber band - but never a serial drive

is this a usb housing withsata drive (I got wun of them too)

[chassyp]

yea yea yea!! Sorry guys and gals, My mistake, not a drive, an external device! Anyway, got it sorted after all that input. It was VistAAAAAA causing the problem. I used my sons machine with xp on on and bingo, sorted. Once again one and all, many many thanks.

[rojash]

Have you two forgotten what the S in USB stands for, or what?

[ACtheTROLL]

Under Some Books?

[dot.hawkes]

I bought am external serial USB adapter the other day and it wouldn;t work for the dongle just the printer and the mouse, and so i emailed the help desk after registering the product and today had this response:

Dear Ms. Hawkes,
Thank you for your inquiry.
That is possible:
A USB port delivers a maximum of 5 volts @ 500 mAmps. If the other devices are completely draw the voltage there is nothing left for the last device to be connected. You need an active USB hub. We hope that your question has been answered to your satisfaction.Should you have further questions regarding this matter, please do not hesitate to contact us again. When replying, please make sure this email is included. With kind regards, Harry Schut Kensington Customer SupportKensington Computer Products Group www.kensington.com

[dot.hawkes]

I had told them in the email that the dongle was not being recognised when i put it in on it's own and so they havnm't read my email properly, don't sound very english either lol

[ACtheTROLL]

out to lunch ... or schut for business

as I said - we use then just for hyperterminal
some of the problem is that with XP they dumped 8 bit support - and most serial devices are 8 bit and/or not PnP

obviously not all (or there wouldn't be a market for them)
then you have the problem.

it does seem they are used by secret agents using "devices" and "dongles" though

perhaps it's Undercover Surveillance b... bbbb
something starting with B