I won't say it is a cheap one and I'm still need to test it. Back when I did CCD astronomy I bought two Troy XCD serial servers. These are TCP/IP to serial converters with built in web configuration interface. They were not cheap. I then purchased a program called Serial/IP from Tactical Software. Again not cheap. I can't remember exactly but combined I think these two were around $350. I had forgotten I had these and wasn't even sure if my version of Serial/IP would even work under XP. I backed up my VM and installed it. It runs fine and it talks beautifully to the Troy XCD device both via wireless and hardware. I am doing some serial based motor development so I will try this setup out tomorrow and let everyone know how well it works. I had virtually zero success with keyspan over USB. Hopefully this past investment will result in a workable serial system for me. I know this is an expensive way to go but if it works it may be an answer if any of you have a desperate need for serial. Mark
Are you using RC2 (build 3150)? I had very poor results with RC1 (build 3120) but have had much better results with RC2 (build 3150) and a KeySpan 19HS. I'm still working on further testing to see what limits there might be.
Yes I am on 3150. The behavior for me is that I get a good connect initially but as I debug my program and open/close the serial port under Windows at some point it will simply report the port is in use. IE it acts like the port didn't close on the last program exit. I know it was closed for sure. The only way around this seems to be to disconnect the Keyspan, reconnect and then reconnect in Parallels. As long as I never close the port it seems ok. But it doesn't seem to like open/close sequences. M
Yes, that's similar to what I've been seeing. Do you see any instance in which a disconnect-reconnect fails ultimately and completely, such that the device can NOT be reacquired?
Yes I have seen it fail completely. That drove me to move my serial development over to a windows computer. I couldn't handle the time delay to reboot and stuff. In fact for me in general USB has been a mixed back in all Parallels releases. I really only care about thumb drives and perhaps the keyspan so far. I've had a complete Parallels HARD FREEZE when plugging in a thumb drive. It was strange. Parallels the program would respond but NOTHING within it would react to clicks or anything. I looked at setting to make sure the mouse had not been taken over etc. The only thing I could do was to hard stop the VM and hope it came back on a reboot. It did. But it sure made me very wary of USB devices and Parallels in general. M
Ethernet TCP/IP to Serial is still the most industrial strength solution. I'm with you, Mark, if you really need a reliable serial port then use something like: http://www.moxa.com/product/NPort_5110.htm or maybe one of these: http://www.bb-elec.com/Subcategory.asp?SubCategoryId=1&Trail=1&TrailType=Top
