USB to serial converter

I wish to use a USB to serial converter from an XP application under Parallels. The device comes with both MAC and XP drivers. Which should I use ?

 

You have to install the driver for the host o/s..Once you do that then you can transfer to the guest..

If your Host is Mac..then insert the usb to serial adapter and install the Mac driver (If the HOST is XP then do the same except use the XP driver)..then check to make sure it WORKS in the HOST(Very Important step)..Then you can do one of two things...Either..


go to your settings for the guest machine and add a serial port and use physical serial port and select the com port that the Host assigned to the usb to serial device...This option will always make the serial port on the guest machine be assigned to Com 1..so when you connect to your rs232 device via the serial port, select Com 1 in the guest o/s..


OOOOOORRRRR...when the guest machine starts up..(make sure that usb is enabled of course) go to VM-Devices-USB and select the usb to serial adapter to connect to the virtual machine..The VM should recognize that a new device has been plugged in and prompt you to install the driver which you will now do using the driver appropriate for the GUEST o/s..Using this option..your usb to serial will be assigned to a different com port than 1...usually 3 or something like that...Check the hardware config in the guest o/s after the install to see what com port was assigned to it then use that port number when connecting an RS232 or 485 device to your serial cable..

Anyway..hope this helps...btw..the keyspan usb to serial adapter is SKETCHY at best with parallels...

Mike

 

Yes, I know. Have you found any other that is more resilient and reliable?

 

Drval,

Yes..the belkin usb to serial portable adapter seems to be a bit more reliable..

I think the main problem with the keyspan adapter is that it uses its own interface to configure the adapter..When it's all said and done..information has to go through the guest o/s com port assignments..then the virtual pipe..then through the keyspan assistant mapping, then the Host o/s com port assignments before it ever reaches its destination..too many irons in the fire and data integrity is comprimised..It's a great and very flexible serial interface for use in a single machine environment..it's just too many bells and whistles for a virtual environment..My Opinion only though..

Mike

 

Which specific Belkin model? I'm especially intrigured because, in the past, Belkin has NOT worked for me in native XP environments for my particular serial interface needs.

Yes, it's a lot of irons in the fire...

 

I personally use the usb to serial part no : F5U409V1

It has worked great for me so far...I also use option 2 for my virtual machines. (connecting as a usb device)...Physical port piping has never been 100% reliable IMO..

 

I have the Keyspan and yes it works but sketchy is a good description. Most of the time if I follow this procedure it will work:

1) boot mac
2) insert Keyspan USB serial
3) start or resume my Parallels XP VM
4) select keyspan from USB menu

It is then good for ONE and ONLY ONE open/close from a serial program either one I wrote or hyperterminal. Once I do that OPEN and CLOSE I must:

1) deselect Keyspan USB from the parallels USB menu
2) wait at least 10 seconds
3) reselect Keyspan USB from the parallels USB menu

Usually this will work for another single OPEN/CLOSE. It is a real pain.

Does the belkin have this or similar behavior? If not I'll order one tomorrow!

mark

 

I won't speak for a Mac host scenario, but I haven't had any problems as of yet with my Vista 32 bit host machine since I switched to the Belkin adapter...I use it alot as my job requires me to connect to various access control and fire/burglar alarm panels and the software for these panels does run on Vista, so I use the VM option..I'd love to give you an absolute on this question but I have honestly not tried it in a situation similar to yours..

Mike

 

In my experience on the Windows platform the Belkin does not have all nine pins configured. You will not be able to connect a modem to it if that's your plan. At least while running Windows natively.

 

Dependes on the modem, but most dialers I have ever seen use only RTS, CTS, DTR, DSR, and shield ground...some also require a DCD...worse case scenario only requires 5 pins..I think the Belkin has all of these covered..this may vary with other RS232 typw devices...485 is even simpler..Transmit, recieve, shield!

 

The Keyspan USA-19HS serial to USB adapter works fine as long as it is set up properly.

To do this, install the Keyspan driver, version 2.3 or later under Mac OS X. DO NOT install a driver under Windows.

The next step is to add a serial port to the Parallels Windows 2000 virtual machine configuration. To do this, start Parallels Desktop, select the Windows virtual machine from the list and click the Select button. On the Parallels Desktop menu bar, click Edit, select Virtual Machine from the drop down menu and click the Yes button on the drop down dialog box. The Configuration Editor window will be displayed.

Click the Add button in the Configuration Editor, select Serial Port from the Available Hardware list and click the Next button. Select 'Use a socket' and click the Next button. The following window shows the properties of the serial port. The default name of the serial port is /tmp/serial and this does not need to be be changed. Set the socket role to 'Server', check the 'Connect the Serial Port at startup' checkbox and click the Finish button to complete the setup of the serial port. Click the OK button to close the Configuration Editor and then quit the Parallels Desktop application.

One other software component that is required is a small utility called SerialClient. SerialClient is a free download from the Eudyptes website and is used to connect and disconnect the Keyspan driver from Parallels. Download the SerialClient utility and install it under Mac OS X by dragging it to the Applications folder.

Start the SerialClient application and it will display a serial port configuration window. The Stream Path field will have the default name of the serial port in it and must be the same as the name given to the serial port when it was added to the Parallels virtual machine with the Configuration Editor. Set the Baud Rate to whatever you need and the Flow Control to Hardware (RTS/CTS).

In your ~/Documents folder, create a new folder named SerialClient. Click File on the SerialClient menu bar, save the serial port configuration in the ~/Documents/SerialClient folder and quit the SerialClient application.

Now, to use the USB to serial adapter, make the necessary hardware connections, start the Windows virtual machine and let it complete its initialization. Start the SerialClient application by double-clicking the saved configuration file, click the SerialClient Connect button and then start the application that uses the serial connection. Be sure that the application is using the COM port that the Keyspan adapter is connected to.

 

help !

John ...

Thanks for that. Iv been experimenting this evening. Very grateful for your help, and wondered if you could assist a little more.

I followed your instructions, uninstalling the windows driver, and installing the mac one. Setup the VM port as you advised, saved, installed the SerialClient. Configed that and saved. Restarted, and connected the serialclient fine.

However in the Garmin MapSource app, it still wont see the etrex. I tried all the settings for output on the etrex, but no joy.

Exploring the serialclient app, I turned on the log file. And there is definate activity. When I asked MapSource to receive files from the etrex the following appeared in the log ;

$PGRMO,,G··$PGRMO,,G··$PGRMO,,G·
245047524D4F2C2C470D0A245047524D4F2C2C470D0A245047524D4F2C2C470D
·$PGRMO,,G··$PGRMO,,G··$PGRMO,,G
0A245047524D4F2C2C470D0A245047524D4F2C2C470D0A245047524D4F2C2C47
··$PGRMO,,G··$PGRMO,,G··········
0D0A245047524D4F2C2C470D0A245047524D4F2C2C470D0A10FE02100310FE02
·······
100310FE021003

Still no connection, but further than I have got before.

Can you shed any light, hopefully direct in where to go next ??

Thanks again.

Mike

 

Mike,

The data that's in the log file that you posted looks like NMEA output.

The Garmin GPS units have a number of different communications protocols with the two most common ones being NMEA and Garmin. The MapSource software expects the Garmin protocol.

Go into the setup menu on your eTrex and change the protocol from NMEA to Garmin.

The settings in the software and in the GPS must use the same protocol.

Not all of eTrex models are compatible with the MapSource software. You may want to check Garmin's site to be sure that your eTrex will work with MapSource.

Which model of eTrex do you have?

 

could you explain the last part

>>>Also make sure that the COM port that your adapter is on is the same COM port that the MapSource software is using.>>>

Im very mac literate, but not that PC. Could you explain how I check this ??

Sorry to be a pain.

I did change the options on the etrex between the different outputs when I tested it, but will do again on Garmin format this time.

Ta

Mike

 

I just use Windows 2000 mainly for Garmin purposes and have never used XP however the two may be quite similar.

In Windows 2000 click Start > Settings > Control Panel > Administrative Tools. Under Administrative Tools double-click Computer Management. From here select Device Manager and it will show a hardware list. Look under Ports and that will list all the serial ports. There should only be the one that you defined in Parallels and it should be COM1.

Just make sure that the MapSource software is using COM1.

BTW, MapSource does definitely expect to use the Garmin protocol.

 

its never easy

I have set the device manager to match exactly the settings on the serial client. and checked the etrex is set to garmin mode. mapsource is set to look at Com1, but still no connection.

I ran the trace again and here are results ;

$PGRMO,,G··$PGRMO,,G··$PGRMO,,G·
245047524D4F2C2C470D0A245047524D4F2C2C470D0A245047524D4F2C2C470D
·$PGRMO,,G··$PGRMO,,G··$PGRMO,,G
0A245047524D4F2C2C470D0A245047524D4F2C2C470D0A245047524D4F2C2C47
··$PGRMO,,G··$PGRMO,,G··········
0D0A245047524D4F2C2C470D0A245047524D4F2C2C470D0A10FE02100310FE02
·······
100310FE021003

I even tried switching the flow control, but nothing there either.

Dont know if it helps, but this is the link to the driver page (dont know if it gives any clues) ?

http://www.prolific.com.tw/eng/downloads.asp?ID=31

Thanks again.

 

The baud rate for Garmin GPS units should be set to 9600.

Perhaps the problem is not the serial connection. It could be that your eTrex is not compatible with MapSource.

There is a connection of some type because you are seeing serial data being logged. Judging from the nature of the data, it appears that MapSource is sending data out the serial port.

The $PGRMO,,G that you're seeing is a NMEA sentence that is telling the receiving device to set itself to Garmin mode. As you have already physically set it to Garmin mode, it would not understand this command. Then it appears that MapSource begins transmitting in Garmin mode but the eTrex is not responding.

(The first line of the log data that you posted shows in ASCII what is being transmitted while the second line is the hexadecimal data. i.e. $PGGRMO,,G is 245047524D4F2C2C470D0A. The 0D0A on the end is a carriage return and line feed... basically the Return key.)

If you're interested in the details of Garmin's NMEA, see this document at the Garmin site.

Now, two questions;

1. Which model of eTrex do you have? (very important)
2. Does your eTrex work with MapSource running on a PC?

I'm a professional programmer and am quite familiar with both NMEA and the Garmin protocols. I'm in the final stages of completing a native Mac OS X application, named iGPS, that will transmit and receive waypoints and routes between serial Garmin GPS units. The software is about 1 to 2 months away from release.

Here is some additional information about iGPS:

iGPS is a Mac OS X Universal application that works with any Garmin GPS that has a serial connector.

Transmit and receive waypoints and routes to and from a GPS
Save the waypoints and routes to a file on your Mac
Edit the waypoints and routes on your Mac instead of the GPS
Transfer waypoints and routes between different Garmin GPS models
Create new waypoints and routes
Print waypoint and route reports or save them as PDF files
Search routes for a particular waypoint
Find the distance between any two waypoints in a route
Configure iGPS for metric, nautical or U.S. measurements

If we can't get your eTrex running with MapSource, iGPS certainly will work.

 

John ...

iGPS sounds good - very good. Im quite excited.

Perhaps we could talk more about this ??

I ride adventure bikes (think the Dakar race etc) and am heavilly involved in that community. At the moment there is very limited software that we can use to import / export plan and share routes etc.

Im presuming the iGPS will be compatible with Garmin format basemaps ?

I have a friend who is a web developer and we have been thinking about setting up a community to share these routes / waypoints.

Back to the original subject ... I have the original etrex (yellow) running system 3.5.1. I dont know if it works on a straight PC as I dont have access to one at the moment. Im also not at home tonight, but when I return I will set the baud rate to 9600 on all interfaces, just incase that is causing an issue (although iv had some terminal interface/emulation experinece in the past and slower was never a problem)

Got to go now, as my regular job beckons.

Mike

 

According to the eTrex manual, on page 26 it states that a route can be planned with using MapSource, therefore MapSource should work with your GPS.

I'm not quite sure about your software version though... the Garmin documentation for the eTrex states that the current version of the eTrex firmware is 2.14. I don't know how your eTrex could be using version 3.5.1 software unless it's not from Garmin.

At this point, I would verify that your eTrex works on a PC. It's possible that your GPS is not compatible with MapSource or that there is a hardware problem. Once you determine if it works or does not work on a PC, we can go from there.

Another thing that you can do is download version 2.14 of the eTrex firmware, connect your GPS to the USB to serial adapter and run the 2.14 firmware update in your Windows virtual machine.

If this completes successfully then you know that the serial communication works. On the other hand, if the serial communication is not working then nothing will happen. This will help isolate the problem and eliminate MapSource as a possible cause because we certainly know that the eTrex update is compatible with the eTrex hardware.

 

Hi John ...

Iv been waiting to reply in the hopes I could get my hands on a PC to check it out on, but havent as yet.

What I did do was to download the web updater app from Garmin (see link below). This didnt recognicse the connection either, so no further forward there.

http://www8.garmin.com/support/collection.jsp?product=999-99999-27

With regards to the firmwear on the unit. I checked again on the Garmin site, and there are two versions of the firmwear. I am running the latest (presumably released after the manual was written). Would you still reccomend going back to 2.14 ???

http://www8.garmin.com/support/collection.jsp?product=010-00190-00

Looking at what the document says, the only change is support for the Yamaha Compass. It was released a while ago too, so you would have thought there would be a further update if a major issue such as this was found.

In any case, as I cant get the updater to work because of the same connectivity issues, then I wont be able to switch back to the old version.

With some luck I may be able use a PC over the weekend, will update when I can.

Thanks again.

Mike

p.s. If I do get access to a PC and can test it. Supposing it works, are there any settings / logs / paramaters that I should look for that would help identify whats going wrong on the Mac side ??