Re: Any success stories with USB to Serial adapters?

> I have a strong desire, bordering on a requirement, to get
> SwiftX (AVR) working with a USB to Serial adapter. My first
> attempt with a D-Link device (USB hub with serial and
> parallel ports, Intel chipset, I think) wasn't successful,
> despite Hyperterminal working with it just fine.
>
> Are there any success stories? Which brand/model adapter, or chipset?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Wayne

A long time ago, one of our engineers used USB serial ports with SwiftX
(probably for 68K) and I think ForthInc may have tweaked the talker at
that time. We have no experience with the AVR, however, and at the
moment we cannot beckon forth clear memories of the circumstances.

FYI: At least hubs and docking station USB to serial adapters seem to
insert lots of latency. While our experience is not primarily with
trying to use a SWiftX talker over USB, we could not run a (poorly
written) client-server application over any USB to Serial port adapter
when a hub was involved. We needed to get the "fat cable" style of
serial converter that plugged directly into the host computer because
they did not behave the same way. We tried various hubs and docking
station type adapters. This is not to say that a hub would not work in
your situation, but it is offered as a data point.

The USB to serial port converter that we ended up using was something
like the one on the page noted below, but your mileage may vary:

http://www.usb-port.com/uc232.html

Later, we improved timing issues in the client/server application for
other reasons, and did a one-time test makes it appear that when we
did this, the latency no longer prevents us from using a hub setup.
We are still using the fat-cable style converter for the product that
needs the converter - mostly because we did not want the added cost
of a hub and additional cabling.

---
Kevin R. Bulgrien
Product Engineer

General Dynamics C4 Systems http://www.tripointglobal.com/
VertexRSI
1915 Harrison Road Tel: 903-295-1480 x288
Longview, TX 75604-5438 Fax: 903-295-1479
----------------------------------------------------------------------
swiftx_at_forth.com The SwiftX programming discussion email list
To unsubscribe, send subject "unsubscribe" to swiftx-request_at_forth.com
For list command help, send subject "help" to swiftx-request_at_forth.com
Message archives are located at http://www.forth.com/archive/swiftx
----------------------------------------------------------------------
This list is a forum for SwiftX users. For product support and bug
reports, please send email to support_at_forth.com
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Received on Tue May 03 2005 - 06:47:09 PDT