Serge NOEL
123 lines
6.0 KiB
Plaintext
123 lines
6.0 KiB
Plaintext
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<title>JMRI Hardware Setup Support - USB to Serial adapters</title>
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<meta name="Author" content="Bob Jacobsen">
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<meta name="keywords" content="USB serial adapter JMRI install">
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<h1 id="usb2serial">Hardware Setup Support: Using a USB-to-Serial Adapter</h1>
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<p>If your model railroad hardware is supposed to connect to a computer via a traditional
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RS232 serial connection, but your computer doesn't have any RS232 ports, what do you do? This
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is becoming more common as computers since 2000 are sold with USB ports instead of RS232
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serial ports.</p>
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<h2 id="hardware">Supported Hardware</h2>
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<ul>
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<li>One solution is to use a "USB-to-Serial" Adapter to solve this. A typical unit is the
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<a href=
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"https://tripplite.eaton.com/high-speed-usb-to-serial-adapter-keyspan~USA19HS/">Keyspan
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USA-19HS series of adapters</a> by Tripplite. We recommend these Keyspan adapters; we use a
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Keyspan 19-series adapter during the release testing, and have found them to work reliably
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in all cases so far.
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</li>
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<li>Other companies, such as <a href="https://www.belkin.com">Belkin</a>, market adapters
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under their own name, and you can often also find off-brand adapters at your local computer
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store for as little as $10.
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</li>
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</ul>
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<p>Before you buy any adapter, make sure that it will work with your particular computer and
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operating system version. The important issue here is the "drivers" the computer needs to
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talk to the hardware adapter; many adapter manufacturers only provide Windows drivers, which
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makes their products useless to a Macintosh or Linux user. Also note that MacOS 8/9 and OS X
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drivers are different, and can't be interchanged.</p>
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<p>Many <a href="index.shtml">DCC systems</a> don't require very much of their serial ports,
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and in that case any adapter will probably work. But some DCC systems require either special
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baud rates and/or RS232 control leads that not all adapters can provide. The rest of this
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page addresses those special cases.</p>
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<h2 id="connecting">Connecting</h2>
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<h3 id="MS100">LocoNet via MS100 adapter</h3>
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<p>Note that using a LocoBuffer is highly recommended instead of trying to get a MS100 to
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work!</p>
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The MS100 requires a special baud rate that most USB to serial adapters can't provide. It
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also requires power to be supplied via the RS232 control leads.
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<p>The Keyspan 19HS adapters are known to work with the MS100. We've gotten reports of
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success from Windows 98, Windows XP, and MacOS 9 users.<br>
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(Note that the MS100 does NOT work with Mac OS X and many Windows Vista machines; this is not
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a USB Adapter issue)</p>
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<p>You'll have to get a special cable to connect the 9-pin connector on the Keyspan adapter
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to the 25-pin connector on the MS100.</p>
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<p>There are other Keyspan USB Adapter models that are known to NOT work with the MS100. In
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particular, the Macintosh Dual Serial adapter which provides two Macintosh DIN-8 serial ports
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does not provide the power needed by the MS100. (<a href="loconet/KeyspanUSB.shtml">More
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details</a>)</p>
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<p>Users have reported that a Belkin adapter wouldn't work with a MS100 because it could not
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provide the special baud rate needed.</p>
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<h3 id="LocoBuffer">LocoNet via LocoBuffer, LocoBuffer-II</h3>
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<p>If you haven't yet purchased a LocoBuffer, you're best bet is ordering a <a href=
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"http://www.rr-cirkits.com">LocoBuffer-USB</a> from <a href=
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"http://www.rr-cirkits.com">RR-Cirkits</a> This has a native USB connection to your computer,
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so no USB-to-Serial adapter is needed.</p>
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<p>For reliable operation, the serial LocoBuffer interfaces require that the RS232 control
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leads provide flow control.</p>
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<p>Keyspan USB-to-Serial Adapters are also known to work with the LocoBuffer. We've gotten
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reports of success from Windows 98, Windows ME, Windows XP and Mac OS X users. You'll have to
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get a special cable to connect the 9-pin connector on the Keyspan adapter to the 25-pin
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connector on the original LocoBuffer; later models have a 9-pin serial connector.</p>
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<p>We have also had a report that the "IConcepts" adapter, purchased at CompUSA, works with
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Windows ME and Windows XP.</p>
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<p>All adapters based on the "FTDI FT232BM chip" should work fine. This includes the UN8E
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adapter provided by <a href="http://www.rr-cirkits.com">RR-Cirkits</a>, and many
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do-it-yourself adapters. If you're using this adapter with a Macintosh or Linux computer, be
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sure to download the most recent drivers from the <a href=
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"https://ftdichip.com/drivers/">FTDI</a> website, as early versions had bugs.</p>
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<h3 id="LI100">XpressNet via LI100</h3>
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<p>For reliable operation, the LI100 XpressNet interface requires that the RS232 control
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leads provide flow control.</p>
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<p>The Keyspan adapters are known to work with the LI100. We've gotten reports of success
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from Windows 98, Windows XP, MacOS 9 and OS X users.</p>
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<h3 id="LI101">XpressNet via LI101</h3>
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<p>For reliable operation, the LI101 XpressNet interface requires that the RS232 control
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leads provide flow control.</p>
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<p>As yet, we've received no reports or success or failure from people using an LI101 with a
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USB to serial adapter. More information would be greatly appreciated.</p>
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