That’s interesting, I always thought SOL meant Situation Overly Labyrinthine.
A simple test, as I eluded to previously, would be to test the software with a machine that has a built in “natural” serial port.
That method would prove, or at worst, give a good indication if it was a software or hardware issue.
If a physical device will not power up, first you check if the power outlet switch is on, if so, then you check if the cable is getting power (via a multi-meter, and/or swap it with another cable to be sure). You work backwards along the chain until you find the fault.
I understand what you say, and I agree. If there was any way to make a test with a PC with a real serial port, that would be my first choice.
The USB-serial adapter is old and I can bet does not have an original prolific chipset.
Untill now I’ve been using the following workaround : I am reading the serial port with RealTerm and capturing data to a text file and reading that file with a timer from my xojo app. RealTerm is quite powerful and can even be controlled thru ActiveX automation. Unfortunately I don’t have the resources (and it’s not my work) to go on site and start troubleshooting their hardware. I will try to do it eventually but for now I’m set. It’s a pity, though that with this hardware, RealTerm gets the data well and Xojo doesn’t.
Thanks a lot for your thoughts, ideas and suggestions.
R
For me as soon as I upgraded the drivers it worked well. The other solution, which the client did, was upgrade to premium USB to Serial converters and they’ve never had a problem since.
