USB-serial adapter compatability list

[Raymond_B]

i run the prolific tech pl2303 on windows 10
it works great

Can you post the specific product and source?

[piledriver]

i run the prolific tech pl2303 on windows 10
it works great

Can you post the specific product and source?

The ftdi and moschip based USB adapters work fine on win10 as well.
MicroConnectors uses the Moschip, dual channel or 4 channel available, the dual is $20 at Frys Electronics.

Historically, Prolific adapters/drivers have been hit-or-miss.

[Raymond_B]

Thank you!

So I did some Googling and ran across this web page http://www.ifamilysoftware.com/news37.html

Lo and behold my Prolific chipped serial to USB adapter works with Win 8.1! Connected straight away to my Microsquirt. This is bench testing though and nothing in car yet.

[frdboy]

Does this work with windows 10?

http://www.diyautotune.com/catalog/usb- ... -p-67.html

[Matt Cramer]

Does this work with windows 10?

http://www.diyautotune.com/catalog/usb- ... -p-67.html

Yes. Just be sure to get the current driver from FTDI.

[jsmcortina]

For info... I have here a "HAL-340" no-name USB-serial adapter that works fine with traditional Megasquirt (V3.0 or V3.57 mainboard) but will not work with Microsquirt or MS3-Pro.

For some reason, the adapter doesn't work with a 3 or 4 wire connection only. (It should.)

The loopback test would fail if you tried it.

It was causing major confusion with a customer because it was "known good" working with other MS3s, but failed to work on MS3-Pro.

James

[racingmini_mtl]

Interesting because I had a CH340 adapter and it was working with a V3.0 board but not with a Microsquirt module. I scoped the signal and there was what looked like a good signal being transmitted to the RS232 chip on the module but nothing was coming out.

Unfortunately, that adapter is now dead and I can't make more checks. Maybe you could check with yours if this is the same. I don't understand why the RS232 chip on the module would not behave the same as the one on the V3.0 board but that seems to be the case.

Jean

[benckj]

Rather than risk interface issues and support the MS crowd I purchased their adapter with FTDI chipset. Working well on MSPNPv2 but unless its my imagination it seems to work better with the registered version of TS than free version. Also, I disconnected all the RS232 lines which were not required leaving 2, 3 & 5. Not sure if noise is induced from other lines but seemed to make a difference when driving down road.

On a side note but along same topic, this USB-serial interface does not seem to work with my Android tablet. Believe this is a tablet issue as later found out it must HOST the USB port which of course, mine does not. Looking at a way around this problem including going with a Bluetooth connection which is another learning curve for me.

Wish more info was available on connectivity issues from EFI. Hard for the average person to know what is compatible and what is not. Maybe publish a simple list on their website would be a start?

jim

[Matt Cramer]

Rather than risk interface issues and support the MS crowd I purchased their adapter with FTDI chipset. Working well on MSPNPv2 but unless its my imagination it seems to work better with the registered version of TS than free version.

Probably not your imagination. The registered version has a somewhat faster USB driver enabled.

Also, I disconnected all the RS232 lines which were not required leaving 2, 3 & 5. Not sure if noise is induced from other lines but seemed to make a difference when driving down road.

The MSPNP only needs those three terminals unless powering a Bluetooth adapter (which would also require pin 9).

[benckj]

Probably not your imagination. The registered version has a somewhat faster USB driver enabled.

That would be a good selling point for purchasing the registered version. Having the MS drop off line when tuning can be extremely frustrating. $60 is a small price to pay for the features activated in TS.

As I cannot get my tablet to Host the USB port I'm going to re-connect line 9 off serial cable to use the Bluetooth connection to tablet from 6ft lead into cab. This will still keep the serial connection enabled for laptop tuning. Hopefully, the BT 5v supply it does not interfere with TX/RX lines. Being a mid engine car the MSPNP is located in trunk and all wiring etc must pass through engine bay to cab. I have my doubts if the BT would work effectively from this location so rather transmit across short distance in cab. Make sense?

jim

[piledriver]

a class1 bt adapters range can be ~300 feet.
if it has an external antenna, run it to the cabin if you are concerned, but i'd be shocked if it didn't work fine.
one issue bt may have is not always autoconnecting when power cycling the key.
I power mine off the lighter to avoid the dropout.
(OS side)
just don't expect updates faster than ~15fps.
A good serial adapter can be much faster, and a lot more reliable.

I personally only will use BT for logging, not tuning/autotune...issues burning a tune.

[benckj]

Thanks for the info. Don't plan to use BT for tuning just dashboard gauge display. Power is supplied from MS serial pin 9 so will drop off when key off. As long as it auto connects in a reasonable time that doesn't concern me.

Jim

[codester]

Hello, Im new here but i have had success uploading firmware (took 1 minute) and tuning with the "
Ugreen USB to RS232 DB9 Serial Male Converter Adapter Cable with FTDI Chipset" purchased from ebay. Using ms2 v3.0 and version 3.4.2 firmware.

[benckj]

That's good to know. Wish I had the same luck but seems my tablet won't connect. Just ordered one with BT so hopefully that solves the issue.

jim

[jsmcortina]

For info... I have here a "HAL-340" no-name USB-serial adapter that works fine with traditional Megasquirt (V3.0 or V3.57 mainboard) but will not work with Microsquirt or MS3-Pro.

I got around to testing this on the scope the other day and found what was wrong. The adapter was sending a +5V/0V signal to the ECU. That's wrong!!! The RS232 specs are a minimum of +3V/-3V and up to +15V/-15V. So it seems that the MAX232 is unexpectedly accepting an out of spec signal.
By contrast my working USB-serial adapter (Prolific chipset from Maplin) puts out around +7V/-7V.

James

[racingmini_mtl]

For info... I have here a "HAL-340" no-name USB-serial adapter that works fine with traditional Megasquirt (V3.0 or V3.57 mainboard) but will not work with Microsquirt or MS3-Pro.

I got around to testing this on the scope the other day and found what was wrong. The adapter was sending a +5V/0V signal to the ECU. That's wrong!!! The RS232 specs are a minimum of +3V/-3V and up to +15V/-15V. So it seems that the MAX232 is unexpectedly accepting an out of spec signal.
By contrast my working USB-serial adapter (Prolific chipset from Maplin) puts out around +7V/-7V.

James

When I had the issues I mentioned previously, I did scope the RS232 side but did not actually check the levels but rather only the presence of a signal. I should have checked the actual voltage range then.

Interestingly, from a quick check at the datasheet from the MAX232 and MAX3221 chips that are on the V3.x and Microsquirt, respectively, they both show that 0V should be an acceptable value since the low level threshold is above 1V even though that's outside the RS232 specs. So that means that while the HAL-340 is outside the RS232 specs, the MAX3221 should still be able to use the signal as the MAX232 does.

Jean

[jammy86]

I stumbled upon these recently while browsing RS as you do (right?) and wondered if they would be a simple option for people wanting an easy USB port mod. Sadly I want to keep RS232 to talk to another module but thought I'd drop this here in case someone wants to look in to it...

http://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/interface ... 5553424626


I use an FTDI USB to RS232 lead which works flawlessly, we use them at work for all sorts:

http://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/interface ... s/6877806/

Cheap and cheerful and in a range of lengths to suit. Win7 at work but Win10 at home with my MS1.

[NFA Fabrication]

So I've been out of the game for a bit, but getting back into it. In the past I used the Radio Shack "Gigaware" USB to Serial Converter, and probably 3 months ago I used it with no issue for the first time in years to tune a car with Megatune (It was what I always used back in the day). For a current project, I am using Tuner Studio, and a laptop with Windows 10 64 Bit and absolutely can't get the Gigaware unit to work. I get a driver error in windows. I found one driver that claimed it was good for windows 10, but when I installed it, it said that I needed a 64 Bit compatible version... Does anyone still use this usb to serial adapter, and have any idea where to get the driver for it on Win 10 64 bit?, or am I out of luck using this thing? Is there a go to USB to Serial Converter for this these days if I do have to buy a new one?

[rickb794]

https://www.diyautotune.com/product/usb ... nerstudio/

[Vauxi]

I've been using propably copy one form ftdi chip adapter. 11.5 £ from ebay. "Burn technology". Works flawlessy with ms1, microsquirt module, ms2 and ms3. Works with win10 too (atleast 32bit). All you have to do is reduce that certain value from driver settings as Tunerstudio guide says and you are set.