New here, comm error from dead board? (can't access MSQ)

[M103EFI]

Hi, I'm installing Microsquirt on my Mercedes 190E. I bought this setup from a friend who decided to go another direction with his car but had it running before I bought the system. Unfortunately, he didn't do the best job with documentation and he lives across the country so I've had issues figuring out how to get everything set up. I spent a week deciphering the wiring he did then another few days sorting out his power-on circuit. Now, I am trying to set up the microsquirt controller with my computer but I'm having issues. I am somewhat afraid I could have fried the board while doing all of my testing so I need to figure that out now.

I was using a UGreen RS232 Serial to USB cable with the Prolific chipset and was only able to communicate with the board one time out of about 20 attempts and could not replicate it. I then found a friend with an XP computer and was able to have a bit more success. It would consistently give me this error message:


When using Miniterminal, entering "S" would give me "{" or something similar. If I understand the manual correctly, I should get the firmware version from typing "S"?

So I'm perplexed as to what the issue is. I am hoping to rule out that the board is bad. I do think that my USB converter doesn't work properly, though I'm not 100% sure I've set that up correctly. I just had it coming from pins that come straight off the board to a serial board I could secure the wires to then used the USB adapter.

Sorry for not attaching the MSQ, I haven't gotten that far yet.

[Blown88GT]

...I was using a UGreen RS232 Serial to USB cable with the Prolific chipset and was only able to communicate with the board one time out of about 20 attempts and could not replicate it....

Prolific adapters are not recommended because of exactly the issues you are having.
You want the FTD adapter.

[rickb794]

This MicroSquirt?

[jsmcortina]

I've tested one USB-serial adapter that clearly did not comply with RS232, lazy designers had used the wrong voltages. It didn't work with the Microsquirt.

James

[rickb794]

Might have been a counterfeit serial chip, they don't support all of the protocol.

[racingmini_mtl]

Might have been a counterfeit serial chip, they don't support all of the protocol.

I have posted this before: all the cheap chinese USB-serial adapters based on the CH340 chipset will not work with the Microsquirt (cased or module). This is not a one-off thing. And almost all the very cheap adapter are based on that chipset. If the chipset is not mentioned, stay clear as it's likely that one.

Jean

[M103EFI]

This MicroSquirt?

Sorry, should have mentioned, it's V2.2 stuffed into the original ECU case.

I'm going to order a FTDI cable to see if that changes anything. Pretty sure my other cord was legitimate Prolific but when I ordered it, I didn't know that there could be an issue using that chipset.

I've borrowed an XP machine with a serial port coming off the motherboard, is there something I need to do to correct the error code I was getting?