Eben King wrote:
> Anybody used a USB <-> serial cable? I had this bright idea of hooking
> my UPS to the computer. I understand lots of nifty stuff can be
> accomplished through such a connection.
>
> Unfortunately, my UPS's cable is serial on both ends, and my computer's
> sole serial port is occupied by a modem. I looked aroung for a USB
> variant. Since the "S" in "USB" stands for "serial", I thought it
> shouldn't be too hard to find. Unfortunately, it was. The only USB
> cables I found had an RJ-45 on the other end.
>
> So, I figured I could put either the modem (it only gets Caller-ID data,
> so flow control and speed aren't that important) or the UPS (2400 BPS
> sez the manual, so ditto) on the USB <-> serial cable I have. But, I've
> never used it but once (and that was in The Other OS). Help?
I've used USB to Serial converters on Linux and Windows. They actually
work better on Linux since drivers are built into recent kernels and
there is nothing to install. They present a virtual comm port
interface, so to your software they look just like another serial port,
"/dev/ttyUSB0" or some such. Here's /var/log/messages from Linux
2.6.11.4-21.15-smp:
May 10 20:45:17 warmbreeze kernel: usb 2-2: new full speed USB device
using uhci_hcd and address 2
May 10 20:45:17 warmbreeze kernel: usb 2-2: configuration #1 chosen from
2 choices
May 10 20:45:20 warmbreeze kernel: drivers/usb/serial/usb-serial.c: USB
Serial support registered for Keyspan - (without firmware)
May 10 20:45:20 warmbreeze kernel: drivers/usb/serial/usb-serial.c: USB
Serial support registered for Keyspan 1 port adapter
May 10 20:45:20 warmbreeze kernel: drivers/usb/serial/usb-serial.c: USB
Serial support registered for Keyspan 2 port adapter
May 10 20:45:20 warmbreeze kernel: drivers/usb/serial/usb-serial.c: USB
Serial support registered for Keyspan 4 port adapter
May 10 20:45:20 warmbreeze kernel: keyspan 2-2:1.0: Keyspan 1 port
adapter converter detected
May 10 20:45:20 warmbreeze kernel: usb 2-2: Keyspan 1 port adapter
converter now attached to ttyUSB0
May 10 20:45:20 warmbreeze kernel: usbcore: registered new driver keyspan
May 10 20:45:20 warmbreeze kernel: drivers/usb/serial/keyspan.c:
v1.1.4:Keyspan USB to Serial Converter Driver
Keyspan model USA-19HS is the one I have used the most, which has some
sort of TI chip. I've also used the FTDI chip via a virtual comm port
driver. Had multiples plugged in at the same time, it all just works,
although you have to pay attention to make sure you associate the
correct device entry with each converter.
-- Mark Polhamus
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