serial to usb adaptor?
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From: Vince Coen on 8 Apr 2008 10:54 Hello All! Anyone know of a adaptor that will allow a RS232 device (uses a 25 pin plug but can convert that to 9 pin) to send data to a USB printer. Nope, its not that simple: The device has settings via a dip switch to change: baud rate Stop bits data bits (even/odd) Printer/PC bit etc It is NOT a PC device. It is connected to a burglar alarm and will allow me to print out the set up and error logs. It should be connected to a serial printer but these are now getting quite hard to find cheaply. So this means that the adaptor must work without the use of a device driver. I'm hoping I can just connect any USB printer and it will do a basic printout. Can anyone help with this? My only other option (if it would work) is to connect the RS232 port to a 9 pin serial port of a laptop and use Hyperlink or minicom to mimic a printer and capture the output and then print it off if needed. Vince
From: Rikishi 42 on 10 Apr 2008 16:11 On 2008-04-08, Vince Coen <VBCoenDespawn(a)btconnect.com> wrote: > Anyone know of a adaptor that will allow a RS232 device (uses a 25 pin plug > but can convert that to 9 pin) to send data to a USB printer. > > Nope, its not that simple: > > The device has settings via a dip switch to change: > baud rate > Stop bits > data bits (even/odd) > Printer/PC bit > etc > > It is NOT a PC device. It is connected to a burglar alarm and will allow me to > print out the set up and error logs. It should be connected to a serial > printer but these are now getting quite hard to find cheaply. > So this means that the adaptor must work without the use of a device driver. > I'm hoping I can just connect any USB printer and it will do a basic printout. > > Can anyone help with this? > > My only other option (if it would work) is to connect the RS232 port to a 9 > pin serial port of a laptop and use Hyperlink or minicom to mimic a printer > and capture the output and then print it off if needed. I think that's a much better solution anyway. It's likely to be easier to connect a laptop for a few minutes, rather then move a printer. And second, you might be ablt to use that computer to setup the alarm, if it allows that. -- There is an art, it says, or rather, a knack to flying. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss. Douglas Adams
From: Arno Wagner on 17 Apr 2008 21:42 Previously Vince Coen <VBCoenDespawn(a)btconnect.com> wrote: > Hello All! > Anyone know of a adaptor that will allow a RS232 device (uses a 25 pin plug > but can convert that to 9 pin) to send data to a USB printer. > Nope, its not that simple: > The device has settings via a dip switch to change: > baud rate > Stop bits > data bits (even/odd) > Printer/PC bit > etc > It is NOT a PC device. It is connected to a burglar alarm and will > allow me to print out the set up and error logs. It should be > connected to a serial printer but these are now getting quite hard > to find cheaply. So this means that the adaptor must work without > the use of a device driver. I'm hoping I can just connect any USB > printer and it will do a basic printout. > Can anyone help with this? This is basically infeasible without a full computer as bridge, as USB is a bus controlled by a master. > My only other option (if it would work) is to connect the RS232 port > to a 9 pin serial port of a laptop and use Hyperlink or minicom to > mimic a printer and capture the output and then print it off if > needed. That should be easy. Serial printers are basically passive, i.e. input only except for the handhsking signals. Set sioftware handshake (x-on/x-off) on both sides for the easiset configuration. You need the right cable though. Serial cables can be tricky. I think it needs to be one that swaps RX and TX. BTW, if you only have a computer without serial port, a lot of usb-to-serial converters work well under Linux. Arno
From: Vince Coen on 18 Apr 2008 09:36 Hello Arno! 18 Apr 08 02:42, Arno Wagner wrote to All: AW> Previously Vince Coen <VBCoenDespawn(a)btconnect.com> wrote: >> Hello All! >> Anyone know of a adaptor that will allow a RS232 device (uses a 25 >> pin plug but can convert that to 9 pin) to send data to a USB >> printer. >> Nope, its not that simple: >> The device has settings via a dip switch to change: >> baud rate >> Stop bits >> data bits (even/odd) >> Printer/PC bit >> etc >> It is NOT a PC device. It is connected to a burglar alarm and will >> allow me to print out the set up and error logs. It should be >> connected to a serial printer but these are now getting quite hard >> to find cheaply. So this means that the adaptor must work without >> the use of a device driver. I'm hoping I can just connect any USB >> printer and it will do a basic printout. >> Can anyone help with this? AW> This is basically infeasible without a full computer as bridge, AW> as USB is a bus controlled by a master. >> My only other option (if it would work) is to connect the RS232 port >> to a 9 pin serial port of a laptop and use Hyperlink or minicom to >> mimic a printer and capture the output and then print it off if >> needed. AW> That should be easy. Serial printers are basically passive, AW> i.e. input only except for the handhsking signals. Set AW> sioftware handshake (x-on/x-off) on both sides for the AW> easiset configuration. AW> You need the right cable though. Serial cables can be tricky. AW> I think it needs to be one that swaps RX and TX. BTW, if AW> you only have a computer without serial port, a lot of AW> usb-to-serial converters work well under Linux. Yes, thats the way I've gone. I used a breakout box to link (on db25) pins 6,8 & 20 as well as 4 & 5 and attached a long serial ribbon cable to my PC running Linux and Minicom and captured the output from the alarm and this was a few days after I found the cable on a shelf and nearly threw it away as unneeded. Using the laptop under Win98SE did not work using hyperterminal. Thanks for all the replies, Vince
From: Harry Skelton on 19 Apr 2008 12:20
Arno Wagner wrote: > Previously Vince Coen <VBCoenDespawn(a)btconnect.com> wrote: >> Hello All! > >> Anyone know of a adaptor that will allow a RS232 device (uses a 25 pin plug >> but can convert that to 9 pin) to send data to a USB printer. > > > This is basically infeasible without a full computer as bridge, > as USB is a bus controlled by a master. > There is a company that has a Parallel to USB converter (yes it seems backwards, but it works). You could then front-end it with a serial to parallel converter. Try: http://www.ipcas.com/products/centronics-parallel-to-usb-printer.html There are others out there too, like: http://www.epapersign.com/parallel2usb Enjoy... |