Well, I had a go at a couple of the suggestions, but so far no joy. First I tried unchecking the FIFO buffer checkbox and several other variations. Then I tried the USB to serial adaptor, but again, no go. The USB adaptor certainly works, because I've used it for another communications job witth an RFID reader, and it worked at first attempt which really surprised me. I got a reasonable number of my boards going, so I'll have another attempt with the next batch. Next, I'll have to try booting into DOS via a floppy .. once I work out how it's done. Thanks for all the help. Regards, Roger ----- Original Message ----- From: "Roger Weichert" To: "Microcontroller discussion list - Public." Sent: Thursday, July 22, 2010 8:07 AM Subject: Re: [EE] XP versus Win95 Serial ports > > Carl Denk wrote > > >> As I understand, some (many?) laptops and maybe desktops do not provide >> the RS-232 voltage levels of +/- 12 VDC, but maybe TTL levels, and/or no >> negative voltages. Also there may be an issue of providing enough power. >> I assume the laptop has USB ports available. You might look at an >> USB/RS-232 adapter, noting that some of those adapters may not provide >> the necessary voltage/amperage. Might look at >> http://www.scantool.net/accessories/usb-to-rs232-converter.html >> I don't know if that will do the job, but seems like it might, and at >> $13, that's hard to beat. I recently got a Nettop, with no RS-232, but >> has 3 USB. Am considering getting one to talk to PIC embedded systems >> and a PLC. > > Thanks Carl, I actually woke up through the night and was thinking about > it, > and realised I have one of those type devices I bought off ebay a few > weeks > ago, and I didn't even think to try it. That's definitely something that's > worth a try. > > > Richard E. Teague wrote > >>I seem to remember something from my old ICD1 which used the serial port. >>It would not work properly when FIFO buffer was enabled on the com port. >>Try clicking start/control panel/system/hardware/device manager/ports >>Then double click on your com port, then click port settings/advanced >>Then uncheck "use FIFO buffers" checkbox. Click ok on all open windows >>And give it a try. Don't know if that will fix it with your programmer >>board, but it was necessary to make the ICD 1 work on the com port in XP. >> >>And ,yes, XP does do some very strange things with com and parallel ports. > > > Thanks Richard, > > I recall seeing that setting as I was checking everything, so I'll give > that > a shot. It's probably the easiest test to do out of all the suggestions > > > John Hansen wrote > >>I think you have a couple of options here. If you can figure out what >>this >>old software is actually doing (could it be writing configuration values?) >>you could acquire a modern PIC programmer and rewrite the chips using >>MPLAB >>(or the like). >> >>Or you could save the old clunker as you have been doing. >> >>One other possibility would be to boot into DOS using a floppy or a CD on >>a >>modern computer when you want to do this programming and boot into your >>regular operating system off the hard drive at other times. > > Thanks John, before I aquired a factory programmer, I actually tried using > a > couple of different pic programmers, but the beauty of the original is > that > there is a screen where you can set or change the variable parameters for > the board and therefore rewrite the eprom easily. > > If I knew how to write higher level software maybe I could write my own > version and use it with my own pic programmer. > > At least I've bought some time by getting the old clunker going. I have > about 20 boards to finish fairly quickly. > > Your other suggestion of booting into DOS using a floppy sounds like a > great > idea to try if the earlier ones dont work. Thanks again. > > Carl Denk wrote > >>2 questions: >>1: Could you duel boot DOS using GRUB or other loader? This would >>eliminate the floppy. Or use a USB or SD flash card to boot DOS? >>2: Could you run the DOS under Linux with WINE? > > Thanks Carl, yes it would be worth a try too. I'm not sure how all that > works, so I will do some checking or may ask more questions if none of the > earlier suggestions work out. My laptop still has a floppy drive, and I > still have the original DOS disks. > > Thanks to everyone for all your input. Looks like my morning is taken care > of trying out all the suggestions. It's great to fire off an email before > I > go to bed, and when I wake up find a heap of excellent ideas in my inbox. > Thanks again. > > Regards, Roger > > > > > > -- > http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive > View/change your membership options at > http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 8.5.441 / Virus Database: 271.1.1/3018 - Release Date: 07/20/10 18:36:00 -- http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/change your membership options at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist