usb adaptor, vista, etc.

[kooringal]

USB to serial rs232 adapters work well providing you obtain the correct driver for the usb conversion chip in the cable
Identifying the cable chip can be done using device manager however it is much easer if the cable manufacturer supplies the info and the appropriate driver

If using vista check that the driver is written for the new WDF driver format
older drivers were WDM format and crashed my vista machine often
Install the correct driver first, then plug in the cable, if all is OK everything will work

Brian

[toddszr600]

Everything seems to work with this Prolific usb adapter except Cumulus , I always get the same message as soon as it opens. I havent had much time to mess with it lately, but will check out the serial port options on the board, maybe reload Cumulus and start from scratch??

[steve]

What COM port number are you setting in Cumulus? It should work with any, but if it's something completely weird...

[akasonny]

Maybe I'm not reading these posts correctly but...

for those of you who are outside the US, it might be helpful for you to know that serial ports are a thing of the past. You seldom (if ever) find them on any new systems. A serial card can be inserted (mostly just for PCs at additional cost of course) but just about everything here is USB now. On the positive side, it takes away the hassle of trying to match up COM ports. On the negative side, it makes using older technology a problem.

Insofar as Cumulus is concerned, you can easily select USB and viola!

If someone has an older machine, without USB, there shouldn't be a problem coupling to a specific COM port. If someone has a USB port and, for some reason, wants to use a non-existent serial port, a USB-to-serial adapter works great providing you also install the appropriate driver. There are software drivers which, in essence, lie to the OS telling it there's a serial port (actually the adapter itself) and allow you to establish COM ports that way but that's pretty much been transitional to USB. I do have a couple of older technology devices that don't have USB and this USB-to-serial adapter/driver does the job.

If I'm misunderstanding the problem, it wouldn't be the first time.

[beteljuice]

However; Several of the weather base stations do not use the 'normal' protocols (serial-wise), so if you do not use their dedicated serial => USB adapter (and their dedicated driver), things have a nasty habit of falling over or hanging !

[akasonny]

I had no clue. So they're basically standard serial adapters with proprietary pinouts and with proprietary drivers? Eeeeek!

Well I stand corrected...and amazed. As if these companies really gain anything by snubbing their noses at accepted, standardized method! Is it Plug-n-play? Can Windows automatically recognize the device? Can one simply go into Device Manager and make the proper address change to the COM port needed?


However; Several of the weather base stations do not use the 'normal' protocols (serial-wise), so if you do not use their dedicated serial => USB adapter (and their dedicated driver), things have a nasty habit of falling over or hanging !

[steve]

This thread is getting surreal!

The problem here is that Todd has a very specific problem and the thread keeps wandering off and discussing all kinds of general serial/USB issues, which is partly my fault. Todd has a PC with no serial port (I know, but let's discount the possibility that he has a "hidden" one), and he has a weather station that only has a serial connection. So, it's very nice that people keep popping in and saying "you can get serial to USB adapters", but Todd knows that; he's got one. And he can't get it to work with Cumulus. And I keep asking questions and getting no answer, presumably because they're hidden in amongst all the other stuff.

So, to repeat: Todd, what COM port number have you configured Cumulus to use?

Steve

[steve]

I've just had the most amazing private reply to my previous post. I don't know why he couldn't just post it here. I guess I'm just good at pissing off a certain type of person. As I said to the guy, when you're spending as much of your spare time as I am doing this (i.e. nearly all of it) you're going to get a bit irritable from time to time. While interesting and useful in general sort of way, I didn't think that much of this long thread was actually helping to address the original problem. And as I said, that was partly my fault.

Anyway, I've been thinking of taking a bit of a break, Cumulus has been taking up a lot of my time recently, and it's been very tiring trying to knock Cumulus 2 into shape while still supporting Cumulus 1. But I'm clearly much more tired than I thought I was if my previous post is so offensive. I nearly have a new build of Cumulus 2 ready; I've spotted a few problems but ICBA to sort those out now, so I'll probably stick it on the ftp site and let you have a play, while I do something else.

Steve

I should probably have posted this in a separate thread

[gwheelo]

I have been using Serial to USB adapters - I have two from different manufacturers - to connect my WMR-968 to a Windows Home Server. I don't use them both at the same time - but I have used both to make the connection with Cumulus.

With both - I have found - from time to time - usually after fiddling with the connection (moving PCs, relocating cables, etc.) I receive an error message when starting Cumulus concerning the COM port not available or in use. When this happens I disconnect the cable from both devices, shut down the PC, reconnect both ends, and reboot. This generally solves the "Port in Use" error. The reason I disconnect "both" ends of the Serial to USB connector is that I find that if only one end is disconnected the adapter will retain whatever signal caused the error - by disconnecting both ends the adapter, the console, and the PC all revert to a "normal" state.

Now this is not a scientific, technical, or scholarly fact - I have nothing to base the results on other than it has worked for me.

Yes - both Cumulus and the Adapter driver must be set for the same COM port - and -yes the adapter driver must be the correct version. One adapter when purchased was unable to work with Cumulus until I was able to find an updated driver via a Google search. I have enjoyed error free COM speeds of 9600 and 19200 baud with the adapters so in my mind that is not a question - at least with Cumulus I

And - yes I have reverted to a Serial to Serial connection only this week in an attempt to work with Cumulus II - unfortunately I received the same results as with the Serial to USB - Can't wait for the next build release!

George Wheelock

[kooringal]

This thread is getting surreal!

The problem here is that Todd has a very specific problem and the thread keeps wandering off and discussing all kinds of general serial/USB issues, which is partly my fault. Todd has a PC with no serial port (I know, but let's discount the possibility that he has a "hidden" one), and he has a weather station that only has a serial connection. So, it's very nice that people keep popping in and saying "you can get serial to USB adapters", but Todd knows that; he's got one. And he can't get it to work with Cumulus. And I keep asking questions and getting no answer, presumably because they're hidden in amongst all the other stuff.

So, to repeat: Todd, what COM port number have you configured Cumulus to use?

Steve

I am guilty of being sidetracked too - looking at Todd's original message it appears that Cumulus has been set to a port number which has been allocated by the operating system to something other than the usb to serial cable connecting the pc to the weather station

Use Device Manager to check the port allocated to the usb cable in question and set Cumulus to that number
The cable needs to be plugged into the pc for it to show in device manager - from memory using a different usb socket each time on the pc will result in a new port number allocation, so use the same pc socket for the cable

Brian

[werribee_au]

I now have a good adapter and am running it with "Weather Display" software with no issues, yet Cumulus still gives me "cannot open, another app may have opened......"

If I could specify a com port in the "configure/station" area I might be able to get it, maybe Im doing something wrong in the setup.

Hello Todd,

If you plug the adaptor into another usb port the assigned com port number also changes. This might be worth a try. You can then find out the assigned com port number by looking in the device manager (type "devmgmt.msc" in 'Start Search' after clicking the Start Button). Then in Cumulus configuration|station screen you can set the com port number.


See attached pic.

Worth a try!
Good luck!
Gerard

[toddszr600]

Hello all, its been a while but Im happy to say Cumulus is up and running again on my machine .


Sorry for the delay, I got busy and stayed with Weather display for a while, but its a bit too busy for me so I gave it one more shot. I removed Cumulus, the reloaded the newest(1.8.7) version, set the com port for my usb adaptor and ta-freakin-da, it works like a charm. I have no idea what I did right this time, but it works none the less . Maybe I lost something transfering the file from the old comp, instaed of loading a new one, who knows.

Thanks you all for your help and advice, especially Steve, dont get discouraged, just take your time and keep up the good work. I,ll try not too mess it up again any time soon, eh!


Cheers, Todd