Vyper interface problems

[Jai Bar]

I have been using for several months a DIY interface (designed by "el-ninio" a member of this forum ) on a computer running under Windows XP. Everything worked smoothly without any problems. Last week I tried to download a new diving series but surprise- SDM cannot detect the computer on any of the port. In the beginning I thought it was a problem in the interface (after all, I am not a DIY wizard) but I plugged it to a friend's computer with NT4 and it works excellent..

Has anyone had any problems like this with XP? Any suggestions? Perhaps some other program conflicts with the COM port? I tried to change ports, increased timeouts etc. but nothing helped

 

[jamiei]

check any devices that are plugged into the computer such as palms. Even though they use the usb port, they often end up occupying the com port as well and effectively blocking the software from finding the interface. If all else fails, you should back up your dives and try reinstalling divemanager. This has been the case with a few of my customers.
jamie

 

[Rinn]

Did anyone find the reason for this problem?

I have an original Suunto interface for my Cobra and had no problems logging dives with my old PC a while ago. At that timeI used SDM 1.1.

Now I have downloaded SDM 1.4 and none of my three PCs recognizes the interface (two running XP and one running Win98SE). The memory of my Cobra starts filling up and I desperately need to transfer my dives to my PC since I'm leaving for Egypt this tuesday.

Any ideas? Help!

 

[jamiei]

I don't think the problem lies in the SDM or windows xp. Check your hardware settings and make sure the com ports aren't disabled. Again, the most common problem with my customers is that devices such as a palm pilot, digital camera, or even sometimes an internal modem can block your com port. If you have a suunto interface, I'd recommend contacting their customer support. I've sold an awful lot of interfaces and I'd say close to 100 of them used XP and the newest version of SDM with no problems at all. If there ever was a problem, it was a pc conflict. If you made an interface yourself, I would check to see that its not the interface by testing using a loop back plug. This will tell you for sure if the interface has anything to do with the problem.

 

[Jai Bar]

While seeking help and advice in several hardware forums, I noticed that there are many problems with people who were using some RS232 device in Win98 (or whatever) which stopped responding under XP. IMHO some of XP's services (god knows which) blocks the communication to the com ports. I am quite cinfident it is a Microsoft problem...

In my PC I have both COM ports ENABLED in BIOS, both seemed to appear as "this device is functioning normally" in DEVICE MANAGER, but SDM could not detect my DIY interface. I don't know how it is possible to verify whether some other application or service is making a conflict, other than believing when DEVICE MANAGER says that "there are no conflicts". Since I don't believe it, I also tried to shut down any task running in the background (except the ones critical for OS operation ) but nothing helped. I then tried to enable (and later disable) the hoardes of services- didn't help neither.
The most puzzling for me is that the COM ports DO work- I tried to connect to it a DIY GPS interface and it works great from the very beginning!

At this stage I was very frustated and pissed off, but there was hope in the horizon- why the heck use a com port when there is a huge USB hub shining in front of my eyes???

This is the only solution that I have found to work-arround this problem:

I got a cable that converts RS232 into USB. When the cable is attached to the USB hub it is detected as "COM PORT5". Happily, I tried to run SDM and when I pushed the "test" button- nothing happened... :wacko:

Now I was angry, wanted to smash the interface... Last thing I tried was to DISABLE both com ports in BIOS and then try to use the USB cable --> Hurray! SDM immediately succeeded in detecting my interface with the cable!!
Since then, the RS232-USB cable works excellent with the interface, and it is actually better since I hated going to the back of the PC in order to plug the serial cable- much better in a USB hub!!

Now, I just though to myself, maybe there was a problem with the interface like a loose contact or something and perhaps now it works also with the regular com ports- nope! It refuses to use the original com ports, only the RS232-USB cable... I don't know why but if it works it works...


If you can borrow such a cable from a friend try it. Try to disable the com ports (in BIOS) if it doesn't work. A new cable costs about 15-20 US$

 

[jamiei]

Sounds odd to me... I'm using XP and test DIY interfaces daily with no problems. The interface El Ninio builds wont always work with laptops since they sometimes don't put out enough voltage for it. Your problem, however, seems to be that there is a device on your laptop that is using the com port and you can't find it. Palm software needs to be closed down. The GPS software could very well be blocking/occupying the com port as well. Device manager only lets you know that the com ports are working. It won't let you know if software is blocking it. Anything that usually plugs into your usb hub could be the culprit. You'll have to dig through the software of those devices to find the settings though. It could be that you need the low voltage components installed on your interface. El Ninio should be able to do that for you. The interfaces I make use basically the same design as the one El ninio made for you except that I only use low voltage components. The interface should work with any PC and with windows XP. I have scores of customers using my interfaces under XP with no problems, myself included.
jamie

 

[RichLockyer]

If you have a PDA, shut down Hotsync Manager.
I had the same problem, and figured it was dirty contacts (real Suunto interface, I bought one of Jamiei's kits for my buddy and it works identically). When I couldn't get it to work, I thought something might have broken. I had just received my buddy's kit, so figured I'd build it and test it.... later.
The next morning, I was attempting to transfer maps into my GPS and guess what.... No GPS device found on Com1.

I shut down Hotsync Manager and both interfaces worked just fine.

Windows XP, but I think it did the same thing on 98SE.

 

[Ushuaia]

RichLockyer,

Yes, many thanks, have just validated your suggestion this evening. That was the exact fix for me. Using Windows XP and have been using my Palm Vx sync/charge cradle on the Serial port. I had unplugged it, replaced it with the Stinger Interface, however Dive Manager was unable to detect the Interface on any COM ports. After reading you post, I realised, of course, hidden in the bottom right of the task bar is the Palm Hot-Sync icon, which fires up when I boot the machine...... So, did nothing else except turn that off, and then tested for the Interface again. This time, no problems, and it works like a dream.

Many thanks, mate - you have saved me countless hours, maybe days, of frustration!

 

[RichLockyer]

Good deal.
I configured HS to not load on startup, and put the icon on my quick-launch. When I need it, I load it, when I'm done, I shut it down.