On 6/22/06, jdow <jdow@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
From: "Ian Malone" <ibmalone@xxxxxxxxx> > On 6/21/06, jdow <jdow@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: >> From: "David Fletcher" <fc@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> >> > >> > >> > I'm interested in this thread too, but for different reasons. >> > >> > We have a looming problem at work, which is a test instrument that's >> > controlled by a DOS program on a PC via a serial cable. It works OK but >> > serial ports are fast vanishing from PCs especially laptops. >> >> Um, USB to serial adapters exist. (Two kinds exist, actually. One is >> a three wire serial emulation. The other is a full emulation.) These >> work remarkably well. I've been using them for over a year now. So >> adapting the DOS program to almost anything while maintaining a serial >> port interface should be no problem at all for either 'ix or 'indows >> environments. >> > > It is a problem for hobbyists though. I did a project a few years ago > that used a parallel port to interface with an A/D convertor and a > multiplexer. This is incredibly easy to program in linux. You can't > do this with USB without interface chips/dongles, and the software > side is more complicated. I've never looked so I'm asking the astonishing question, "You mean there are no USB to serial port cable drivers that look like standard serial ports to Linux?" Um, maybe someday someone will get motivated to do this. It is something likely to be very urgently needed in the future. (I suspect all the adapters use the same small number of chips which perform this function. So it should not be TOO bad.) {o.o} -- fedora-list mailing list fedora-list@xxxxxxxxxx To unsubscribe: https://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/fedora-list
USB to serial port adapters works just like regular serial ports, so there should be no need for any conversion software. -- Trond Danielsen