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Using PS2 port for download

No, the PS/2 protocol is not at all like RS-232, other than the fact that, yeah, it's a serial protocol.

What brand of USBRS-232 cable were you using? Although most of them seem OK these days, in years past there were some notoriously flaky ones. I think we still have a Belkin brand unit kicking around at work here that wouldn't work with AVR Studio, for instance.

That being said, a PCMCIA serial port card is a "real" serial port in that even software (such as DOS programs) that directly access the hardware I/O registers will work with it. If you can find one inexpensively on eBay (etc.), it's a good investment.

Reply to
Joel Kolstad
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PCI serial port card, maybe sounds like a possible solution But you really should get a new mobo, keep the cpu, ram,case , (and install Vista)

martin

Reply to
martin griffith

I have a crappy portable computer that does NOT have even one RS232 serial port, and for which I have been unsuccessful in getting a USB to Serial port converter to work (several of them).

I am investigating PCMCIA to serial port adapters, but in the meantime, I would like to know if I can use one of the PS2 ports as a serial port for data download. I think I remember seeing this once, but can't remember where.

All I really want to do is download the data from my Garmin Etrex GPS which uses a 9 pin RS232 to 4 pin Etrex serial port cable (it may only use 3 of these pins for communications I think).

Any ideas?

Thanks Jim

Reply to
Jim

It's not necessarily a crappy portable. Even my Sony laptop bought in 2006 came without a Serial Port. I tried a cheap piece of crap USB to RS232 adapter which didn't work, got an RMA on it and the replacement didn't work either. I was shopping for USB to RS232 at Fry's and met two other people who hadn't found a satisfactory unit either. Did a lot of Googling and learned that there is one model by Belkin with a good reputation. Finally bought a PCMCIA CardBus serial port which has worked solid. CardBus units seem overpriced but I got a generic one through Amazon.Com for $27.99 sold by Computer Geeks. Good Luck and make sure you can return it if it doesn't work.

Ken Fowler

Reply to
Ken Fowler

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