Coders cable, usb-serial converter

[Jimbo]

I have just bought a laptop which doesn't have a serial port on it. I was wondering if it is possible to use the coders cable with a usb to serial converter?

Has anyone tried this? Can anyone suggest any specific ones to buy?

[Darksaviour69]

don't know about that, but a while ago axlen was working on a "USB-to-Serial Module based coders cable"

http://www.dcemu.co.uk/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2513
http://www.geocities.com/[email protected]/


they would have been faster than serial coder cables but slower than BBA

unfortunaly he suddenly stoped, but he has uploaded all his research about it here

http://www.geocities.com/[email protected]/usbcc.html

[fackue]

I remember someone mentioning it. I think they said it worked and it was actually transfering data faster than just the serial believe it or not. The thing is, I can't find any information on it since I think I was on IRC when I was told about it.

Hopefully someone who tried it will pop in.

[Jimbo]

Do you know whether it will work with dc-load without making any changes?

Do you know if the usb to serial port converter gives a com port number that you can just use with dc-load?

Thanks all.

[fackue]

Actually, now that you mention it, I think the guy who had the converter actually hacked dctool to support it. I kinda have an idea who did it, but I don't know how or where to get ahold of him.

[ßüboni¢ $oñic]

http://ai.pricegrabber.com/product_images/405000-405999/405988_125.jpg

You could go strait thru the USB Coder's cable or you could use the regular one and just use the above adaptor instead of that hardware.

[Runefox]

Unfortunately, the old serial bus is addressed in a different way than USB, so unless your USB-to-Serial converter comes with a driver that wraps the USB port to a virtual serial port, or unless there's a version of the software to support USB, you're out of luck.

[Christuserloeser]

This one seems to be nice:
http://www.dreamcast-scene.com/index.php/Main/USBCodingCable

[ßüboni¢ $oñic]

it comes with s ware. i just thought it might nbe easier to add that adaptor to the end of the serial dc cable to avoid needin to use the home brew usb cc.

[Runefox]

Oh, if it comes with software, then go for it. Should work out of the box.

[henzenmann]

Some info on the different USB<-->DC serial approaches:

USB --> Generic USB to serial port converter --> DC Coders Cable --> DC
Should work at 115.2Kb/s.
This would be the out-of-the-box solution.

USB --> Axlen's USB cable --> DC side of the Coders Cable --> DC
Works at ~500Kb/s, unreliable at 1562.5Kb/s
This is the one that was mentioned in this thread. You have to build it yourself and it seems that it is unlikely to work at the high speed with many PCs. But the lower speed version should work fine. Also you need to cut up a regular Coders Cable for the connection to the DC serial port.

USB --> Chaos/jj10odm's USB cable --> DC
Works at 1500Kb/s.
This is the newest development. (Check out http://www.dcemulation.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=78829 starting at the 2nd page). So far only Chaos/jj10odm has built it. I'm actually in the process of building this. Requires you do crack open a DC serial connector from the Coders Cable or VS Link Cable, or connect it directly to the serial port inside the DC.

[fackue]

Hi henzenmann (again).

Err, hate to bother you again but would you be interested in writing tutorials on creating the different type of coder cables for Consolevision? We're interested in adding these to our site so all this information isn't scattered all over across different forums and websites.

[henzenmann]

Hmm, not really. I'm stil struggling with jj10odm's circuit myself - perfboard hell right now ;-)

There isn't really a "paint-by-numbers" way to build these things.

What would make sense though is a document listing the different methods available to connect to the DC. (ie Coders Cable, BBA, Lan Adapter, different homebrew stuff...).

[ßüboni¢ $oñic]

who made the DC lan adaptors again?

[ßüboni¢ $oñic]

so the 3rd thing on your -->list was supposed to be a homebrew application more like axlen's or the regular CC plus the USB/Seriaol adaptor?

[henzenmann]

so the 3rd thing on your -->list was supposed to be a homebrew application more like axlen's or the regular CC plus the USB/Seriaol adaptor?

Yes, completely homebrew at this point. It would be possible to make some circuit boards like Axlen did, but in the end you still need to make the connection to the DC serial port, which means cutting up a standard CC or link cable. So, no plug-and-play in sight, unless one could find a source of DC serial connectors. Making them from scratch would probably be too expensive.