Error 0x1F54 Prolific Serial to USB

[NateTheGreat]

Setup:
Picaxe 14M
Prolific PL2303 chipset USB to Serial Cable, latest drivers (v1.0.5.18)
Vista Service Pack 1
Picaxe Programming Editor, latest version (v5.2.7)

I am attempting to program a 14M chip using a Prolific chipset USB to Serial converter, chipset PL2303 (unsure of the manufacturer of the actual cable; it was bought from Sparkfun). I purchased this Prolific cable after seeing that most board members recommended it over other 3rd-party cables. However, during programming I receive "Serial port error - code 0x1F54 'Error reading comm device'. I searched and found 3 forum threads with the same error, none of which resolved my issue.

I have 3 wires soldered to a female DB9 connector for the interface. Pin 2 (PC Rx) goes to the 14M Serout. Pin 3 (PC Tx) goes to the 14M Serin. Pin 5 (GND) goes to the ground.

Diagnostics/troubleshooting steps so far:

• Steady voltage of 4.99V powering the 14M, regulated with a 7805 and a couple of capacitors
• Serial port test in Programming Editor passes; voltage to SERIN is -5.55V when LED is off, +5.55V when LED is on
• Swapped 22k resistor between PC's Tx and 14M's SERIN for a 10k
• Ran Programming Editor as Administrator in Vista
• Tried exact same setup on second computer (first was Vista x64, second was Vista x86); no change
• Swapped in a second 14M in case first was bad; no change

If anyone has any ideas for a fix or other troubleshooting tips, any help is greatly appreciated.

 

[hippy]

Welcome to the PICAXE forum.

I purchased this Prolific cable after seeing that most board members recommended it over other 3rd-party cables.

That may be true for third-party cables but we, and I think most forum members here, recommend the official AXE027 USB cable.

USB010 is an official Rev-Ed product which uses the PL2303 chipset but we recommend AXE027 over USB010 and other PL2303 cables as they are a dated product, appears to have more problems with Vista and 64-bit OS's than the AXE027, and requires an additional AXE026 9-way to 3.5mm cable to use it.

However, during programming I receive "Serial port error - code 0x1F54 'Error reading comm device'.

Such errors seem to be device driver errors which we have little control over. You say you are using driver version 1.0.5.18, but that seems to be the version of the Prolific .ZIP file / driver installer, not the actual driver itself -

http://www.prolific.com.tw/eng/downloads.asp?ID=31

The drivers as downloaded from the Rev-Ed web site which were supplied by Prolific should be usable on XP and Vista but others have had better success using driver version 2.0.0.7 -

http://www.picaxeforum.co.uk/showpost.php?p=96460&postcount=12

You can download the USB010 driver from the Rev-Ed site and try that, otherwise it may be a case of having to scour the Prolific site or Google for an appropriate driver which does work.

 

[NateTheGreat]

Welcome to the PICAXE forum.

The drivers as downloaded from the Rev-Ed web site which were supplied by Prolific should be usable on XP and Vista but others have had better success using driver version 2.0.0.7 -

http://www.picaxeforum.co.uk/showpost.php?p=96460&postcount=12

You can download the USB010 driver from the Rev-Ed site and try that, otherwise it may be a case of having to scour the Prolific site or Google for an appropriate driver which does work.

Thanks a lot, that fixed it! I didn't realize that those drivers would work for my cable; I take it this means that the USB010 cable by Rev-Ed uses a Prolific chip?

For the benefit of anyone else having this same problem: plug in the USB cable, uninstall the device AND DRIVERS in Windows Device Manager, then get the 2.0.0.7 drivers here:

http://www.rev-ed.co.uk/software/wd_pl2303_v2007.zip

Then unplug the USB cable and plug it back in so that Windows starts looking for drivers again. Right click on the unknown USB to Serial cable in Device Manager, click Update Drivers, and find the (unzipped) 2.0.0.7 drivers folder you just downloaded.

Again, thank you much, Hippy.

 

[BeanieBots]

NateTheGreat,
I'm really glad you got it sorted.
I'd also like to commend you on an excellent example of how to post a question on this forum.
You have stated your setup, given a good clear explanation of the problem and what steps you have already taken to solve it.
You even came back to say it's now working including a thank you.

If only more posters would take those extra five minutes.
All too often we need a further 20 posts to painfully extract the information you have given up front. Then they don't even bother to reply as to whether or not any response cured the issue.

Thank you.

 

[Dippy]

I agree. Good info provided for the question. Thank you.

I wish others would follow this example so that my crystal ball can be retired

 

[tiscando]

Thanks.

So this means I can still get a USB010 USB to serial converter because my new computer does not have any serial ports visible at the back.

 

[BeanieBots]

Yes, you can, but why not get the recommended AXE027 ?

 

[hippy]

Yes, you can get a USB010 ... but whether it works without hassle is another matter. USB010 seems fine for Linux, Windows 98 and XP ( and 32-bit Vista with the right drivers ) but I recall you were using Vista 64-bit and I wouldn't like to hazard a guess which version drivers you will actually need for that, nor for Windows 7 when that takes off.

We would recommend an AXE027. That seems to work with everything, Linux, Mac and Windows.

For a generic USB-to-Serial cable with 9-way connector, I'd look for an FTDI based solution.

 

[netogt]

Yes it works ok in windows vista
thank you