Question

  Asked: Nov 18 2005   5:36 PM GMT
  Asked by: kfink04


Stop bit problem: USB to Serial Converter attached to motion controller, unable to set for 7-E-2


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I have three different USB to Serial converters, one of them an isolated converter from B&B. One brand of motion controller I work on uses EVEN parity / 7 data bits / 2 stop bits as its default. I find that none of my converters will work on the controller in this configuration.

If I borrow a PC with a fixed serial port and change the comm setup to use 1 stop bit, I can then connect using my USB converters.

What is there about the 2 stop bit setup that prevents my USB converters from working?
I acknowledge 2 stop bits is rare, but TRIO Motion Technology uses it as their standard default (don't know why). This has meant that every time I've been called to work on one of them, I've had to borrow a laptop with a fixed port.

I've never attempted configuring my PC for E-7-1 while leaving the motion controller at E-7-2. I'll try that the next time.

I'm curious as to why PC's with fixed serial ports handle the 2 stop bits OK, but the USB ports don't. Any idea?

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This may seem like a silly response, but since the 7-E-2 setting is the default, can it be changed? While I find dealing with serial communications on PLCs to be a pain in the butt, I've never had to deal with odd settings like that one.

Good luck!
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paul144hart  |   Nov 22 2005  9:11AM GMT

This is something the USB manufacturer would have to look at. It may be the chip actually doing the serial I/O on the adapter is too picky. Usually the clash would be a device sending bytes with one stop bit to something that thinks it will have two could cause a problem. The RS232 ports (real ones) use UARTs that are forgiving. If the adapter is using a CPU like a 8051 they may conform more rigorously to the spec.

 

BenjiT  |   Nov 22 2005  9:43AM GMT

Why would you post this on a message board for database systems…specifically SQL Server?