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Help with cables please

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Old Nov 4, 2004 | 03:42 PM
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Default Help with cables please

My laptop doesnt have a serial port so Im going to use usb. My friend has a cable that attaches from his scan tool that is parallel to the OBD1 connector. I found a cable on eBay that converts usb to parallel.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...729842562&rd=1
I was wondering if I could use that cable to hook up to my friends cable to hook up to my car and run datamaster. Any help is greatly appreciated.
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Old Nov 4, 2004 | 08:39 PM
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Originally Posted by 94redtransam
My laptop doesnt have a serial port so Im going to use usb. My friend has a cable that attaches from his scan tool that is parallel to the OBD1 connector. I found a cable on eBay that converts usb to parallel.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...729842562&rd=1
I was wondering if I could use that cable to hook up to my friends cable to hook up to my car and run datamaster. Any help is greatly appreciated.

Well the adapter listed on that auction is actually a USB to serial adapter. It just includes a 25 pin adapter as well. (It appears they listed it incorrectly) The older serial ports used to be 25 pin but now 9 pin is the de-facto standard. TTS Datamaster requires a serial port as well as all of the other applications for scanning/tuning. It may work with TTS Datamaster as it depends actually on the driver and USB->Serial chipset the cable is using. Some drivers do not fully implement all of the handshaking and buffering that a real serial port incorporates and you will occassionally get errors while scanning or flash errors writing to your PCM. You would be better off buying a good quality PCMCIA to Serial Adapter. I prefer SocketCom as they have ruggedized implementations that will handle a cars environment. They also have very high quality drivers and support.
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Old Nov 4, 2004 | 11:38 PM
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Originally Posted by monodax
Well the adapter listed on that auction is actually a USB to serial adapter. It just includes a 25 pin adapter as well. (It appears they listed it incorrectly) The older serial ports used to be 25 pin but now 9 pin is the de-facto standard. TTS Datamaster requires a serial port as well as all of the other applications for scanning/tuning. It may work with TTS Datamaster as it depends actually on the driver and USB->Serial chipset the cable is using. Some drivers do not fully implement all of the handshaking and buffering that a real serial port incorporates and you will occassionally get errors while scanning or flash errors writing to your PCM. You would be better off buying a good quality PCMCIA to Serial Adapter. I prefer SocketCom as they have ruggedized implementations that will handle a cars environment. They also have very high quality drivers and support.
Yea, I think they messed up a bit on the auction too. But if I did find a usb to parallel adapter, could I use it with my friends cable to hook up to my laptop, provided all the drivers are good? I'm really strapped for cash so Im trying to go as cheap as possible. Thanks for the info.
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Old Nov 5, 2004 | 06:49 AM
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Originally Posted by 94redtransam
Yea, I think they messed up a bit on the auction too. But if I did find a usb to parallel adapter, could I use it with my friends cable to hook up to my laptop, provided all the drivers are good? I'm really strapped for cash so Im trying to go as cheap as possible. Thanks for the info.

Are you 100% that he is using a Parallel car interface? The reason I say is TTS Datamaster only has options for Serial Ports in the Record Dialog. I would bet he has a standard RS-232 -> TTL converter based on the MAX232 chip. You also need to be sure if you get a USB -> Serial adapter that it allows you to map the COM ports to the lower ones as TTS only has options for 1 - 4, some default to high com ports and do not allow you to change them.
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Old Nov 5, 2004 | 07:55 AM
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Originally Posted by monodax
Are you 100% that he is using a Parallel car interface? The reason I say is TTS Datamaster only has options for Serial Ports in the Record Dialog. I would bet he has a standard RS-232 -> TTL converter based on the MAX232 chip. You also need to be sure if you get a USB -> Serial adapter that it allows you to map the COM ports to the lower ones as TTS only has options for 1 - 4, some default to high com ports and do not allow you to change them.
Im pretty sure its a parallel end. Its got the 25 pins.
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Old Nov 5, 2004 | 09:20 AM
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TTS Datamaster is real delicate on connection to the Interface cable. Ive tried several different USB to serial converters and they dont work, including radio shacks version. Andrew w/ AKM electronics makes these specifically for Datamaster. He's also a dealer w/ the software.


http://www.akmcables.com/
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Old Nov 5, 2004 | 10:46 AM
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Originally Posted by BRENTT94Z
TTS Datamaster is real delicate on connection to the Interface cable. Ive tried several different USB to serial converters and they dont work, including radio shacks version. Andrew w/ AKM electronics makes these specifically for Datamaster. He's also a dealer w/ the software.


http://www.akmcables.com/
Alright, I was just trying to be the cheap Dutch college person I am but I guess I can throw down $95 for a cable. Ill just wait til next year then Snows comin' Thanks for info
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