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Laptop without serial port? Do you really need a KEYSPAN?

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I just ordered a PCMCIA card that provides a RS232 9pin serial port for my laptop.

 

8 bucks.

 

SERIAL%20PCMCIA-20100501-235357.jpg

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Just noticed my new laptop doesn't have a card slot. My old dell had 2 stacked. And only 3 usb's this thing sucks

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I had the same problem. I had to pay $37 at radio shack for a serial to usb in order to get my old Roland PNC to connect to my laptop. I don't even have a spare card slot to add a serial port. I tried to convert my VGA port over but it didn't want to work me. I was thinking of getting a tower and hooking it to be a remote access so I can store everything on there and have a serial connections for both of my cutters.

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I didn't even consider this, but I sure hope the card is "plug&play" and the driver installs from Windows when I insert the thing.

 

It's coming from Hong Kong, so I should have it in a few days.

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please let us know how this works out i know some people who would love to see the results im in the process of buying me a new computer and if i could use this then i wouldnt have to spend the extra cash to

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Haven't forgotten this thread -- the item is still in transit from China.

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It's taking about the normal number of days, as the order (from eBay) was registered on the 13th (Monday) and shipped the 14th.

That's only 10 days ago, and I'm hoping to see it arrive tomorrow or Friday.

 

I'll be very happy of it succeeds in getting my laptop to communicate via serial.

 

Fingers crossed.

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On Ebay you can change the search settings on the left to US only. For most things I do this because I don't want to wait the 2 to 3 weeks to get my goods. Most prices are pretty close anyway. 

 

I tried a USB to serial port adapter on my laptop and Lazerpoint cutter and it worked fine for very small images but if I sent any medium or large size files to the cutter it would cut 50 to 70% and stop. The Keyspan regulates the flow of data and prevents this issue of memory overflow. I don't know if the PCMCIA card you ordered will do that or not. I suggest doing a test run with the blade moved up so you don't waist vinyl to make sure a large cut will run all the way through.

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Ta-DA!!!

 

The PCMCIA card came with a driver cd, and installed just fine.

It assigned the serial card to PORT 13.  I just opened the System Control Panel, chose the hardware device from the list, and went to Properties/Advanced and reassigned to COM PORT 2.

 

Lo and behold, in SignBlazer Cutter Setup, I now have COM 2 appearing as a serial port, and my cutter responds like it should.

 

Bingo.

Very nice.

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Congratulations! I really recommend doing a test cut with no blade or a pen and paper. I wasted a good amount of vinyl because the USB port was sending the information to the cutter to fast. 

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Ted S ----- This device creates an actual RS232 9pin serial hardware connection.  No USB port is involved whatsoever.

 

The point of the exercise here is to avoid the need for KEYSPAN adapter (USB-to-serial)

 

Voila !!!

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Ted S ----- This device creates an actual RS232 9pin serial hardware connection.  No USB port is involved whatsoever.

 

The point of the exercise here is to avoid the need for KEYSPAN adapter (USB-to-serial)

 

Voila !!!

much better solution

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By the way, the laptop is a older Dell Inspiron, paid $60 for it.

 

258d1105025917-dell-inspiron-1100-laptop

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Congratulations! I really recommend doing a test cut with no blade or a pen and paper. I wasted a good amount of vinyl because the USB port was sending the information to the cutter to fast. 

There is a port setting so it will treat your cutter like a standard printer and only push the data through as needed. I'ii have to look into it when I get home and post the instructions. I have an MH and it solved my large file problems.

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Here's what I was talking about in the previous post.

 

2.) Note: This only applies to cutters that DO NOT install as printers, ie: Creation, Refine, Copam etc.

 When you plug your cutter into your computer, the computer gives it a Com port number (if you're using a Windows operating system.) That Com port also has specific settings. Both the Com port and com port settings need to be correct and match in your cutting software and the computer's Device Manager. Open your computer's device manager and locate the "Ports" listing. If you have the cutter connected to the computer via USB and turned on you should see a listing something to the effect of "USB serial port (com3)". You can know for sure which USB com port the computer has assigned to the cutter by disconnecting it from the computer. The com port will disappear. Plug it back in and you'll see the com port reappear. Right click on that com port and select "Properties", then "Port Settings". The values should be 9600,8,None,1, Hardware, and should also be reflected in your Cutting software setup. Once you have verified that these are correct in the Device Manager, you can also click on "advanced settings" (depending on your O/S) and check the box to enable serial printing. This will give the cutter more time to process data that the computer is sending it.

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I've tried this and the System declares that I need "Write Priveleges" -- whatever that means?

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I tried the PCI card parallel port option, and it didn't work.  I installed it and the drivers, it was recognized, all good.  Assigned it LPT1, all good.  Sent job from Flexi, no cut.  Boooooooo.  Until I figure something out I am still married to this older laptop I have driving the cutter - it has a printer port.  

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FOLLOWUP to signyouup's note --

"...in the Device Manager, you can also click on "advanced settings" (depending on your O/S) and check the box to enable serial printing. This will give the cutter more time to process data that the computer is sending it."

 

 

 

Since I was getting an error regarding Write Privileges I couldn't open the Advanced Settings ---  However, after a bit of investigation, I have discovered that my Registry (WinXP) did not contain FiFo binary values, and that REGEDIT needed to be employed to add the missing keys.

 

 

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\system\currentcontrolset\enum\acpi\pnp0501\1\Device Parameters

right click in the right panel, select NEW > Binary Value.

name: ForceFifoEnable
Value: 1

create another new Binary Value

name: RxFIFO
value: e

and another new Binary Value

name: TxFIFO
value: 10

 

===================

So, having done that, I'm able to go into the Device Manager ( Port Settings) and now when I click on "advanced settings" I'm no longer receiving that error about Write Priveleges, and I now get a dialogue box for Advanced Settings, which shows FIFO buffer sliders and a drop-down list for COM port numbers 1 through 256  ----- but there's no check box to enable "serial printing"

 

Oh well... I tried.

 

I'm not having any issues with the serial PCMCIA anyway, there's no problem with my data flow even with larger jobs, so I'm OK with things just the way they are.

Adding this card was a worthwhile investment.

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