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Thread ID: 36830 2003-08-21 10:31:00 USB/Serial/DOS Jon* (4449) Press F1
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169292 2003-08-24 07:43:00 Terry,

Thanks for your efforts.

Yes, I think I've come to the end of the line with this one. The site you mention definitely says:

"Application software – typically the application software must have been written or updated after Windows 98 came out and it must be calling the Windows 32bit virtual COM port driver correctly. DOS based software will not work, nor will many programs written prior to the existence of USB (first supported in Win98 and not well supported until Win98 SE (Second Edition)).

DOS programs don't work, nor do applications that bypass the Windows API and go directly to the hardware"

Further I have a home machine I use for remote work (750 Duron/Win2k) set up at present. With a USB/Serial adaptor attached, I can't even communicate to an external modem let alone dial to a site using the DOS software. This is actually worse than the problem on the new laptop, at least I have one way comms on that!

Without removing the USB/Serial adaptor, but specifying the internal modem (direct com port) I can initiate a comms session as normal. Definitely looks like an incompatability between the DOS application, Windows 32bit virtual COM port driver and the USB port as above.

Yes there are differences between brands of USB/Serial adaptors. I have one from DSE and a Prolific model. Using Windows software, they both behave well, but when pushed into the DOS environment, they behave quite differently.

Cheers

Jon 		Jon* (4449)
169293 2003-08-24 07:45:00 No PCMCIA slot either (built in 10/100 and modem). Didn't know the cardbus/serial adaptor existed, will save that one for later !

Jon 		Jon* (4449)
169294 2003-08-24 09:09:00 >>Rewriting the DOS software is not an option as it is a proprietary item.
Have you contacted the software vendor (or don't they exist any more).

At want point did laptop manufacturers take away the serial port?

If you look in the BIOS for these "serial port less" machines, do they have an legacy serial port stuff in here? 		Dolby Digital (160)
169295 2003-08-24 23:20:00 Jon*,

Further to the discussion on USB drivers for DOS, (this may be a little left-field...)

I don't know if this will still help you but Norton (Symantec) GHOST 2003 can access some USB devices from DOS and there are some USB DOS drivers available online from USB DOS drivers (service1.symantec.com)
If these are any use to you ... enjoy, although they may only support mass-storage deives :-(

Other pointers for specific information on what the drivers support are:

Ghost compatibility with external USB devices (service1.symantec.com)

Ghost 2003 does not list external USB or Firewire drives (service1.symantec.com)

Updates to Norton Ghost 2003 (service1.symantec.com)


If using the UDCI and OHCI system drivers then the CONFIG.SYS file needs to have the following lines in it (add appropriate path definitions):

DEVICE = uhci.exe
DEVICE = ohci.exe


Cheers, Babe. 		Babe Ruth (416)
169296 2003-08-25 05:01:00 The basic problem is that DOS programmes will always address 3f8, 2f8, etc hardware addresses directly, because the DOS interface (BIOS routines) were too much trouble, and slow . It's a pity that the people who wrote CPM in the 70s didn't allow for USB coming along in 1995 . :D



You would have hit (just as bad, probably) problems if you had tried to uses NT base Windows, which regards the actual hardware addresses as accessible only by privileged code in the OS itself .

Can you try Linux? You might get lucky . . . and at least the OS source code which handles USB is available . The Linux Journal magazine (your public library might have it) is running a series on programming for USB at the moment . 		Graham L (2)
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