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'Prolific' driver fix !!


Skipper Billy

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I had loads of problems with my Win 7 lappy and prolific USB adapters. I gave up trying to run the mount from it and just used my little XP netbook until that died. That forced me to search for an alternative. After a few questions here and there I was recommended the Keyspan USB adapter, supposedly much more compatible with win 7. I fitted it earlier this year and no probs with win 7 so far, no comms failures or driver problems yet.

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Just to close the loop on this, I ended up opting for the cable provided by Astronomiser and it worked straightaway without any issues.  The Astronomiser version uses the 5v FTDI chip-set. So contrary to the advice on the sourceforge instructions about the AZEQ6GT being 3v tolerant, I'd advise use of the 5v variant for any diy lead. Just like to add, tanks to Andy, great service with no problems.

 

Jim

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  • 3 weeks later...

Well, I suppose it was bound to happen as we approach Halloween fright season ...

My observatory PC decided to do the Win 10 Anniversary upgrade ... my observatory is now broken. I can no longer connect to my mount and my dome controller has stopped working.

Many thanks for all the suggestions above - I went for the fix Billy pointed to at 

http://www.totalcardiagnostics.com/support/Knowledgebase/Article/View/92/20/prolific-usb-to-serial-fix-official-solution-to-code-10-error

and it worked a treat, I can connect to my mount, lovely.

 ....  but now I can't connect to my Robofocuser.

It seems the RS232 to USB adapter I use with my Robofocuser wants to use the same Prolific driver that the Hitech adapter uses ... I've tried lots of different versions of the driver but I haven't found one that both my mount and my focuser like ! The Robofocuser RS232 to USB adapter is quite happy with the new windows drivers - presumably it uses legitimate chips rather than the counterfeit chips in the Hitech adapter?

As for the dome controller - I think it's just come out in sympathy with the others, the driver looks to be working - it looks like it's the electronics inside the dome controller itself that's failed. Can I blame Win 10 Anniversary upgrade for this too ?

Mart

NB - I have a workaround for the Robofocuser - there's still an RS232 D-sub on the back of my obsy PC so I've plugged the Robofocuser in there for the moment.

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Hi, 

I hope you don't mind if i hop in; what exactly is the problem with the prolific driver? Is there no function at all or does the mount behave erratic?

I am asking because I built myself an EQDir adapter for my Synscan using a cp2102 chip. This basically works, but sometimes does not accept commands or losses the connection which makes it unsafe to use (e.g. not being able to stop slewing). I assumed I might be having some interference due to the stepper motors or something like that, but maybe it is a driver problem? Any Ideas on that? 

Sven

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4 hours ago, freiform said:

Hi, 

I hope you don't mind if i hop in; what exactly is the problem with the prolific driver? Is there no function at all or does the mount behave erratic?

Hi Freiform,

As I understand it, a lot of cheap PL2303 USB/Serial converter chips are counterfeit. Prolific's latest drivers have code that only works with Prolific-manufactured chips, so if you have an EQMOD with a PL2303 copy in it and you update to the latest drivers, the drivers reject the device and throw error code 10. On Win 7, you can easily use older drivers that don't make the check. Win 10 is a bit more awkward in that regard and will keep updating them.

So to answer your question about the cp2102, it *could* be drivers, but it's not the sort of issue seen with the Prolific clones where it just won't work at all when you upgrade. I'd be more inclined to suspect interference, but as a code monkey, I blame everything on hardware :D

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Yesterday my laptop got its Win 10 anniversary update which trashed the prolific driver.  After uninstalling - reinstalling, restarting and generally faffing about I turned to SGL and found this thread (thanks Skipper Billy) which identified the problem.  I've now bought a FTDI cable from FLO.  No more Prolific for me!

John

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  • 5 months later...

Very interesting and helpful thread, this.

I bought a HitecAstro cable from FLO a little while back and got it working at the time with my Win7 laptop, but to be honest haven't really used it since.

Must check it out as I'm now worried it'll break down on me.

Still, I have RJ45 crimpers so I could go the DIY FTDI route if it does. Just one question, how have folks terminated the 3 unused wires from the FTDI cable (I only apparently need the GND, TX and RX for my HEQ5)?

Thanks!

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Oddly I was just thinking about my swap from Prolific to FTDI based cables (thanks to Keyspan and Astronomiser) last night.  Since I did i have not lost one connection - a regular occurrence before. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

I spent a substantial "I will not be defeated' time on this and eventually located this file which fixed the USB to serial file problem with no strings attached-

PL2303 Windows Driver User Manual v1.18.0.pdfPL2303_DriverInstaller_v1180_20170406.exe

 

please click on the file starting w PL2303...

it went well and did not put a 'make your computer run faster ' program on and AVG had no complaints

Microsoft Certification Report.jpg

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