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HEQ5 Pro and EQDir cable

Rza
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Rza

Rza

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Posted

Hi,

Im having real problems trying to get this working.

Im running Windows 10 64bit, HEQ5 Pro mount, 12v 5A power supply.

Im forever getting a "port not available" error in the EQMOD software when trying to connect to the mount through my laptop. I have exhausted 3 pages of Google results trying to get this sorted. So far i have tried the following:

Tried the Windows 8 instructions on the First Light Optics website. Also tried lots of different Prolific drivers that I found on various forums.


Double checked the COM port in Device Manager and changed to this port on the EQMOD software.


Tried different USB ports


Tried changing to different COM ports in Device Manager


Tried uninstalling and reinstalling all software


The port checker that comes with the prolific drivers can see the USB chipset OK
Had a replacement cable delivered
Tested that the mount was getting correct voltage using the handset. Constant 11.9v



Am totally stumped. Would welcome any suggestions!

 

Cheers

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Rza

Rza

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11 minutes ago, AllanJ said:

This could be because Windows 10 and Prolific don't get along. I changed to FTDI cables, and replaced my existing eqdir with an FTDI eqdir from Astronomiser. Worked out of the box, no problem.

http://astronomiser.co.uk/eqdir.htm

Allan

Cheers.

Only problem being i tried it on my partners Windows 7 laptop too and couldnt get it to work on there either. Although i will try anything at the moment so will probably order one and try!!

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Jokehoba

Jokehoba

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I too had issues, but all is working in Win10 now. It is important that when you uninstall the drivers you delete them from the disk before you re-install the one you want to try. Otherwise Windows simply finds the old driver again and updates it. If it errors in Device manager, it won't work in EQMOD, so concentrate on Device Manager first.

 

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Rza

Rza

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2 minutes ago, Jokehoba said:

I too had issues, but all is working in Win10 now. It is important that when you uninstall the drivers you delete them from the disk before you re-install the one you want to try. Otherwise Windows simply finds the old driver again and updates it. If it errors in Device manager, it won't work in EQMOD, so concentrate on Device Manager first.

 

I have done that. Can get Windows to stick with the correct drivers (tried many). Still no joy though :(

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Rza

Rza

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One thing i have noticed is if i plug my handset into the mount it beeps and then i can hear the motor start whirling in the mount. This doesnt happenwhen  i plug the cable in (Maybe because the EQMOD software hasnt picked it up and therefore hasnt sent the instruction?)

Also when i plug the EQDir cable in the mounts power light flashes (although i have tested and the mount is getting a stable 11.9v)

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Jokehoba

Jokehoba

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1 minute ago, Rza said:

One thing i have noticed is if i plug my handset into the mount it beeps and then i can hear the motor start whirling in the mount. This doesnt happenwhen  i plug the cable in (Maybe because the EQMOD software hasnt picked it up and therefore hasnt sent the instruction?)

Also when i plug the EQDir cable in the mounts power light flashes (although i have tested and the mount is getting a stable 11.9v)

Could it be a faulty connector? Is it shorting somewhere? It is curious that trying a different machine still has the same issue, the common thing being the cable itself.

Beginning to sound like a hardware problem...:dontknow:

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Rza

Rza

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1 minute ago, Jokehoba said:

Could it be a faulty connector? Is it shorting somewhere? It is curious that trying a different machine still has the same issue, the common thing being the cable itself.

Beginning to sound like a hardware problem...:dontknow:

Well yeah thats what i started to think but the handset reports a solid 11.9v from the power supply.

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Rza

Rza

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Im going to order FTDI cable today as well as a Serial control cable for PC direct mode on the handset just incase the FTDI cable doesnt work.

Looking through some post it seems that all the EQMOD software works using PC direct mode. Can anyone confirm that?

 

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Cornelius Varley

Cornelius Varley

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8 minutes ago, Rza said:

Im going to order FTDI cable today as well as a Serial control cable for PC direct mode on the handset just incase the FTDI cable doesnt work.

Looking through some post it seems that all the EQMOD software works using PC direct mode. Can anyone confirm that?

 

EQmod is probably the only programme that does work with pc-mode. If you find that the mount doesn't work with pc-mode switched on, switch pc-mode off.

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zicklurky

zicklurky

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Took me a while to get it working in Win 10 as well. But for me it was a driver issue, sounds like you're having port issues. The driver listed on the FLO website for the Win 8 install is the correct driver for Win 10 as well. When I inspected the device in device manager, Windows had installed about 5 different versions of the prolific driver, with the correct driver at the bottom of the list. I had to uninstall them all before Windows would use the correct driver.

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Rza

Rza

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1 hour ago, zicklurky said:

Took me a while to get it working in Win 10 as well. But for me it was a driver issue, sounds like you're having port issues. The driver listed on the FLO website for the Win 8 install is the correct driver for Win 10 as well. When I inspected the device in device manager, Windows had installed about 5 different versions of the prolific driver, with the correct driver at the bottom of the list. I had to uninstall them all before Windows would use the correct driver.

Yeah I tried loads of different drivers after turning off the auto driver update.

Ive just ordered the FTDI EQ direct cable. See how that goes.

If not ill just use it with the handset and Serial cable

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  • 5 weeks later...
Astrofriend

Astrofriend

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Posted

Hi,

I got that problem too when change from XP/Vista to Windows 7 and newer op system, it drive me nuts until I solved it.

I have EQ6 and EQMOD with directconnection, but first i tried to connect through the terminal and it worked, but more convinient with directconnection.

 

What I had to do was to disable driver update (which you already have done), it turns it off for all other drivers at the same time, maybe not so good. Then I used a Vista driver, try to find one with signed driver, my have vnr 3436247 and filename ser2pl.sys.

 

This was two years ago and I have forgot the details, but I think it's much easier to buy a direct connection cable with the latest hardware that is supportet with the latest drivers (Windows 8, 10).

 

/Lars

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  • 2 years later...
DainiusU

DainiusU

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Posted (edited)
On 13/09/2016 at 14:00, Rza said:

Yeah I tried loads of different drivers after turning off the auto driver update.

Ive just ordered the FTDI EQ direct cable. See how that goes.

If not ill just use it with the handset and Serial cable

Ryan, if that is the same cable that came to me with your mount, it works perfect on Win10, but the port issue remains in Ascom when trying to pick Skywatcher driver. When you download EQMod driver and point in settings to the port you see in Windows Device Manager - then it works like a charm :D I have used FTDI driver from their web. Posting this to gelp some future users who were stuck just like me last evening trying to make it work :) 

Edited by DainiusU
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Skipper Billy

Skipper Billy

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You shouldnt have any issues with the FTDI cable. The other advantage of the FTDI cable is that it doesnt matter which USB port you plug it into it will sort itself out whereas the older Prolific cables got freaked out if you didnt always use the same USB port.

 

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Rza

Rza

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On 13/09/2019 at 10:22, DainiusU said:

Ryan, if that is the same cable that came to me with your mount, it works perfect on Win10, but the port issue remains in Ascom when trying to pick Skywatcher driver. When you download EQMod driver and point in settings to the port you see in Windows Device Manager - then it works like a charm :D I have used FTDI driver from their web. Posting this to gelp some future users who were stuck just like me last evening trying to make it work :) 

Nah that was another cable. The one you have worked straight away :)

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