Need USB to serial conversion in software only

SiliconBadger · 02-24-2007, 02:54 PM

Hello, all. Thanks for taking the time to read my question.

I need to get data from a USB device and make it show up as a serial device. I was wondering if there is any generic software that might do this (I suspect not), or if maybe I could get some direction on where to go to learn how to do it myself.

Here's the overall goal: I have a Magellan eXplorist handheld GPSr, which connects via USB. In Windows XP, most software needs it to show up as a serial device, on a virtual COM port. Magellan provides a driver to do this, but it doesn't work on XP x64 (stupid, it couldn't be that different).

I see lots of information out there about how to do this with a USB to serial converter (hardware). This is obviously not necessary. If Windoze can take the USB input and fake a COM10 port for me to get the data (it works), then it should be possible to do the same thing in Linux.

Why are people spending $20 and up on these converter devices when a piece of free software should be able to do the job just fine?

Thanks in advance for any help!

Brian1 · 02-24-2007, 03:03 PM

Your sig list Slackware 8. Is this what you are using?
What kernel are you using? Use this command and post output. ' uname -r '

EDIT: This Section was wrong:
Now bootup with it plugged in.
EDIT: Should of been.
Now boot up with the it not plugged in.
EDIT:

Now once up plug in the GPSR.
Wait 10 secs.
Run the command ' dmesg ' and post the last 20 lines.

Post the output from these commands after it is plugged in.
/sbin/lsmod
/sbin/lsusb
/sbin/lspci -v

This should be enough info to figure out about waht is seen and loaded.

As far as spending the $20.00 I am guessing the needed module is not present in the kernel or not available at the users current kernel version. 2.6 kernels supply many modules. Some just don't feel comfortable compiling a kernel.

Brian

SiliconBadger · 02-24-2007, 03:40 PM

Using a kernel I compiled myself. 2.6.16.29 is version on Slamd64-11.0.

Sorry, I guess I need to update my profile info. I was using Slack 8.0 a few years ago.

You said to boot the system with the device plugged in. Then you say once up, plug in the GPSr. I only have a GPSr. So are you asking me to boot with GPSr plugged in already, or to wait?

I'm not sure if you think I have a USB to serial coverter device... I don't. I only have the GPSr, which connects via USB. And it was plugged in when I booted.

So, here's the system info:

Quote:

root@ludwig:~# /sbin/lsmod
Module Size Used by
snd_pcm_oss 47968 0
snd_emu10k1 111748 1
snd_rawmidi 23328 1 snd_emu10k1
snd_intel8x0 32680 1
snd_ac97_codec 100248 2 snd_emu10k1,snd_intel8x0
sk98lin 144032 0
snd_ac97_bus 4480 1 snd_ac97_codec
nvidia 5654008 22
snd_pcm 81032 4 snd_pcm_oss,snd_emu10k1,snd_intel8x0,snd_ac97_codec
snd_util_mem 5888 1 snd_emu10k1
snd_page_alloc 10640 3 snd_emu10k1,snd_intel8x0,snd_pcm
snd_hwdep 10184 1 snd_emu10k1
i2c_core 20160 1 nvidia

Quote:

root@ludwig:~# /sbin/lsusb
Bus 2 Device 2: ID 046d:c012 Logitech, Inc. Optical Mouse
Bus 2 Device 1: ID 0000:0000
Bus 2 Device 3: ID 058f:9254 Alcor Micro Corp. Hub
Bus 2 Device 4: ID 0a5c:2101 Broadcom Corp.
Bus 2 Device 5: ID 0b20:0406 TransDimension, Inc.
Bus 1 Device 1: ID 0000:0000

Quote:

root@ludwig:~# /sbin/lspci -v
00:00.0 Memory controller: nVidia Corporation CK804 Memory Controller (rev a3)
Flags: bus master, 66MHz, fast devsel, latency 0
Capabilities: [44] HyperTransport: Slave or Primary Interface
Capabilities: [e0] HyperTransport: MSI Mapping

00:01.0 ISA bridge: nVidia Corporation CK804 ISA Bridge (rev a3)
Subsystem: nVidia Corporation Unknown device cb84
Flags: bus master, 66MHz, fast devsel, latency 0

00:01.1 SMBus: nVidia Corporation CK804 SMBus (rev a2)
Subsystem: nVidia Corporation Unknown device cb84
Flags: 66MHz, fast devsel, IRQ 10
I/O ports at fc00 [size=32]
I/O ports at 1c00 [size=64]
I/O ports at 1c40 [size=64]
Capabilities: [44] Power Management version 2

00:02.0 USB Controller: nVidia Corporation CK804 USB Controller (rev a2) (prog-if 10 [OHCI])
Subsystem: nVidia Corporation Unknown device cb84
Flags: bus master, 66MHz, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 217
Memory at fe02f000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=4K]
Capabilities: [44] Power Management version 2

00:02.1 USB Controller: nVidia Corporation CK804 USB Controller (rev a3) (prog-if 20 [EHCI])
Subsystem: nVidia Corporation Unknown device cb84
Flags: bus master, 66MHz, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 58
Memory at feb00000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=256]
Capabilities: [44] Debug port
Capabilities: [80] Power Management version 2

00:04.0 Multimedia audio controller: nVidia Corporation CK804 AC'97 Audio Controller (rev a2)
Subsystem: nVidia Corporation Unknown device cb84
Flags: bus master, 66MHz, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 225
I/O ports at f000 [size=256]
I/O ports at ec00 [size=256]
Memory at fe02d000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=4K]
Capabilities: [44] Power Management version 2

00:06.0 IDE interface: nVidia Corporation CK804 IDE (rev a2) (prog-if 8a [Master SecP PriP])
Subsystem: nVidia Corporation Unknown device cb84
Flags: bus master, 66MHz, fast devsel, latency 0
I/O ports at e800 [size=16]
Capabilities: [44] Power Management version 2

00:07.0 IDE interface: nVidia Corporation CK804 Serial ATA Controller (rev a3) (prog-if 85 [Master SecO PriO])
Subsystem: nVidia Corporation Unknown device cb84
Flags: bus master, 66MHz, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 225
I/O ports at 09f0 [size=8]
I/O ports at 0bf0 [size=4]
I/O ports at 0970 [size=8]
I/O ports at 0b70 [size=4]
I/O ports at d400 [size=16]
Memory at fe02c000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=4K]
Capabilities: [44] Power Management version 2

00:08.0 IDE interface: nVidia Corporation CK804 Serial ATA Controller (rev a3) (prog-if 85 [Master SecO PriO])
Subsystem: nVidia Corporation Unknown device cb84
Flags: bus master, 66MHz, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 233
I/O ports at 09e0 [size=8]
I/O ports at 0be0 [size=4]
I/O ports at 0960 [size=8]
I/O ports at 0b60 [size=4]
I/O ports at c000 [size=16]
Memory at fe02b000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=4K]
Capabilities: [44] Power Management version 2

00:09.0 PCI bridge: nVidia Corporation CK804 PCI Bridge (rev a2) (prog-if 01 [Subtractive decode])
Flags: bus master, 66MHz, fast devsel, latency 0
Bus: primary=00, secondary=01, subordinate=01, sec-latency=32
I/O behind bridge: 00009000-0000afff
Memory behind bridge: fde00000-fdefffff
Prefetchable memory behind bridge: fdf00000-fdffffff

00:0a.0 Bridge: nVidia Corporation CK804 Ethernet Controller (rev a3)
Subsystem: nVidia Corporation Unknown device cb84
Flags: bus master, 66MHz, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 217
Memory at fe02a000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=4K]
I/O ports at bc00 [size=8]
Capabilities: [44] Power Management version 2

00:0b.0 PCI bridge: nVidia Corporation CK804 PCIE Bridge (rev a3) (prog-if 00 [Normal decode])
Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0
Bus: primary=00, secondary=02, subordinate=02, sec-latency=0
I/O behind bridge: 00008000-00008fff
Memory behind bridge: fdd00000-fddfffff
Prefetchable memory behind bridge: 00000000fdc00000-00000000fdc00000
Capabilities: [40] Power Management version 2
Capabilities: [48] Message Signalled Interrupts: 64bit+ Queue=0/1 Enable+
Capabilities: [58] HyperTransport: MSI Mapping
Capabilities: [80] Express Root Port (Slot+) IRQ 0
Capabilities: [100] Virtual Channel

00:0c.0 PCI bridge: nVidia Corporation CK804 PCIE Bridge (rev a3) (prog-if 00 [Normal decode])
Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0
Bus: primary=00, secondary=03, subordinate=03, sec-latency=0
I/O behind bridge: 00007000-00007fff
Memory behind bridge: fdb00000-fdbfffff
Prefetchable memory behind bridge: 00000000fda00000-00000000fda00000
Capabilities: [40] Power Management version 2
Capabilities: [48] Message Signalled Interrupts: 64bit+ Queue=0/1 Enable+
Capabilities: [58] HyperTransport: MSI Mapping
Capabilities: [80] Express Root Port (Slot+) IRQ 0
Capabilities: [100] Virtual Channel

00:0d.0 PCI bridge: nVidia Corporation CK804 PCIE Bridge (rev a3) (prog-if 00 [Normal decode])
Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0
Bus: primary=00, secondary=04, subordinate=04, sec-latency=0
I/O behind bridge: 00006000-00006fff
Memory behind bridge: fd900000-fd9fffff
Prefetchable memory behind bridge: 00000000fd800000-00000000fd800000
Capabilities: [40] Power Management version 2
Capabilities: [48] Message Signalled Interrupts: 64bit+ Queue=0/1 Enable+
Capabilities: [58] HyperTransport: MSI Mapping
Capabilities: [80] Express Root Port (Slot+) IRQ 0
Capabilities: [100] Virtual Channel

00:0e.0 PCI bridge: nVidia Corporation CK804 PCIE Bridge (rev a3) (prog-if 00 [Normal decode])
Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0
Bus: primary=00, secondary=05, subordinate=05, sec-latency=0
I/O behind bridge: 00005000-00005fff
Memory behind bridge: fa000000-fcffffff
Prefetchable memory behind bridge: 00000000d0000000-00000000dff00000
Capabilities: [40] Power Management version 2
Capabilities: [48] Message Signalled Interrupts: 64bit+ Queue=0/1 Enable+
Capabilities: [58] HyperTransport: MSI Mapping
Capabilities: [80] Express Root Port (Slot+) IRQ 0
Capabilities: [100] Virtual Channel

00:18.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] HyperTransport Technology Configuration
Flags: fast devsel
Capabilities: [80] HyperTransport: Host or Secondary Interface

00:18.1 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] Address Map
Flags: fast devsel

00:18.2 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] DRAM Controller
Flags: fast devsel

00:18.3 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] Miscellaneous Control
Flags: fast devsel

01:06.0 SCSI storage controller: Adaptec AHA-2940U/UW/D / AIC-7881U
Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 32, IRQ 11
I/O ports at ac00 [size=256]
Memory at fdeff000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=4K]
[virtual] Expansion ROM at fdf20000 [disabled] [size=64K]

01:07.0 Multimedia audio controller: Creative Labs SB Live! EMU10k1 (rev 04)
Subsystem: Creative Labs CT4850 SBLive! Value
Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 32, IRQ 74
I/O ports at a800 [size=32]
Capabilities: [dc] Power Management version 1

01:07.1 Input device controller: Creative Labs SB Live! Game Port (rev 01)
Subsystem: Creative Labs Gameport Joystick
Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 32
I/O ports at a400 [size=8]
Capabilities: [dc] Power Management version 1

01:09.0 FireWire (IEEE 1394): VIA Technologies, Inc. IEEE 1394 Host Controller (rev 80) (prog-if 10 [OHCI])
Subsystem: DFI Inc Unknown device 1006
Flags: bus master, stepping, medium devsel, latency 32, IRQ 50
Memory at fdefe000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=2K]
I/O ports at a000 [size=128]
Capabilities: [50] Power Management version 2

01:0a.0 Ethernet controller: Marvell Technology Group Ltd. 88E8001 Gigabit Ethernet Controller (rev 13)
Subsystem: DFI Inc Unknown device 100a
Flags: 66MHz, medium devsel, IRQ 66
Memory at fdef8000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16K]
I/O ports at 9c00 [size=256]
[virtual] Expansion ROM at fdf00000 [disabled] [size=128K]
Capabilities: [48] Power Management version 2
Capabilities: [50] Vital Product Data

05:00.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation G70 [GeForce 7800 GT] (rev a1) (prog-if 00 [VGA])
Subsystem: eVga.com. Corp. Unknown device c517
Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 66
Memory at fa000000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16M]
Memory at d0000000 (64-bit, prefetchable) [size=256M]
Memory at fb000000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16M]
I/O ports at 5c00 [size=128]
[virtual] Expansion ROM at fc000000 [disabled] [size=128K]
Capabilities: [60] Power Management version 2
Capabilities: [68] Message Signalled Interrupts: 64bit+ Queue=0/0 Enable-
Capabilities: [78] Express Endpoint IRQ 0
Capabilities: [100] Virtual Channel
Capabilities: [128] Power Budgeting

These are what I thought to be possibly relevant dmesg lines:

Quote:

ohci1394: fw-host0: OHCI-1394 1.1 (PCI): IRQ=[50] MMIO=[fdefe000-fdefe7ff] Max Packet=[2048] IR/IT contexts=[4/8]
ieee1394: raw1394: /dev/raw1394 device initialized
ACPI: PCI Interrupt Link [APCL] enabled at IRQ 20
GSI 20 sharing vector 0x3A and IRQ 20
ACPI: PCI Interrupt 0000:00:02.1[B] -> Link [APCL] -> GSI 20 (level, low) -> IRQ 58
PCI: Setting latency timer of device 0000:00:02.1 to 64
ehci_hcd 0000:00:02.1: EHCI Host Controller
ehci_hcd 0000:00:02.1: debug port 1
PCI: cache line size of 64 is not supported by device 0000:00:02.1
ehci_hcd 0000:00:02.1: new USB bus registered, assigned bus number 1
ehci_hcd 0000:00:02.1: irq 58, io mem 0xfeb00000
ehci_hcd 0000:00:02.1: USB 2.0 started, EHCI 1.00, driver 10 Dec 2004
usb usb1: configuration #1 chosen from 1 choice
hub 1-0:1.0: USB hub found
hub 1-0:1.0: 10 ports detected
ohci_hcd: 2005 April 22 USB 1.1 'Open' Host Controller (OHCI) Driver (PCI)
ACPI: PCI Interrupt Link [APCF] enabled at IRQ 23
ACPI: PCI Interrupt 0000:00:02.0[A] -> Link [APCF] -> GSI 23 (level, low) -> IRQ 217
PCI: Setting latency timer of device 0000:00:02.0 to 64
ohci_hcd 0000:00:02.0: OHCI Host Controller
ohci_hcd 0000:00:02.0: new USB bus registered, assigned bus number 2
ohci_hcd 0000:00:02.0: irq 217, io mem 0xfe02f000
usb usb2: configuration #1 chosen from 1 choice
hub 2-0:1.0: USB hub found
hub 2-0:1.0: 10 ports detected
USB Universal Host Controller Interface driver v2.3
usb 2-5: new low speed USB device using ohci_hcd and address 2
usb 2-5: configuration #1 chosen from 1 choice
usb 2-6: new full speed USB device using ohci_hcd and address 3
ieee1394: Host added: ID:BUS[0-00:1023] GUID[000129200003ebfe]
usb 2-6: configuration #1 chosen from 1 choice
hub 2-6:1.0: USB hub found
hub 2-6:1.0: 4 ports detected
usb 2-6.1: new full speed USB device using ohci_hcd and address 4
usb 2-6.1: configuration #1 chosen from 1 choice
usb 2-6.2: new full speed USB device using ohci_hcd and address 5
usb 2-6.2: configuration #1 chosen from 1 choice
usbcore: registered new driver usblp
drivers/usb/class/usblp.c: v0.13: USB Printer Device Class driver
Initializing USB Mass Storage driver...
usbcore: registered new driver usb-storage
USB Mass Storage support registered.
input: Logitech USB-PS/2 Optical Mouse as /class/input/input0
input: USB HID v1.10 Mouse [Logitech USB-PS/2 Optical Mouse] on usb-0000:00:02.0-5
usbcore: registered new driver usbhid
drivers/usb/input/hid-core.c: v2.6:USB HID core driver

Wow, that's a lot of text.

Thanks for the assistance.

Brian1 · 02-24-2007, 04:10 PM

I will review this later. I meant to say boot the machine without the GPSR plugged in. Once up then plugin the GPRS and run dmesg command. So either edit your post for that section or add a new one here. I will edit my post to correct what I said.

Brian