MarkO's Vex FAQ

I purchased my First VEX Robotics parts at the beginning of AUG-2006, to work on as a project with my Son and Daughters. After building the "Square Bot", I found that there is, not much more "published" information. They (Innovation First, Inc.), expect you (the owner/creator/inventor) to "develop it on you own".
So I, at 40 years old, with 5 years of embedded development experience, and 24 years of programming experience in general, from the Apple ][+ and Commodore 64's to IBM Mainframes though I could help contribute to this little world of "Kit Assembly/RC Control/and Programming", even though I as still new to the whole "Robot Arena".

The Following is my (growing) list of Answers I know people will run into.
USB to Serial adapters are one of the "tricker ones", because there can be many points of failure, and in some cases, Everything looks correct, and it still does not work..
I will also be adding info on 'C' Programming, I am learning about EasyC 1.1 right now, but the MPLAB Environment is much more like the Keil Environment I am use to working in everyday.

MarkO

Table of Contents

• 1 - USB to Serial Cable Issues
• 2 - TBD
• 3 - TBD
• 4 - TBD
• 5 - TBD

1 - USB to Serial Cable Issues

This USB to Serial "Trouble Shooting" information has been developed over the last 4-5 years with working with the Bafo BF-810 and a "Generic" USB to Serial device, both which use the same or similar Prolific USB to Serial "chip set". My original information is posted at my Employer, SilverLeaf Electronics Inc. Web Site with the title, "Top 10 Issues with VMSpc not working!"  These "issues" may "never" occure with the Vex Programming Kit, but just in case they do, here is some trouble shooting hints.


There are Two different Loader programs; intelitek providers one Loader with EasyC v1.1 and IFI provides another Loader for Download at their Web Site.  They seem to be comperable in usage, but the IFI Loader's Terminal Program will let you Send Characters to the VEX.  I have not located this feature with the intelitek Loader.  They both seem to "open" the Serial Port in the same way, so the Same "issues" could effect both programs.

USB to Serial Adapters

• IFI or intelitek Loader can not open Com Port (Part #1).

  • If you know the Com Port is correct, look for Conflicting Software. Software like Palm Pilot, "hot-sync" software, Global Positioning System (GPS) Software, and similar software unfortunately tie up the Com Port, thus the Loader  is unable to connect. 
    

• IFI or intelitek Loader can not open Com Port (Part #2).

  • (This is  a WinXP  issue only, and can happen with a Built In Com Port as well. I have NOT seen this happen with the Vex Programming Kit, so this is ONLY Possible, but NOT Probable.)  I know from previous experience with the VMSpc product, that Serial Data being "received" into a Computer with WinXP, can be miss-interpreted as a MicroSoft Mouse, and WinXP's "mouse driver" will open the Com Port and not let any other applications use it.  Erratic behavior of the Mouse Cursor will most likely result as well.  The solution is to remove the USB to Serial adapter from the computer, then disconnect the Vex Programmer from the USB to Serial adapter, plug the USB to Serial adapter back into the "same" USB port, then select the Com Port in the Loader program (which should open the Com Port), then re-connect the Vex Programmer to the USB to Serial adapter. 

• USB to Serial Adapter won't Install.

  • I am not ever sure with this one. Follow these directions Manually Removing incorrect drivers (Prolific) to totally remove the "driver" Software from Lap-Top and try the install from the Top.

• USB to Serial Adapter already Installed, but Hardware Manager is asking for Drivers.

  • It appears that there is only 2 USB port on a "USB root hub".  If the Lap-Top has more USB port, there can be multiple "USB root hubs". The driver only gets installed for the One "USB root hub", so if at a later time, the User plugs the USB to Serial Adapter (or any USB device) into another "USB root hub", the Drivers are not "installed" for that "root hub", so the Hardware Wizard comes up to tell you it needs your help.  The Drivers should already be available on your Hard Drive, just not "installed" for the "new" "USB root hub".
    
    I personally have experienced 3 "USB root hubs", for a total of 5 USB ports.  4 USB ports (2 different "USB root hubs") were USB ver 1.1 and One was USB ver 2.0. This would require (technically) three different driver installs, to have the USB to Serial Adapter usable in any USB port on the LapTop.
    
    

• IFI or intelitek Loader stops sending/receiving data for no apparent reason, when it worked yesterday/last week/before we moved the computer.

  • The Loader's Com Port is assigned Manually from the "PortSettings" (IFI Loader) or "Port Setting" (intelitek Loader)  menu option. When the USB to Serial Adapter (and I assume all USB-to-Serial adapters work this way) are "plugged-in", Windows assigns them a Com Port, the Com Port seems to change as the USB-to-Serial adapter is moved from USB to USB port on the laptop.  So if the user, uses a different USB port on the Lap-Top, the Com Port changes, but The Loader does not look for the "new" Com Port, and thus, does not work.
     
    

2 - TBD

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3 - TBD

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4 - TBD

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5 - TBD

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