OT, computer question. I recently got my

[Bill R.]

first laptop (for my wife) and wanted to run some of the bmw and other obd II scan software on it. Most of these require a serial or com port. This laptop like most other new laptops has plenty of USB but no serial. One of the programs that i want to use states that a USB to serial converter will not work and they state to use a pcmcia card serial adapter instead.
My question is that i see alot of SATA pcmcia cards available with 2 ports on them for running sata drives i guess...They are actually cheaper than rs232 since serial port pcmcia cards. Are these the same thing and will the work the same as the serial port cards with a cable? Thanks for any answers.

[RichG]

first laptop (for my wife) and wanted to run some of the bmw and other obd II scan software on it. Most of these require a serial or com port. This laptop like most other new laptops has plenty of USB but no serial. One of the programs that i want to use states that a USB to serial converter will not work and they state to use a pcmcia card serial adapter instead.
My question is that i see alot of SATA pcmcia cards available with 2 ports on them for running sata drives i guess...They are actually cheaper than rs232 since serial port pcmcia cards. Are these the same thing and will the work the same as the serial port cards with a cable? Thanks for any answers.

SATA and serial ports are not the same. As far as I know they are not interchangeable. SATA is a fairly new technology where serial ports (RS232 type) have been around for many years.

Here's a link to a $36 9-pin serial port pcmcia card. I've used NewEgg and have had very good luck with them.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16839104008

It seems a $10 USB-serial adapter should work, but if they state it won't then I guess they've tried it and in fact it won't work.

[colo525i]

SATA is for hard drives, totally different than what you need. I don't see why a USB adapter wouldn't work as it shows up to the computer as a COM port. I do see pcmcia serial cards (rs-232) on ebay for around 10-20 dollars right now.

[HDhandyman]

Bill, I think the problem is that the converters for USB don't support the IEEE 1284 EPP standard...this is what you need. I would contact the manufacturer of the SATA cards and ask them if they support "IEEE 1284 EPP standard".

Edit:

Actually, the more I think about it, the more I would probably just advise that you bite the bullet and use a serial card that supports the standard since there are enough cards and native ports out there that don't.

[Yiorgos]

Bill, I think the problem is that the converters for USB don't support the IEEE 1284 EPP standard...this is what you need. I would contact the manufacturer of the SATA cards and ask them if they support "IEEE 1284 EPP standard".

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the EPP standard I thought was for parallel ports only. Parallel ports, which send 8 signals at a time down the cable, are vastly different to serial ports, which sends signals one at a time. The fundamental differences are too different for the application in question.

To answer Bill R.'s question somewhat, SATA is for hard drives and other disk-type devices only, while serial ports are for old-school type of communications with small devices. The PCMCIA cards you mentioned are for what I would assume some sort of external SATA devices, you would be better off with the PCMCIA serial port cards that you mentioned, even if they are more expensive. You can't compare the two since they are for two very different applications, ie. comparing apples with oranges.

[Jon K]

Bill all you need is a USB -> Serial RS232 adapter - I use them on my laptop to interface to my ECU.

[HDhandyman]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the EPP standard I thought was for parallel ports only. Parallel ports, which send 8 signals at a time down the cable, are vastly different to serial ports, which sends signals one at a time. The fundamental differences are too different for the application in question.

To answer Bill R.'s question somewhat, SATA is for hard drives and other disk-type devices only, while serial ports are for old-school type of communications with small devices. The PCMCIA cards you mentioned are for what I would assume some sort of external SATA devices, you would be better off with the PCMCIA serial port cards that you mentioned, even if they are more expensive. You can't compare the two since they are for two very different applications, ie. comparing apples with oranges.

nope, you're right. I think I was just thinking about the fact that most high end diagnostic equip uses "parallel" ports, and just got carried away with that train of thought. Forgot that we were even talking about serial ports. How's that for advice?--LOL.---I was hung up on an explanation for USB inadaquecy.

Thanks for the correction Yiorgos.

[Paul in NZ]

so one of these usb/serial adaptters would enable me (laptop with no "printer plug) to use my "old school" printer?.Or do i need one of those cards?

[Yiorgos]

Printers use what's called Parallel ports -- there might be USB -> Parallel adapters about, but the best is to find a USB -> Parallel port cable -- I was very fortunate in finding one of these on a discarded HP laser printer, and I will never part with it!

A USB->Serial port won't work -- even physically, the serial port usually has 9-25 pins (male), while the parallel port is 25 pin only (female).

[DaCan23]

You can only use a Serial to USB adapter if the manufacturer of the hardware ie your printer makes a USB driver so it can then communicate over the USB. With name brand stuff you can plug it in and Windows might be able to pull the driver/update automatically. But with some things, external drives, memory readers, cameras, cell phones, & stuff, they wont be able to utilize the USB speeds, they will still run at serial levels.

so one of these usb/serial adaptters would enable me (laptop with no "printer plug) to use my "old school" printer?.Or do i need one of those cards?