USB -> Serial dongle for Mac?

Posted by: tonyc

USB -> Serial dongle for Mac? - 24/08/2005 22:03

I bought a GWC UC320 USB->serial dongle, having seen some sketchy evidence that it was supported on the Mac. Well, turns out it's not, and doesn't work. Does anyone know of a USB->Serial dongle that does work on OS X? The only laptop I have is my Mac, and I need to occasionally view my empeg's serial output in the car.
Posted by: mlord

Re: USB -> Serial dongle for Mac? - 24/08/2005 22:27

On a related note, I also recently purchased a USB-serial dongle.

The bluetooth ones I got earlier appear to have tiny buffers, and drop characters at 115200, though they are good enough for the empeg connection regardless.

So I tried a couple of the $10 adapters, and neither of those could manage even as well as the bluetooth dongles at 115200, let alone at higher speeds --> tiny buffers that pretty much need h/w flow control for anything above 56K. And the empegs, and most embedded platforms I work with, do not implement RTS/CTS h/w flow control.

So, I eventually plunked down CAD$30 for one from "The Source by Circuit City" (the company formerly known as Radio Shack Canada). Bigger, bulkier than the $10 ones, and with a longer cable (I keep it permanently coiled up, don't need the length), and.. it manages 460800 bits/sec without any flow control, and without dropping characters.

Cool!

So the point is.. YMMV.
Posted by: jimhogan

Re: USB -> Serial dongle for Mac? - 25/08/2005 00:58

Keyspan, my son, Keyspan.

For all I know these are the same as what Mark pointed to rebranded, but they seem intent on supporting Macs, and the fact that they sucked ass under VirtualPC is probably *not* their fault.

If I got off my ass and dug around, I could probably find one to send you.
Posted by: mlord

Re: USB -> Serial dongle for Mac? - 25/08/2005 03:15

My kernel reports the dongle as a Prolific PL2303 USB to serial adaptor.

Impossible to know that without purchasing / installing one, though.

Cheers
Posted by: tonyc

Re: USB -> Serial dongle for Mac? - 25/08/2005 05:24

Quote:
If I got off my ass and dug around, I could probably find one to send you.

Were you to do so, I would be the happiest fat kid in the entire world, and I would happily cover shipping/handling.
Posted by: wfaulk

Re: USB -> Serial dongle for Mac? - 25/08/2005 10:48

I'll check tonight to see if the one I have works on my Mini.
Posted by: shadow45

Re: USB -> Serial dongle for Mac? - 25/08/2005 12:59

is that the lossy one with the small buffers? or the good one

I have one and it works OK for my GPS testing @ home. I only run 9600 though.

pl2303 has reverse engineerd open-source drivers, should be somewhat portable to MacOSX..

I bought mine from NewEgg.
Posted by: tman

Re: USB -> Serial dongle for Mac? - 25/08/2005 13:12

I've never had any problems with the PL2303 based cables I've got.

Prolific already give you a Mac OS X driver...