On 1/24/2013 11:07 PM, Sarah White wrote:

This info applies to windows XP as well:

http://goo.gl/IqmDB

Post number 6 they said:

---snip---

REGEDIT4

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\sermouse]
"Start"=dword:00000004

there should be no blank between Servic and es!!!!

---snip---

but uh... I never tested making a .reg file and "merge with registry" or
whatever. I'm pretty sure some antivirus software gets cranky when it
sees a .reg file, plus there's often a complication when people use
notepad to create a file and the file ends up something.reg.txt or ...
oh whatever, the same thing applies. winxp doesn't really use boot.ini
either for this

--Sarah

P.S. sorry to double-post like this.

On 1/25/2013 1:43 AM, David J Taylor wrote:

Beg your pardon?

1. Your comment seems to suggest a misunderstanding. I wasn't advocating
   any editing of boot.ini in the first place.

...Boot.ini doesn't even exist anymore, so I wasn't suggesting that, as
it's s an outdated practice, and the official workaround is the one I
was trying to share...

2. At the bottom of the section you just linked, it says:

See also the Microsoft Knowledge Base Article  # 283063, "Serial Device
May Be Detected as a Serial Mouse in Windows 2000".

The referenced knowledge base article, 283063:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/283063

Title: Serial Device May Be Detected as a Serial Mouse in Windows 2000

^That workaround is for EVEN OLDER version of windows.

--snip--

APPLIES TO
Microsoft Windows 2000 Service Pack 1
Microsoft Windows 2000 Service Pack 2
Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server
Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server
Microsoft Windows 2000 Service Pack 1
Microsoft Windows 2000 Service Pack 2

--snip--

If you "disable the offending device" in device manager, the automatic
"plug & play" can, and often DOES just re-install a second version of
this "mouse" after running windows update.

Second opinion about the approach I was recommending:

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_7-hardware/windows-7-recognized-usb-gps-as-a-serial-mouse-in/0c3f0d94-6181-4a43-9e90-bcea8a21415d

Shortened URL: http://goo.gl/xFcSc

Note the similarity of official instructions, written by:

Samhrutha G S - Microsoft Support.

--snip--
i.          Click on start
ii.        In the search box, type in regedit
iii.      Registry editor windows opens
iv.      Navigate to the location:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\sermouse
--snip--

Whatever works for you though I guess. I was just explaining the
officially supported method shrugs

David -- that particular "solution" does not work in many cases.

Sarah -- that solution also doesn't work in many cases. Read the entire 3 pages of frustrated comments that follow the so-called "solution" to the problem (the start value resets to 3).

All -- I've never seen a robust solution to the issue of rapid serial data on a Windows NT/XP/Vista/7 machine. It's not just GPS; any serial telemetry device from thermometer to frequency counter to time interval analyzer suffers the same fate. If any of you have a 100% workable solution please send it to me off-line. If I'm convinced it works, I'll post the one true solution here.

I realize there are a number of work-around hacks that sometimes work, or work for a while. My goal is a single action a windows user can perform that will then permanently prevent any and all future serial / PnP / USB GPS-like devices from being wrongly interpreted as a mouse for the life of the machine.

Thanks,
/tvb

David -- that particular "solution" does not work in many cases.

Sarah -- that solution also doesn't work in many cases. Read the entire 3
pages of frustrated comments that follow the so-called "solution" to the
problem (the start value resets to 3).

All -- I've never seen a robust solution to the issue of rapid serial data
on a Windows NT/XP/Vista/7 machine. It's not just GPS; any serial telemetry
device from thermometer to frequency counter to time interval analyzer
suffers the same fate. If any of you have a 100% workable solution please
send it to me off-line. If I'm convinced it works, I'll post the one true
solution here.

I realize there are a number of work-around hacks that sometimes work, or
work for a while. My goal is a single action a windows user can perform that
will then permanently prevent any and all future serial / PnP / USB GPS-like
devices from being wrongly interpreted as a mouse for the life of the
machine.

Thanks,
/tvb

---==========

Tom,

Thanks for the updates.  On both my Windows-7/64 PC and my Windows-8/64 PC
I've not had to apply any fixes at all.

Cheers,
David

SatSignal Software - Quality software written to your requirements
Web: http://www.satsignal.eu
Email: david-taylor@blueyonder.co.uk

A method that does work (for me) on Windows XP and Windows 7 to tame the
wild mouse.

1. Use a FTDI USB to serial port converter
2. Disable 'Serial Enumerator' in the advanced device settings properties.

I've used both single port adapters based on FT232 chips and 4 port
FT4232 devices.
N.B. This option does not appear to be available for standard COM ports,
or USB to Serial devices from other manufacturers.

On 27/01/2013 06:42, David J Taylor wrote:

--
Stephen Tompsett

At work we simply use multi port serial cards (no USB intermediary) or
Ethernet to serial adapters.  Any use of USB for critical test equipment was
pretty much banned here years ago.

On 1/27/2013 8:47 AM, Stan, W1LE wrote:

At the risk of seeming flippant, may I suggest Linux?
Don

Stan, W1LE

--
"Neither the voice of authority nor the weight of reason and argument
are as significant as experiment, for thence comes quiet to the mind."
De Erroribus Medicorum, R. Bacon, 13th century.
"If you don't know what it is, don't poke it."
Ghost in the Shell

Dr. Don Latham AJ7LL
Six Mile Systems LLP
17850 Six Mile Road
POB 134
Huson, MT, 59846
VOX 406-626-4304
www.lightningforensics.com
www.sixmilesystems.com

The problem with the Ethernet adapters is the lack of software support on the OS side. I'd have gone to that long ago if I could point any bit if software at a serial port that was actually on a terminal server out on the ip fabric.

On Jan 27, 2013, at 12:30, Peter Gottlieb nerd@verizon.net wrote:

On 1/27/13 9:30 AM, Peter Gottlieb wrote:

Why the proscription against USB?
Because of difficulty with USB device drivers? Or the plethora of serial
port emulators that have unforeseen interactions with software that
thinks it's talking to a real serial port? or what?

There are some well documented issues with timing and USB that have been
rehashed here a few times.

On Sun, Jan 27, 2013 at 1:48 PM, Jim Lux jimlux@earthlink.net wrote:

On 1/27/13 11:01 AM, Bob Bownes wrote:

Sure, the timing isn't really , really predictable  (8kHz frame rate and
all that).. but assuming you're just controlling something where you
need 10s or 100s of millisecond timing and shoving data back and forth..

You've been lucky, or maybe not connected your GPS module until after
the system has booted and enumerated all the mice that it thinks are
connected. The real problem is that Microsoft by default assumes that if
you are a communications device gratuitously sending data then you must
be a mouse!

At least you will know what the problem is if it does occur.

On 27/01/2013 09:17, dlewis6767 wrote:

--
Stephen Tompsett

It came down to startup issues.  If every fifth time the system was turned on it
wouldn't initialize properly and not see an airflow or whatever sensor, it
required the calling of a tech from the test group to come over and get it
going.  We run Labview but it was always a Windows problem as the devices
wouldn't show up in Device Manager.

Peter

On 1/27/2013 1:48 PM, Jim Lux wrote:

I use a Digi serial to ethernet terminal server for various serial
devices.  You put the client software on your PC and the terminal server
ports show up as COM ports on the PC.  This keeps the physical COM ports
free for any critical timing applications.

Drivers are available for Windows 98 to Win7, Debian, Ubuntu, Fedora,
Solaris, AIX, HPUX, etc.  Seems like a reasonable list of operating systems.

Am I missing something?

Ed

On 1/27/2013 12:37 PM, bownes wrote:

aha

It may be that this HP pavilion I use for GPS work does not have a mouse,
per-se.

I just use the finger pad on the keyboard, ....got accustomed to it.

I always boot with the little usb adapters installed, ....sometimes two of
them, ...no problems yet.

From: "Stephen Tompsett" stephen@tompsett.net
Sent: Sunday, January 27, 2013 1:11 PM
To: time-nuts@febo.com
Subject: Re: [time-nuts] Serial port / Mouse issue (was
mentionedin"Thunderbolt Monitor")

Hi

We've had better luck with the FTDI based parts than with the other USB serial gizmos. Even they do drop out every so often. With the modern drivers it's a lot more rare than it once was. With 32 ports on a system and several systems it's a once or twice a year sort of thing now.

Bob

On Jan 27, 2013, at 2:28 PM, Peter Gottlieb nerd@verizon.net wrote:

On 1/27/13 11:28 AM, Peter Gottlieb wrote:

Aha.. yes.. I  understand..  Especially if you have a bunch of widgets
with the same manufacturer/device number. How do you know that the USB
widget that was COM4 yesterday is still COM4 and not COM 5.

What I would really like in Windows is a way to lock the configuration and make
it more of an appliance which always worked the same way.  That way a small
board talking to a Thunderbolt would always start up and just run.  I suppose I
need to get away from Windows and climb the Linux learning curve.

Peter

On 1/27/2013 4:26 PM, Jim Lux wrote:

On Sun, Jan 27, 2013 at 06:47:07PM -0500, Peter Gottlieb wrote:

Yes, or become a Windows kernel maven.

It IS possible to figure some of this out, but Windows internally

is somewhat bizzare...

Linux is nice in that you can look at the code if it comes to

that (and if you are really desperate and willing to pay the price,
change it too)...

--
Dave Emery N1PRE/AE, die@dieconsulting.com  DIE Consulting, Weston, Mass 02493
"An empty zombie mind with a forlorn barely readable weatherbeaten
'For Rent' sign still vainly flapping outside on the weed encrusted pole - in
celebration of what could have been, but wasn't and is not to be now either."

Hi

Pardon my interjection …. but.

For a simple TBolt monitor, any OS is total overkill. If all you have is a small / simple display - you can't put much up there. For a monitor you don't have a keyboard / mouse / usb touchpad / Bluetooth presentation wand. Nothing to do and nothing to control.  One big loop and not a lot else will do the trick with lots of time left over. If you want to go crazy, run one of the free RTOS distributions that the semiconductor companies give away. Freescale passes out MQX / MQX-lite. The others have similar "stuff". They all have way more in them than this sort of application requires.

Bob

On Aug 23, 2013, at 9:17 PM, David I. Emery die@dieconsulting.com wrote:

There was one just posted here using the Atmel AVR chip.  He used a total
of about $12 in parts.  You could use a TI "Launchpad" if you don't like
soldering and still spend less than $20.  And as was said, no OS at al.
It is simply not required for such a simple job.

If it were me, I remove the LCD display.  I don't see a need when everyone
today has a phone.  the little AVR chip can bit-bang a UDP packet once per
second and put it on your wifi router.  That cuts the parts cost by 1/3rd
and the display will be where you can see it, on the phone or computer.

On Fri, Aug 23, 2013 at 6:29 PM, Bob Camp lists@rtty.us wrote:

--

Chris Albertson
Redondo Beach, California

For serial to Ethernet I use ser2net [1] on cheap wireless routers
using the serial port pads on the board and a Beaglebone. The
application I use (u-blox u-center) can use TCP connections, if you
require a real COM port on Windows com0com and com2tcp [2] should work.

ser2net sends one TCP packet per character received on the serial port,
this may be desirable (when you need the lowest latency) or not (when
you want to reduce packet overhead)

[1] http://ser2net.sourceforge.net/
[2] http://com0com.sourceforge.net/

On Sun, Jan 27, 2013 at 9:47 PM, Stan, W1LE stanw1le@verizon.net wrote:

Hi
On Aug 24, 2013, at 1:37 AM, David J Taylor david-taylor@blueyonder.co.uk wrote:

Not really. In order to get anything done on a Pi you need a high level OS. It's a very complex part. If the objective is a low power install, the display that the Pi runs will nuke your budget big time. You are using a school bus to haul around one student. Yes it can be done, for an efficient design it's not the way to go.

Bob

Hi

If you are going to generate proper Ethernet UDP (or WiFi) that's going to involve a bit more hardware…

Bob

On Aug 24, 2013, at 12:04 AM, Chris Albertson albertson.chris@gmail.com wrote: