Ok, ill give this my best shot, im kinda Holley oriented, but have been tuning my car for a little while, so im starting to get the hang of this. I did a search on this, but couldnt find anything that my simple mind could understand. I have a 1997 Camaro SS that I have converted to OBD1. I have been using an AKM cable with a USB connector on it. I just bought a new laptop that dosent have a USB port on it, only serial port. How can I adapt? Do I need a new cable? Can I use an adaptor, I have heard of people having problems with data transfer rates when using an adaptor. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance. Eric L

 

i have a akm cable with a serial end on it and have been wanting to get one with a usb end on it, want to trade?

 

A new laptop without a USB port would seem to be fairly unusual??? AKM should have an "old stock" of serial cables, since no one has bought them for at least 5 to 6 years.

 

Im sorry, maybe im using the wrong words. My connector has 9 pins on my cord. And my new computer has small flat connector. Sorry if I misspoke. The tuning I get, the computer stuff still eludes me. Thanks Eric L

 

That sounds better. Your AKM cable is a serial cable, your laptop has a USB port. You need a serial to USB converter. They are readily available. Not sure what is around where you live, though.

 

I can get the adaptor either locally or on the net. But my question would be wether it would work. I have heard problems with people having data transfer issues with the adaptor? Thanks Eric L

 

Eric, the converters with the FTDI chip in them work best - the specs will usually say if it's FTDI based. There are two FTDI usb/serial driver programs which run the port converter and they both must be installed and loaded to make it work. Then you must match the serial port number in the software to what you have configured in your laptop for the virtual serial ports you have added.

 

Where would I get one of those adaptors and the drivers to go with it? And why are there two drivers for the program? Thank you so much for the help, its greately appreciated. Would it just be easier to get a differant cable, or are there problems with that method as well? Thanks Eric L

 

http://www.usbgear.com/Serial-usb-adapter/index.cfm

Would this adaptor work for what I want to do? Thanks Eric L

 

Eric, does the new laptop have a pcmcia slot? if not, you are sol, and need to see if you can still do the trade-up at akmcables. You'll get a new usb box and a cd with the drivers and just install them off the cd. If I remember right, he said the belkin adapters work the best, but then even certain belkins don't
https://www.camaroz28.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=694605

If your new laptop has windows 7, you might be in for a real disappointment. I still run my usb box under vista no problems though

 

Go to the AKM site. He has a trade in program. http://www.akmcables.com/trade-up.htm

 

Buy this one, it's one of the few that will work. http://www.amazon.com/Keyspan-Speed-.../dp/B0000VYJRY

 

Thanks for all the replys guys. Yes im running Windows 7 and hopefully I can make one of these solutions work. I also emailed andrew at AKM and am hoping his trade in program supports windows 7. Keep your fingers crossed, lol. Eric L

 

Well I tested my USB cable with Windows 7 and Datamaster EE tonight, and it worked fine. I'm using Windows 7 Enterprise, 32-bit.

Driver installation under Windows 7 is a bit strange though. As soon as I plugged in the cable, it said "Driver Error" and would not let me browse to the CD - it never gave me the opportunity to load the driver from the CD. At that point I had 2 options - let it go to Windows Update, or run the Setup Executable. I chose Windows Update (since I was on wireless), and it found the FTDI driver and installed correctly. But, the executable version of the driver works too - I used it last week on my wife's Win 7 Home Premium laptop (it wouldn't install from CD either).

So be aware, Win7 needs the executable (it's now on the CD's), or access to Windows Update, for the driver to load.

And Datamaster worked fine (I was testing 3.6.0, which is basically a cleaned up Vista/Win7-friendlier version of 3.5.1). The new version will be available for everyone to download from the TTS web site soon (and it will install right over the top of the old version, so no new Authorization Code required).

So Eric, looks like it's a go.

Cheers,

Andrew

 

Thank you Andrew, as always, your da man. Thanks a million. Ill be getting a hold of you after the holidays to do the cable exchange. Thanks again, Eric L