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StudioMadcrow
Newbie
Joined: 11 Jan 2008
Posts: 13
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 Posted: 11 Jan 2008 03:20:31 pm Post subject: |
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| I recently was cleaning out my dresser, when I found my good old 83+, which I hadn't used since high school. I turned it on to see if it still worked (it does) and played a few of the games I still have around and was quite pleased. But now I want to upgrade my old Mirage 1.0, and get some new games (and some PDA-type software), but I find that I've lost my old transfer cable... I DO, however, have an old digital camera serial cable that has the same mini-audio jack as the old serial TI cables... Would this work for transfers or do I need a new cable from TI? |
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DarkerLine
ceci n'est pas une |
Super Elite (Last Title)
Joined: 04 Nov 2003
Posts: 8328
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| Posted: 11 Jan 2008 03:23:26 pm Post subject: |
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| I doubt it, since even the TI serial cables only work on a good day, but you should try it. |
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Ph34r_my_l33t_skillz
Advanced Member
Joined: 09 Oct 2007
Posts: 339
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| Posted: 11 Jan 2008 03:36:16 pm Post subject: |
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I'd say if that doesn't work, get a SilverLink cable. Those are the best for 83+'s.
And welcome to United-TI!  |
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lordofthegeeks
Advanced Member
Joined: 13 Jul 2007
Posts: 280
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| Posted: 11 Jan 2008 03:40:36 pm Post subject: |
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I have one from a pda and it didn't work But it could have been the fact its been kicking around for the past 2 years literaly.
Last edited by Guest on 11 Jan 2008 03:41:17 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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DigiTan
Unregistered HyperCam 2
Super Elite (Last Title)
Joined: 10 Nov 2003
Posts: 4468
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| Posted: 11 Jan 2008 04:03:30 pm Post subject: |
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| Yeah, I'm with DarkerLine on this one. There's most likely no harm in attempting it. These TI serial link designs are extremely common. If there's any problem at all, it's probably going to be link software incompatibility. It depends on the link software you use. |
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StudioMadcrow
Newbie
Joined: 11 Jan 2008
Posts: 13
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| Posted: 11 Jan 2008 04:16:27 pm Post subject: |
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Ph34r_my_l33t_skillz wrote: I'd say if that doesn't work, get a SilverLink cable. Those are the best for 83+'s.
And welcome to United-TI!
[post="118650"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post]
Thanks for the welcome. I'll try it and hope I don't fry anything...
Sorry for the double post, but I just wanted to say that I tried it and it failed... The computer-end pinouts must differ or something...
Last edited by Guest on 12 Jan 2008 01:59:48 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Ph34r_my_l33t_skillz
Advanced Member
Joined: 09 Oct 2007
Posts: 339
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| Posted: 12 Jan 2008 11:48:03 am Post subject: |
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| Probably the difference between the SilverLink cable and the one that you found is the SilverLink has special hardware to transfer files. That probably wouldn't work with a normal cable. |
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StudioMadcrow
Newbie
Joined: 11 Jan 2008
Posts: 13
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| Posted: 12 Jan 2008 12:24:30 pm Post subject: |
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Ph34r_my_l33t_skillz wrote: Probably the difference between the SilverLink cable and the one that you found is the SilverLink has special hardware to transfer files. That probably wouldn't work with a normal cable.
[post="118695"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post]
Well, it would be the Black or Gray link that it would work as, if it were to work at all... That it DOESN'T work means that either the camera cable has some logic in it that scrambles the TI's signals, or that the TI serial cords have some sort of logic (just like the Silverlink does) that's missing in the old camera cable... |
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DigiTan
Unregistered HyperCam 2
Super Elite (Last Title)
Joined: 10 Nov 2003
Posts: 4468
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| Posted: 12 Jan 2008 02:25:41 pm Post subject: |
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| One way to tell for certain is to dismantle the cable and compare it against the $4 link layout. If there's an inconsistency, it may be less trouble to just buy a replacement. |
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brandonw
Advanced Member
Joined: 12 Jan 2007
Posts: 455
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| Posted: 12 Jan 2008 02:52:42 pm Post subject: |
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DarkerLine wrote: I doubt it, since even the TI serial cables only work on a good day, but you should try it.
[post="118648"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post]
I use nothing but the blacklink (but have them all) and have no problems.
Those serial<->3.5mm PDA cables won't work. TI's link protocol isn't standard. Linking software directly accesses the lines for the cheap serial links, and that's not how those PDA connections work. TI's method is silly and no one else is silly enough to do the same thing (at least I hope so).
Last edited by Guest on 12 Jan 2008 02:54:11 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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DigiTan
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| Posted: 12 Jan 2008 03:26:16 pm Post subject: |
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Well, before you crap on TI, remember you just said your link still works perfectly. :confused:
The rub here is that there are many conventions for RS-232. The homemade TI links use both the data and control lines for data transfer. That's typical for low-baud rate cables where the data speed doesn't justify using flow control or handshaking.
I'd suspect the camera did utilize their handshaking. There's a way tell. You can download RealTerm and set the console to "spy" mode while trying to send something. If the pins being used don't match up with the $4 Link Plans, you know where the problem is.
Last edited by Guest on 12 Jan 2008 03:29:43 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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brandonw
Advanced Member
Joined: 12 Jan 2007
Posts: 455
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| Posted: 13 Jan 2008 01:48:37 am Post subject: |
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DigiTan wrote: Well, before you crap on TI, remember you just said your link still works perfectly. :confused:
It may work well, but that doesn't mean it's smart, which it's not. It also prevents it from being used with serial<->USB converters, so no linking for me with it on the laptop. |
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DarkerLine
ceci n'est pas une |
Super Elite (Last Title)
Joined: 04 Nov 2003
Posts: 8328
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| Posted: 13 Jan 2008 09:55:47 am Post subject: |
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| Incidentally, are there any link cables that work with laptops? I haven't tried many of them (i.e. one or two 2 years ago then I gave up). |
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Ph34r_my_l33t_skillz
Advanced Member
Joined: 09 Oct 2007
Posts: 339
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| Posted: 13 Jan 2008 10:35:04 am Post subject: |
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| Any USB cable should work with a laptop... assuming the laptop has a USB port. |
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Igrek
Member
Joined: 23 Aug 2007
Posts: 151
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| Posted: 13 Jan 2008 11:22:06 am Post subject: |
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| I got my USB Direct link and my black serial cable to work with my (ancient) Laptop. Serial cables will only work with a laptop that has a serial port (mine has). |
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Ph34r_my_l33t_skillz
Advanced Member
Joined: 09 Oct 2007
Posts: 339
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| Posted: 13 Jan 2008 11:32:58 am Post subject: |
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| How "ancient" is your laptop? If it's at least window 2000 (assuming it's windows), any cable would work. |
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Igrek
Member
Joined: 23 Aug 2007
Posts: 151
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| Posted: 13 Jan 2008 11:58:42 am Post subject: |
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| It is a windows 98 but black serial and USB direct work. |
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DigiTan
Unregistered HyperCam 2
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Joined: 10 Nov 2003
Posts: 4468
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| Posted: 13 Jan 2008 12:18:13 pm Post subject: |
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brandonw wrote: It may work well, but that doesn't mean it's smart, which it's not. It also prevents it from being used with serial<->USB converters, so no linking for me with it on the laptop.
Keep in mind the blacklink pre-dated the USB specification by over 3 years. Unless TI was dabbling in time travel, there's no way they could have anticipated USB--that's why it's obsolete. I've designed at least a dozen serial<->USB and serial<->TTL devices, and like I said, there's multiple RS-232 conventions. TI just picked the most appropriate one for the situation.
The only serial link I've gotten to work with laptops is the $4 Link with that program WTran8x (with DLPortIO installed). This was back when Win 98 was still king though, so I haven't tried it with XP. The parallel link however seems to work with everything so long as the port is set to ECP mode in the BIOS.
Last edited by Guest on 13 Jan 2008 12:19:26 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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brandonw
Advanced Member
Joined: 12 Jan 2007
Posts: 455
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| Posted: 13 Jan 2008 02:14:07 pm Post subject: |
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DigiTan wrote: brandonw wrote: It may work well, but that doesn't mean it's smart, which it's not. It also prevents it from being used with serial<->USB converters, so no linking for me with it on the laptop.
Keep in mind the blacklink pre-dated the USB specification by over 3 years. Unless TI was dabbling in time travel, there's no way they could have anticipated USB--that's why it's obsolete.
I said nothing about USB. I was saying they should've used the standard RS232 protocol. |
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DigiTan
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Joined: 10 Nov 2003
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| Posted: 13 Jan 2008 03:25:21 pm Post subject: |
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brandonw wrote: It also prevents it from being used with serial<->USB converters
brandonw wrote: I said nothing about USB.
...
That right there tells me this dialog is doomed to go nowhere. 
But I think you're missing the point that the cable does comply with RS-232 (otherwise, it wouldn't work at all would it? ). It's just using a different subset of the same RS-232 rules. Most likely this camera used the Plug-n-Play COM Device Specification (with DTR/DSR flow control), whereas TIs work more like a generic UART (with no flow control). It happens. That's where you use a prog like RealTerm to tell the difference.
Don't take my word for it. Just look at RS-232 schematics on the web. Before long, you'll find cables that utilize DTR/DSR, some using CTS/RTS, and some using only data and ground.
Last edited by Guest on 13 Jan 2008 03:31:50 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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