USB to rs232 cable drivers

[eyesofadj]

Hi there

I am hoping someone can help. I have bought one of these cables from eBay to update my software on a780, but my vista, win98 pro Lapps cannot find drivers??? I have contacted supplier, but not really getting anywhere, anyone know where I can pick up a list of drivers I can check? Soon frustrating, I have been searching for hours and emailing this supplier numerous times, but getting know here and my a780 has been lying unused for months now, what a waste!

[cactikid]

find an old pc with xp and serial port and use a null modem cable=job done.
vista sucks

[Vipex1]

-make sure you get the driver with the right os type (32 or 64 bit)
-run any installations as administrator (right click->run as admin)
-you are looking for a VCP driver - Virtual COM Port, AKA usb-serial or usb-rs232
-the majority of these cables use an FTDI or Prolific chip but some cheaper ones don't
-uninstall & delete the driver every time (device manager) VERY IMPORTANT OR IT WILL JUST REINSTALL THE SAME ONE
-install the driver THEN plug in the device

the reasons this could be tough are 3 fold

1) there are plenty of drivers out there, but it would help no end to find the make/model number of the adapter but chances are you can't so you can either use trial and error
or
If it's being detected, you should be able to pull some info from it in Device Manager (right click computer on start menu -> manage), your device should have a yellow ! next to it where you haven't installed a driver, go into properties and look for 'Device ID' or similar. Then google that ID.
If you can't get this, try and attach it to a Linux PC and run the isusb command, it will give the same info. If you don't have Linux, google Live Linux, you can run it from a CD or USB dongle without effecting your current os.

2) win98 will always have problems, vista is touch and go - XP is always preferable it seems to just not argue as much with new devices especially when flashing things.

3) even if you have installed the correct driver, the ports must be assigned correctly or they still won't work, especially if using software to flash things it needs to find the right COM port as sometimes it will not auto detect properly. You can have a fiddle in Printer Server properties in Devices & Printers in Control Panel and look a the port tab, it should show you what ports (inc virtual) are being used by what, and you can change this.

I don't want to insult you as you said you've put a few hours of research already into this but give a few of these a go:

Virtual COM Port Drivers

http://www.prolific.com.tw/UserFiles/files/PL2303_Prolific_DriverInstaller_v1_8_19.zip

http://support.radioshack.com/Download/software/260-0183.exe

http://sgcdn.startech.com/005329/media/sets/Prolific-PL-2303_Drivers/Prolific_PL2303.zip