Complete beginner

[mightor]

I have one of those old school serial port towers They work really well. I am glad my laptop still has one of those ports, they're a rare commodity on new laptops nowadays.

- Xander

[hammersley1965]

Have sent Matt a private message regarding driver.

I guess I'll have to seriously charge some more batteries

Thank you all for putting up with me, hopefully I will be able to contribute in the future.

Paul

[mattallen37]

I have a desktop, and it doesn't even have one I would not only use it for the lego RCX, but for PICAXE as well. I guess I just need to find a USB to RS-232 adapter that works with Win7. It seems dumb to spend $15+ on an adapter specifically for Win7, when there are a ton that only cost about $2-3 for OS's up through vista. What's even more crazy, is that you can get computers with Win98 for less than the Win7 adapters.

I guess so. If you are using it for non-mobile applications, you can use a Lego adapter to save on batteries.

Well, thanks for your potential help as well.

[mightor]

If it has one of those standard FTDI chips in it then it should just work under Windows 7.

- Xander

[mattallen37]

Well, how should I know if it has an FTDI? When half the description is in Chinese... I guess maybe i'll just buy a couple cheap-o's and hope one works. I also thought about getting a MAX232 (I think that's the right term/name) and using my FTDI board from SparkFun (to program my Arduino).

I guess I'll look around a little.

[nxtreme]

Well, how should I know if it has an FTDI? When half the description is in Chinese... I guess maybe i'll just buy a couple cheap-o's and hope one works.

Most of the cheap UART to USB adapters you can buy will use the Prolific chip or some weird custom "black blob" chip. If you want something with an FTDI chip in it, you'll probably be paying at least $10 US.

[afanofosc]

With BricxCC connected to your RCX you can see the battery level in the Diagnostics tool window. What does it say when your RCX is beeping?

I think the only problem with USB drivers is that there are none that work with 64-bit versions of Windows. If you have 32-bit Windows 7 then you should be okay with the drivers that are on Philo's site.

John Hansen