[nfbcs] Old braille display, new computer

[Rasmussen, Lloyd]

You may need some driver software that is hard to find. But if that's not the issue, remember that when you plug one of these USB-to-serial adapters in, it creates a virtual serial port. You can find out what COM port number has been assigned to your device by looking in Device Manager (at least that's where you find it in Windows 7). I have seen it in Windows 10, also. Windows 10 disables some USB-to-serial cables. This happened to me with cables from RadioShack, which identified themselves as manufactured by Prolific, but apparently were not.

Lloyd Rasmussen, Senior Staff Engineer
National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, Library of Congress
Washington, DC 20542   202-707-0535
http://www.loc.gov/nls/
The preceding opinions are my own and do not necessarily reflect those of the Library of Congress, NLS.


-----Original Message-----
From: nfbcs [mailto:nfbcs-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Tracy Carcione via nfbcs
Sent: Wednesday, April 11, 2018 9:38 AM
To: 'NFB in Computer Science Mailing List'
Cc: Tracy Carcione; 'Discussion of accessible home electronics and appliances'
Subject: [nfbcs] Old braille display, new computer

I'm trying to get an old Alva 640 to work with a new laptop.  The Alva has a serial connection, and the laptop only has USB.  I have a USB to serial converter cable, but Jaws only has a serial connection option for this model display.  I tried telling Jaws it's a later model Alva, but that doesn't appear to work.

Does anyone have any ideas how I can make the connection work?  The display works well, and I'd like to keep using it.  And a new display is definitely not cheap. $3000 seems to be the standard price.

Thanks.

Tracy

 

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