Usb Irda

[Roger Firth]

Hello,

I'm not sure if this is a hardware issue, operating system, or what, so please bear with me.

Also, I'm aware that it may not be the best way to do things, but I've reached the point of simply wanting to "make it work"!

Some time ago, I bought a USB IRDA, which turned out to be a Kingsun ks-959.

I connected it to my (homemade) pc running windows xp pro, and installed the supplied drivers (ks959-2000xp.inf and ks-959.sys). Device Manager reported OK.

I then attempted to get it to communicate with my rather ancient laptop - IBM ThinkPad 770E running Win98SE which has a built-in IR.

Very occasionally (once per hour) one computer or the other would recognise, for a few seonds, the existance of the other, but no functionality could be obtained.

Since the hardware was very cheap, I obtained an alternative, from a different supplier - which turned out to be the same product.

I had identical results which made me suspect the fault was not hardware.

I have since tried the following:

* Installing direct cable connection (or XP equivalent), but that doesn't appear to help at all.

* Installing the KS-959's on an old (133MHz) PC running win98se - using the supplied 98 drivers. I always get a blue screen crash towards the end of the driver installation.

* Providing you first disable the integral IR on the laptop (98) either KS-959 will install without blue screen crash.

* Either KS-959 will install OK on my xp, but occasionally Device Manager will crash if you try & change the "max communication speed".

* I have tried altering the bios on the old 98 pc to all 3 varieties of IR (disable, halfduplex, fullduplex).

* IR doesnt appear on the xp bios.

* The bios is very well hidden on the laptop, and appears only to be adjustable using a special utility which I downloaded, and which was preinstalled on new machines. However, it does let you switch between front port / back port / both ports. It makes no difference.


The best I can acheive is very intermittant recognition of either the xp or the laptop, but no actual functionality.

I've searched for hours on the web, but I cant find ANYTHING relevant.

A work colleague suggested this as the best group of forums to try - so here I am. Any suggestions gratefully received.

Roger.

[Paul Komski]

The little I know about IRDA is that it is very short range and has a very restrictive cone of influence. Could those be factors in your problem. Bluetooth seems to be taking over this field. Presumably there are no problem devices in Device Manager thus indicating that the correct drivers are installed.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infrared_Data_Association

[Roger Firth]

Hi Paul,

Thanks for your reply.

I've investigated both range and angular issues. I have varied range from zero to 20 cm without noticing any change, beyond 20cm it seems dead. Likewise the angle seems effective from zero up to about 30 degrees.

There are no problem devices on device Manager.

R.

[Paul Komski]

The fact that you can get occasional "recognition" is what implied, to me, that it could be a signal problem. I don't see where DCC would come into things since you are attempting a non-cable connection - but perhaps it is an option. With pocket PCs (one would assume that laptops would be similar) ActiveSync (http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/wireless/2004/10/25/pocketpc.html) installed on both PCs would normally provide the best two-way communication. Perhaps there is specific sofware that is made for your device - just as there would be with USB to USB Link cables such as http://www.usbgear.com/link/index.html

IR doesnt appear on the xp biosNot surprising since only the laptop has native IR. Your device is a USB dongle.

[Roger Firth]

I completely agree with your remarks about the signal problem. Having done my degree (many years ago) in electronics, it is something I am only too familiar with.

However, there is no obvious relationship between the "occasional recognition" and factors such as range and angle. Also the "o r" occurs independantly ie if one computer "o r's" the other generally doesnt. And also, the "o r's" are extremely short lived (< 5 seconds).

All of which made me feel there was more to it than a signal problem.

In the meantime, I'm looking at the links you sent.

R.