What are you all doing to get your racepaks to communicate with these newer lap tops with no serial ports? None of the USB to serial cables I have will work. All drivers are up to date

You need to make sure that the USB to serial adapter is being recognized before attempting to communicate with the RacePak. Install the adapter and start “Device Manager” on the laptop. From there you will be able to see if the adapter has been installed and what Com port it is using.

quote:

Originally posted by Matrix:
What are you all doing to get your racepaks to communicate with these newer lap tops with no serial ports? None of the USB to serial cables I have will work. All drivers are up to date

usually that's the USB converter. Don't know why but many generic USB converters work ok and then don't. The ones that come from Racepak are modified and always work. I have them - $47.

If you follow Rodney's direction above regarding Device Manager it should say Racepak USB device if it's the RP moded unit.

One last thought - if you have the Grid software (and some EFI systems) open there can be a conflict in getting Com/USB ports.

Ok so the cable I had bought originally wasn't compatible with windows 10. Bought another one and got all the drivers installed and it still won't communicate with the display dash. I have uninstalled and reinstalled the data link software and still no luck. I can plug any other USB device in and it will work instantly. FYI everything works and is labeled fine I was just wanting to update the firmware because I have never done it

quote:

Originally posted by Matrix:
Ok so the cable I had bought originally wasn't compatible with windows 10. Bought another one and got all the drivers installed and it still won't communicate with the display dash. I have uninstalled and reinstalled the data link software and still no luck. I can plug any other USB device in and it will work instantly. FYI everything works and is labeled fine I was just wanting to update the firmware because I have never done it

give me a call Daryl 609-265-2110

I recently obtained a Dell Latitude Laptop with Windows 10 and the Racepak USB adapter would not work with it. I went to the device manager and it comes up with unknown adapter and error 10. Called Racepak and was told to remove the latest DATALINK software and install the previous version 4.8.12 and it should solve the issue. Unfortunately it did not work. Went to Best Buy and bought a new Insignia adapter Model NS-PU99501 and my laptop recognized it right away. After setting the Com port, I am now I am able to communicate with Racepak and my MSD Digital 7 ignition.

Make sure you get an FTDI chipset in the USB adapter, they are more expensive but always work. I stock them for this reason.

Stay away from Prolific chipset type cables. These will only work on old computers. Usually a prolific chipset type cable will be Silver in color. Stay away from silver...

quote:

Originally posted by Don Higgins Crew Chief Pro Software:
Make sure you get an FTDI chipset in the USB adapter, they are more expensive but always work. I stock them for this reason.

Stay away from Prolific chipset type cables. These will only work on old computers. Usually a prolific chipset type cable will be Silver in color. Stay away from silver...

x2. I use the FTDI US232R-100 cable.