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On 12/27/2009 4:26 PM, William McKeehan wrote:
<blockquote cite="mid:1476a554dfbd4b13bdcaf2d637b6e1e0.squirrel@mckeehan.homeip.net" type="cite">
<pre wrap="">I believe this adapter is based on the Prolific chipset; the Hardware Id is
USB\Vid_0557&Pid_2008
Is there any way to confirm/reject that this is using a Prolific chipset? I
can't get it to recognize the prolific drivers.
</pre>
</blockquote>
<font face="Arial"><br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
Look at the .INF file that is part of the driver install package.
Usually, somewhere in the binary gibberish, you will see a text string
that mentions the chipset vendor. (Often, end hardware mfrs take the
sample driver from the chipset vender, and just change the name in the
description string. They will often leave/overlook other references to
the original source in the INF file.) <br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
Before installing/updating the driver, you want to delete the existing
one. In order to do this, you need to be able to reveal "Hidden
Devices" in the Windows Device Manager to select and delete the
existing instance(s) of the device. Since you will be fiddling a
lot with the Windows Device Manager, it is useful to create the
following shortcut on your Windows Desktop to go DIRECTLY to the Device
Manager with one click:<br>
<br>
</font>
<blockquote><font face="Arial">Right-click the desktop and choose:
"New, Shortcut". In the resulting dialog, enter " devmgmt.msc "
(without the quotes) into the "location of the item:" box. Click
"Next >" and enter "Device Manager" in the "Name for this shortcut"
dialog. You will now have a one-click shortcut to the Device
Manager. </font><br>
</blockquote>
<font face="Arial"><br>
<br>
By default, even selecting the menu item "View, Show Hidden Devices"
from the Device Manager menu won't show anything. You have to flip a
hidden "magic switch" in the Windows Registry first. Copy the
following paragraph into an empty Notepad window <br>
<br>
</font><tt><br>
<br>
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00<br>
<br>
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Control\Session
Manager\Environment]<br>
<br>
"DEVMGR_SHOW_NONPRESENT_DEVICES"=dword:00000001<br>
"DEVMGR_SHOW_DETAILS"=dword:00000001<br>
<br>
</tt><font face="Arial"><br>
<br>
</font><font face="Arial">Then save it as "<u>ShowHiddenDevices.reg</u>"
; i.e. not the default .TXT extension. Double-click this saved file
from the Windows File Explorer. Windows will ask if you want to enter
this data into the Windows Registry. Say "Yes". Then reboot. [I
routinely do these two things on EVERY Windows system I set up.] <br>
<br>
Now when you start the Device Manager and choose "View, Show Hidden
Devices" and expand the branches of the device tree, you will see
numerous items that are greyed-out. These are disconnected or
non-existent devices. <br>
<br>
EVERY time you plug in a device like a flash drive, external hard disk,
digicam, mouse, keyboard, USB<->serial dongle, etc, Windows
creates one of these entries. If you plug the same device into a
DIFFERENT port, you will get another (duplicate) entry for the same
device. If you plug the device in via a hub, rather than directly
into a root port on the machine, you will get yet another (duplicate)
entry. If you plug the same device into a DIFFFERENT port on the hub
you will get yet still another entry. </font><font face="Arial"> <br>
<br>
With flash drives or external hard disks,
each instance creates <b>THREE</b> entries: One in "Disk Drives", one
in
"Storage Volumes" AND one in "Universal Serial Bus Controllers" as "USB
Mass Storage Device". </font><font face="Arial">Over time , the
Registry can get clogged with DOZENS or HUNDREDS of duplicate entries
that make Windows Plug-N-Play slow down and get erratic. </font><font face="Arial">(Especially if you frantically start plugging the same
devices into numerous different ports trying to "fix" problems, or if
you have several different flash drives that you randomly plug into
different ports each time.)</font><font face="Arial"> </font>For each
one of these greyed branches, right-click the branch and choose
"Uninstall". Unlike the File Explorer, there seems to be no way to
group select these branches. You have to painstakingly delete each
branch individually. <br>
<br>
For USB<-->Serial Dongles, there will be entries under "Ports
(Serial & Parallel)", and possibly under "Universal Serial Bus
controllers" as well. <br>
<br>
In the future, you want to make a point of ALWAYS plugging a given
device into the SAME port, or the same port of the same hub every time.
[I actually have small printed labels on my hubs calling out given
ports as "Ext HDD", "Flash drive #1", "Flatbed Scanner", "iPod", "Nikon
Film Scanner", etc.] Part of routine Windows preventive maintainence
is to periodically show these "Hidden Devices" in the Device Manager,
and delete the dead wood. <br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<hr width="100%" size="2"><br>
--<br>
<br>
Stephen H. Smith wa8lmf (at) aol.com <br>
EchoLink Node: WA8LMF or 14400 [Think bottom of the 2M band]<br>
Skype: WA8LMF<br>
Home Page: <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://wa8lmf.net">http://wa8lmf.net</a><br>
<br>
NEW! Universal HF/VHF/UHF Antenna Mounting System<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://wa8lmf.net/mobile/UniversalAntMountSystem.htm">http://wa8lmf.net/mobile/UniversalAntMountSystem.htm</a><br>
<br>
"APRS 101" Explanation of APRS Path Selection & Digipeating <br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://wa8lmf.net/DigiPaths">http://wa8lmf.net/DigiPaths</a> <br>
<br>
Updated "Rev H" APRS <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://wa8lmf.net/aprs">http://wa8lmf.net/aprs</a><br>
Symbols Set for UI-View, <br>
UIpoint and APRSplus:<br>
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<font face="Arial"><br>
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</font>
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