[DSP-10] Virtual PC Serial Port Problem

[Yamamoto Jiro]

Hello Courtney,

Not sure if this help your problem, but here is just my experience with 
Virtual PC on iMac;

'EZFAST.EXE', a DSP program loader, does not work under DOS (or Windows 
NT) in Virtual PC. Even in a DOS box under Windows NT on a real PC, it 
does not work. In my experience, one needs a plain DOS on a real PC to 
get it working. On the other hand 'UHFA.EXE', a DOS front-end program, 
works nicely under both DOS and Windows NT4.0 (I have not tried with 
Windows XP) in my Virtual PC. 

So I used to first load 'UHF3.EXE' using 'EZFAST.EXE' from a real DOS 
PC, then boot DOS or Windows NT under Virtual PC (Mac OSX) and run 
'UHFA.EXE'. This scenario has been worked well to me using with Keyspan 
USA-28XB and iMac G4 (Mac OSX 10.3). 

PS. Thanks to KK7P's DSPx FLASH Utilty, now we don't need any loader 
such as 'EZFAST.EXE', do we?

Regards,
Jiro JQ2LMG

On Fri, 02 Dec 2005 20:35:07 -0800, Courtney Duncan wrote:
> 
>    I've recently come into posession of a fairly late model Mac PowerBook
>    G4  and  have  installed Virtual PC on it so as to run various amateur
>    radio programs that are Windows or DOS only.  Most sound card programs
>    work  fine, for example.  It's pretty suprising how well it all works.
>    However....
>    Using  a  Keyspan USA-19HS USB to serial adapter, I am able to use all
>    of  my  serial-port  wielding programs except DSP-10.  Even that seems
>    nearly to work.
>    Here's what works:
>    Reading and writing an IC-T81A from ICOM software.  (90s)
>    Reading  and  writing  a  TinyTrak3  APRS  box using Byonics software.
>    (recent)
>    Talking to a Kantronics K-1 (86 vintage) via Packcom or Xtalk.  (80s)
>    These last are old and clunky, yet work just fine.
>    Also,  I  can  talk  to  the EZ-Kit Lite using Xtalk in local mode  It
>    gives it's boot message legibly and multiple times and says "you type"
>    and responds to commands like '$$$' with the beep and report, etc.
>    But,  when  I  try  to  load  UHFA  using the EZ-Kit Lite Monitor host
>    program  in Windows, it seems to start, but after all too short a time
>    says,  "Time  out  waiting  for  EZ-LAB  to  complete operation", then
>    shortly  the  serial  port  stops  sending.   This  is after maybe ten
>    seconds.   Normally  it  takes thirty or so to load.  I've messed with
>    the timeout value in the configuration file to no avail.
>    Also,  when  I  load  it from my old PC, then boot Virtual PC into DOS
>    mode and try to run 'uhfa 1' it does something similar, the host tries
>    to write stuff, but then stalls and eventually gives up.
>    It's  like  there  was  some  handshaking  thing  going  on  or,  more
>    precisely,  not  going  on.   I've  tried  all  of the various Keyspan
>    handshaking options (CTS/RTS etc.) with no change in behavior.
>    So,  I've  tried  a lot of stuff but just can't get the EZ-Kit Lite to
>    take code.  Oh, once I did succeed at the DTMF demo and switched it on
>    and  off  several  times  before  exiting, so proper communications is
>    possible,  but  I've never been able to repeat even that.  Needless to
>    say,  my  life would be complete if I could somehow get DSP-10 working
>    with this laptop.  We could go on the road!
>    Has  anyone ever had serial problems with an EZ-Kit Lite, or otherwise
>    have   any  clue  as  to  what  might  be  going  on  (Virtual  PC  or
>    otherwise...)?
>    Courtney, n5bf/6