USB Cable type for Cambridge 302 Flight Recorder

On Aug 28, 1:46*pm, Darryl Ramm wrote:
On Aug 28, 9:09*am, John Galloway wrote:





At 15:33 28 August 2010, Canav8 wrote:I recently upgraded a 302A flight recorder at Cambridge. It has
the
USB port installed. I am now trying to use my laptop to download
the
data. Jeff over at Cambridge did not say what type of USB cable
was
necessary to download the files but there are different types of
USB
cables. I have a USB to USB for windows to transfer files from
one
laptop to another but I am having difficulty with the flight recorder
connecting to the laptop. I have already tried to change the port
numbers as suggested in other threads. Thanks for any replies.

Doug

By chance, earlier today, I mentioned to a computer literate friend
that I could not get my 302A USB to connect to any PC computer. *
When I try it the mouse pointer just jumps about all over the place. *
He suggested that I should disable Windows Intellimouse because it
sounds as if the the PC is thinking that the 302A is a mouse. *I
have not had a chance to try this yet.

John Galloway

Actually that likely is not the primary issue here, since I suspect
you are just using the wrong USB cable.

Does Cambridge not provide any documentation? Do they not provide a
cable? Especially since they make what looks like a weird type A
receptacle choice.

Judging by the number of problems I see people having with this
adapter, I'd not waste my time upgrading an existing C302 to get this.

Oh alright, since you seem eager,...

AFAIK the USB port in the C302 is just a generic USB to serial
adapter. The slide switch just connects the internal serial port to
the serial side of the USB adapter or to the "classic" DB-9 serial
connector. So the C302 adapter really has no benefit over an external
USB to serial adapter, so if you have one of those that already works
just use it. I like the Kesypan USA-19HS and have good results using
it with both Windows XP and recent Mac OS/X platforms. And buying this
adapter is probably several times cheaper than upgrading a C302 to add
the USB port.

As a slave device the C302 internal USB to serial adapter should have
a type -B connector and then any cable would work. But for some
unexplained reason Cambridge put an A- receptacle on the C302.

If you have a USB type A to USB type A cable that you use to network
between two PCs/laptops (aka a "peer-to-peer", "host-to-host", or "USB-
networking" cable) then it will have active electronics in it to
interface between two USB host devices. That would be the wrong type
of cable here, since you are connecting a USB-host and a USB-slave.

What you need here is plain USB type A male-plug to USB type A male-
plug cable, the type with no active electronics. These cables are
available but not all that common. You can also find USB type B
receptacle to type A plug adapters that you can plug onto the type B
(square end) of a conventional USB Type A to type B cable. However
don't go plugging two computers (USB hosts) together with these
cables, there is a slight chance of damage.

--

Once you have this working can you use the device manager in Windows
and give me some information on the chipset in the C302. Go to the
Windows device manager and look under "Universal Serial Bus
Controllers" and expand that list and double-click on what looks like
the USB to serial converter and tell me what is on the "General" and
"DriverDriver Details" panels.

Darryl- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Darryl, here is the data you were seeking for the 302A.

General tab:
Manufacturer: FTDI

Driver tab:
Driver date:7/12/2010
Driver version:2.8.2.0
Digital Signer: Microsoft Windows Hardware Compatible Pub...

Driver File Details
Driver files:
C:\\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\ftser2k.sys
C:\\WINDOWS\system32\DRIVERS\serenum.sys
C:\\WINDOWS\system32\ftcserco.dll
C:\\WINDOWS\system32\ftserui2.dll
Provider: FTDI Ltd.
File version: 2.08.02 built by: WinDDK
Copyright (c) 2000-2010 FTDI Ltd.
Digital Signer: Microsoft Windows Hardware Compatiblity

Details Tab:
Device Instance Id
FTDIBUS\VID_0403+PID_6001+12345679A\0000

Darryl, thanks for trying to help and being patient. I don't know what
any of the above means but I hope it helps. Doug

I got the USB to work and all is good. It turns out yes there was an
installation manual with the original 302A and it had the Serial port
on the 302A. I sent it back to Cambridge and they upgraded the 302A to
USB ports. The only problem was the USB port they installed was the
wrong type. They installed a USBA port instead of a USBB. The 302A is
a slave not a primary, but that is a different discussion. Jeff sent
the 302A back to me and I tried to power it up using their
instructions. Well I had got a USBA to USBA cable from Fry's because
there was not one with the upgrade and the instructions said that the
device driver is stored on the unit. Well I got a data transfer cable
with the USBA to USBA connectors. It turns out that was the incorrect
one according to Jeff at Cambridge. I exhausted all my options trying
to get the Windows laptop and the 302A to interface. I was able to
download data on it but upload anything.

I just tried to put my name and the LS-4 data in the 302A but it would
not take. I reread the instructions and even placed calls to Jeff.
This went on for a week. I tried all the different drivers on the
Cambridge site. Nothing worked. Out of the Blue Jeff calls from
Cambridge and we talked. He asked a bunch of questions and the type of
questions he was asking gave me the impression that he had no clue
what he was doing. I thought the whole thing was odd. Jeff did ask one
key question though and he asked if the green LED on the front was on
and stayed on? I told him that it was infact on and said send it back
to me.

So another week goes by and he calls me again and says that the
firmware was erased off of the 302A. I said well could you tell me
what I might have done to do that so I can prevent it from happening
again? He said well there is nothing that the end user can do to erase
it. Well he said he replaced the processor in the 302A. I just got it
back yesterday and played with it. I was able to get it to interface
with both my computers so I am out about $200 for the Upgrade,the
calibrating, and shipping but it is working now. D