I have a laptop which has usb ports, vga ports, printer port but no serial port. I require a serial port to enable me to tune my GEMS ECU. I am aware that adapters can be bought to convert ports, question is if I buy a USB to serial adapter will the laptop and ECU be able to communicate ???

yes you can get serial to usb adapters from maplin, mine was about £15, they come with drivers on disc so you can just load them onto the laptop,

here you go

then go into the control panel and select device manager and you should see the port there, then just tell the ecu what port it is on the laptop and hey presto!

HTH

Alex

[Edited on 12/4/09 by omega0684]

Just be aware that some things which run off a serial port don't like USB-serial adaptors. Or rather they like some adaptors but not others. Ultimately it's a bit of trial and error until you find one that suits.

Hey, If i was you i would email GEMS to see which one they reccommend, as BenB said there are several different chipset types and all are not guaranteed to work. (I'm speaking from experience but with an Emerald ECU)

Also take note that most of the USB/Serial converters are using the 'Prolific' chips and Vista has NO drivers.

using XP really need windows 98 so will be using vmware to allow 2 operating systems. An old laptop with win 95 failed to recognise the ECU vis none serial port think this was down to age of the machine