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Serial converter questions(yes more questions sorry)-Xarcade
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genesim:
Ok got a few more.   

So if one were wanting to convert a Serial to PS/2 and PS/2 to Serial along with Serial to USB, do you see any problems with voltage etc.??

I heard PS/2 to Serial is quite common, but never the other way around.

I have all the connectors, but still wondering if there is a potential for frying a circuit board or a PC/console system.

I am wanting to do this to use a KVM switch box.

Thx in advance.
xmenxmen:
1st off, what the hack are you trying to connect that's serial??  I am pretty sure that's no problem with it, but why???  I would say it's probably easier and cheaper to just go buy a cheap usb kvm, or just switch over to ps2 completely.
genesim:
The Xarcade uses serial ports for consoles.

I want it to switch with a PS/2 KVM switch.

The USB is because I want the alternate because I have a IPAC on board as well that is COMPLETELY independent of the Xarcade DIY board.

Goes like this.   Serial female comes off the board.    Male serial to USB or PS/2 goes to computer.     

Optional Male/Male Serial pass thru goes to Female Console adapters(Dreamcast and Playstation 2).

Now the problem is in many parts.

First of all, the USB/PS/2 is wrong gender on serial side if you want to connect it outside of the arcade panel without cutting it up...so I bought a gender changer to female to work with the male pass thru.

So now all connectors to respective computer/console are female.    Then I got a male serial to male PS/2 converter for each part wich can plug into my KVM to switch between the 3.    Then I got a Male to male converter the goes from PS/2 back to serial...but I then had to get another gender changer to switch it back to female to use the male/male pass thru back up to the original board.

Now what I was wondering is if signal is going to be a problem, or any kind of electric overload etc.

To me, this should all work, but I haven't tested yet because of a faulty board.    As soon as that is replaced then I will try these out a little at a time.    I would rather use one switch box then get a separate serial switcher.

One button and I can use audio/video/control panel at the same time.    With the exception of switching digital to analog at my LCD, it will be quite simple....IF it works!
xmenxmen:
Not really sure it's all those conversion should work or not, but one thing I can recommend is that when you do the switch, make sure the component (computer or ocnsole) is off before making the switch just to be safe.

Give it a try and let us know.  Personally I can see this introducing more problem than it's worth, but creating interesting things is what we do here a lot.  So anything is possible.
SavannahLion:
Go ahead and try it, but I think you're misunderstanding just what it means to do all that gender and race bending. I looked at the X-arcade and did only a small amount of research to understand the basics of how it works. I lost interest in purchasing it so I never bothered with the fine details.

The short of it, it's going to take a few more adapters than what you've got because you're probably going to need to interpret the protocol at each stage. In the end, you're going to spend too much money trying to get everything to work together when going with a different solution might net you more satisfactory results.

The long of it is; The X-Arcade obviously serializes the button presses. XGaming claims the XA, "Uses standard serial connection." I've yet to see anyone report plugging in the X-arcade into their legacy serial port and getting results. Because of the included PS/2 adapter one can probably assume it's just a DB9 to a PS/2 cable. That likely indicates the XA can natively communicate via PS/2.

Here's the gotcha though. The XA uses a box for the USB adapter. It's hard to get a good photo the insides, but it looks like there's a circuit board inside. Likely means the XA can't natively communicate via USB. That's the ingeniouseness behind what XA is doing. Rather than modifying the firmware with each new console, they simply sell the updated controller in a seperate box. There's ZERO need to provide support to update existing XA's in the field with a new protocol and a way to charge the customer extra if they desire the new protocol.

I lost track of what you're trying to do, but in the end you're likely going to encounter protocol problems.

You're giving the XA a Serial<->PS/2 adapter, so now it's communicating in PS/2 to the KVM. From the KVM, you're switching from PS/2<->Serial to go to the individual console adapters. Ooops.... The XA is communicating in PS/2 to the KVM which is also a PS/2. The KVM is sending out a PS/2 protocol, not the RS-232 protocol. The XA probably has no idea it's connected to a console adapter down the line. To consider a possibility of working, you'll need a box (not a cable) that actively converts the protocol from PS/2 to RS-232. This assumes the serial protocol is standard RS-232.

The USB presents the same problem. You can't just use a passive PS/2 to USB cable from the KVM (unless the KVM can actively convert to the USB protocol). You need an active PS/2 to USB converter for that. You can forget about a passive Serial to USB cable, it's going to have to be active.

With all these conversions, you're going to encounter some interesting limitations. Can you ensure that all the active converters at each stage will pass all the key presses or is one of them going to restrict keypresses at some point? What about lost packets? Packet delay? Those protocol conversions aren't free you know.

My suggestion? Forgo the KVM entirely. Use a dumb 1-to-X Serial selector box. Most use those annoying selector knobs, I've seen a few circuit projects that use a digital selector switch. By doing so, you cut out half of your conversion problems. With a little circuit bending, you might even be able to adapt a video selector switch for the consoles as well. I suspect that's the main reason you're doing all this contorting with the KVM. By using a dumb 1-to-x selector, you minimize the number of active protocol conversions required.

A PC can accept multiple USB keyboards, so a direct connection from the IPac to PC will should cause no problems.
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