Getting the Comms working

This page last modified 23 November 2008

As the ECUController automatically configures the serial port parameters, most of the problems tend to be simply identifying which comms port the ECU is connected to. A newer PC usually does not have a serial comms port. In this case a USB to Serial adpater is needed. Problem is the resulting Comm port can appear in the oddest place, especially if you also have bluetooth active. The follow steps outlines how to find the port or in some cases, set it.

Find the MyComputer icon. It may be on your desktop or in your start menu. Right click the icon and select Properties. If you click on the Hardware tab you should see the following.

System Properties

Now click on Device Manager to reveal the following. Here you can see that the USB to Serial adapter is Comm3.

Device Manager 0

Verifying with Hyperterminal

Hyperterminal is a standard Windows program. Open it by navigating from the Start button as below.

HyperTerminal 0

The first dialog askes you to select a name and icon. These can be anything you like.

HyperTerminal 1

The next dialog askes you to select the Comm port.

HyperTerminal 2

Next set the comms paramters to match those here.

HyperTerminal 3

Press ok and if things are ok you should see a continously updating line like below. To check for two way comms, press the spacebar and the update should stop. Press the enter key and the updates should resume.

HyperTerminal 4

Now close Hyperterminal and start the ECUController. Click ECUController Config and enter the required port, keeping the : . This setting will be remember for next time.

ECUController