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Troubleshooting Article ID dl_prb025IssueI am using a USB-to-Serial converter for Docklight Monitoring Mode (passive RS232 monitoring). After an unspecified time, e.g. half an hour, the computer suddenly reboots / shows a bluescreen error. The USB device appears as "Prolific USB-to-Serial Comm Port" in the Windows Device manager.
Applies to:
Docklight V1.9 / Docklight Scripting V1.9
SolutionSymptoms like a sudden PC reboot are always caused by the serial port driver used, not by the Docklight application code itself. For USB devices with Prolific chipsets, e.g. EXSYS EX-1332, we received several related problem reports, which we could reproduce even using the latest drivers available (PL2303 XP driver v2.0.4.102). So why everything seems to be fine with other applications like Hyperterminal, but with Docklight Monitoring you run into a reboot? The reason is that Docklight accesses the serial port driver with much higher frequency that other applications do, to achieve highest monitoring accuracy possible. Docklight V1.8 and V1.9 additionally perform 'data forwarding' in Monitoring Mode - all data received on one COM port is immediately re-transmitted on the second COM port and vice versa. This situation seems to trigger a problem inside the Prolific serial driver. Possible solutions: *** 1) Use other to USB-to-RS232 equipment that is using other chipsets, e.g. from FTDI. For EXSYS products, their technical support recommended switching to the alternative product EX-1332V using FTDI chipset. *** 2) Disable 'data forwarding' in Docklight Monitoring Mode as described on the Docklight manual (see link below) Using this modifications, we were able to run a successful 24h test using a Prolific device. Related LinksEXSYS EX-1332V USB 2.0 to 2S Serial RS-232 ports, FTDI chipset e-mail to Docklight Technical Support
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