This works fine with Linux. It shows up on the USB bus as 1a86:7523, and uses the CH341 driver. I expect it will work automatically with most distributions.
The one that I received was green instead of the pictured blue. It comes with a flimsy USB extension cable, which may be helpful if it doesn't fit nicely plugged in directly. As noted by others, it has screws to attach to something instead of sockets for the screws on the serial cable, but the fit is usually tight enough that the screws are pointless. USB 2.0 to 9 Pin RS232 Serial Convert Adapter
This device was described as being able to provide legacy (RS-232) connectivity to my legacy-free laptop. The converter shipped with a driver disc and USB extension cable. The driver disc had everything needed for my WinXP laptop to use the device, and from my laptop perspective, everything looked like it was working, albeit with a very old driver version. The external serial device (a scan gun) even recognized that ActiveSync tried to connect, but it could not establish a working connection.
When I contacted tech support, they were very responsive and helped with some basic troubleshooting before shipping a replacement. Both the initial shipment and this replacement were very prompt, but neither could be made to work. My need for this has passed, and with it my desire to troubleshoot the issue further. So because the problem is possibly with my laptop, I can only rate this product on the aspects I used firsthand: installation & customer support.
Unit cames in envelope with mini disc; no manual, no README, nothing. Construction quality is basic, there's no 'activity' or health LEDs ... but the price is startling good.
I put the disc in the WinXP laptop, plugged in the unit, let XP find the driver and install it ... it seemed to become COM8. Taht seemed OK, except for the software I was using not seeing the new port at all ... it's software from about 2005 (for an Elite PowerTrainer cycle trainer, s/w ver 2.0), and the program claims it scans all the COM ports on its own, doesn't let me set up anything. So, when the program didn't see the connected powertrainer, I started futzing ... I opened the driver control panel (Computer "Device Manager") and changed the port number to COM1 and then to COM2, I ran every installer on the little disc, uninstalled and reinstalled the driver and the PowerTrain software ... and eventually, after about 20 minutes, it worked. In the end, I have the device working on COM1, using the CH341PT.DLL driver, under WindowsXP 32 bit, SP 3.
Windows was telling me the device was functioning properly, but I was not confident that (unsigned, no WHQL) driver would be reporting properly. It would have been really nice to have a short readme or a pointer to a utility - some way to confirm the device was really working. So, depite the fact that it worked and was really cheap (5 stars) I deduct one star for installation confusion (too many things on the little disk), and one star for lack of diagnostic support.
broke when i irst plugged it in, driver didnt work, not worth the little ammount i spent and not worth the time to try and resolve the issue, wouldnt even give it a star, dynex from bestbuy is what i got to replace it and no issues.
I purchased this to connect my old Lego Mindstorms. There are no real instructions but after playing with all the software I was able successfully install the drivers. However, by inserting and removing the hardware I broke the solder on the USB part. At this point I haven't tried to resolder it. I'm running Win7 32bit. The driver is located in the PL-2303 folder. Furthermore, there are 2 utilities that aid with the install; SetCOM.exe and PL-2303H_HX_X simple test program.exe located in the PL-2303\usb-serial folder. I hope this helps perspective purchasers.
I bought this, but doesn't I get an error that windows does not recognise it. I installed all of the drivers that were on the disk but it still doesn't. I spend our on the internet looking for a solution but I still can't fin a better solution than to throw in the trash can.
Do not buy it. You think it plugs into a USB port and allows your Garmin cable to plug right in, BUT there's some dumb mini-disc and you need to install something....and in the end nothing works. Pointless, useless and utterly dysfunctional: it shouldn't be sold, it's pretty much fraud. - Works As Advertised - Serial Adapter'
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