Many modern desktop PC's and most notebook computers today do not come equipped with the RS232 serial communications port needed by InfoSight's various printers.   This is especially problematic with notebook computers because it may not be possible to add a serial port by installing an add-in card.

To get around this limitation, you can use a commercially available device that plugs into the PC's USB port and provides an RS232 serial port that can be used to connect to the printer.   Although many brands and models of these converters exist, many have hardware and/or software design flaws that keep them from working properly with our printers.   This document is intended to aid you in selecting a USB to Serial converter that is compatible with our various printers.

Although many converters have different brand names, they actually have the same hardware design internally.   If you have a converter already installed on your PC, you can determine the type of hardware it uses by looking up its VID and PID values.   These values can be found in the Windows Device Manager for the converter's COM port device.

In the Device Manager, select the Ports section and highlight the port associated with the USB to Serial converter.  Right click this device and select Properties, which will open the properties dialog.   On the Details tab, select Device Interface ID from the drop-down list.   The VID and PID values will be shown in the resulting list.   See Figure 1 below for an example.

Figure 1

Once you have determined the VID and PID of the converter's hardware, you then need to find out the driver's version number.   From the same Properties dialog, select the Driver tab as shown below in Figure 2.

Figure 2

From the Driver tab you can see the name of the driver's provider along with the version number.   The driver version number, along with the VID and PID values can be used to determine if the converter is compatible with InfoSight printers.   See Table 1 below for compatible converters and example make and models that we have tested.

Remember that the brand names and model numbers shown in Table 1 are examples only.   We have tested these particular models and have found that they work satisfactorily with our printers.   However, you may be able to find other converters with the correct VID/PID values and driver versions as those listed here that will also work correctly.

If you have additional questions, or need help obtaining a USB to Serial converter for use with your InfoSight printer, please contact us for assistance.

*RoHS refers to the European Union environmental directives to reduce lead and other pollutants from electronic devices.