On 20/10/2024 18:51, Roy J. Tellason, Sr. wrote:
I have here an Ancel BA101 battery tester, discovered by way of a YT video, and it's proved to be a handy gadget to have. In the "user manual" for this device (available online) it talks about the ability to print the data. Which requires you to connect it to a computer by way of a USB cable plugged into the tester's USB port. The documentation further refers to inserting a CD into the computer (it didn't come with any CD), making sure a driver was installed, then "open the print software" and select the appropriate COM port.I'm pretty sure that I don't need to install a driver, since I can connect all sorts of USB stuff to this computer with no problems. I'm not sure what print software they refer to here -- the illustration seems to refer to "PrintCOM v1.50421" which appears to have print, clear, and COM port selection options but also appears to be some kind of windoze software. How would I address accessing this device under linux and getting its info out to my printer?
COM ports are serial ports and are a very basic method of communication. Linux supports COM ports (the ports themselves) really well. You can use, say, minicom or screen to communicate with a device on the COM port. However, there are a number of challenges to overcome before you'll be able to use the tester.
Firstly, the parameters of the communication are rather complex (what speed, do you need parity bits / stop bits, who controls the flow of data). If you can find this information, you can tell the computer how to communicate with the other device. As a start, though, you can try "9600 8n1" (9600 bits per second, 8 bits per byte, NO parity, 1 stop bit) as this is the most common setting.
Next, you need to find out what data to send/receive over the port. If you're lucky, the device will be really simple and will just print battery results in plain text when you communicate. But if you're unlucky, you'll need to send it commands to tell it to do things. This communication protocol could be plain text, there could be a menu, it could be binary.. there are even some protocols (APC UPSes, I'm looking at you) which just consist of sending a single character to activate a function - if you happen to send the wrong character, something untoward might happen (in this case, turning off the UPS).
As another poster advised, only Ancel /really/ know the right way to use their device.
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