Thread: kit74 problems

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Just got my Kit74 in and having somewhat of some problems.

I ordered a kit74 preassembled
i also ordered a USB to Db25 cable ( hoping to use the Laptop to run it all)

so i plug in the power to the board and the cable ( installed the drivers for cable)

the lights flash on and off and 3 of the LED's turn off rest are on. so i load up VSA and just make a short thing to see if the LED's will turn on and off.

nothing but #1 comes on and off no matter if i add something to #1 or #5 or even #8 and it is just the light i see one the #1 no sound from the relay.

Is this all normal? or should i just get a DB25 male/Female connector to go to my PC? or can anyone tell me where and what cable you are using. I am flustered and Halloween is getting closer.

Before you ask it showed up on port com8 which i changed in settings and left the baud at 9600 ( not sure if that is right) and tried every option of Relay and nothing worked correctly.

It sounds like you got a USB-Serial adapter cable and the Kit74 works off of a parallel port. You can buy a USB-parallel port cable as well but from what you are saying it is asking you to set the baud rate which indicates it is operating like a serial port.

Cable i am using is Cables To Go - 6ft Port Authority USB Serial DB25 Adapter come to find out this cables drivers for vista64 is not signed so i cannot use on laptop so i am using on the regular PC.

Sorry maybe i wrote that wrong on the baud rate i just double checked that it showed the right com port and it was set already at a 9600 under settings>portsettings showed com8 9600 ( i did not change the baud)

I just ordered a Cables To Go - 15ft DB25 M/F Extension Cable just to get this working hopefully this is right cable?

Azdude you happen to have a link to a USB to parellel port cable? want to make sure i get the right thing.

The new cable you ordered should work. As I suspected the one you have already is for serial communication instead of parallel. I believe that this is the USB-to-Parallel cable that should (but I've never tried it) work: Cables To Go - 6ft USB to DB25 IEEE-1284 Parallel Printer Adapter Cable

Thanks for your help will order up the other cable another time see if this new one i ordered is correct.

Im new here, so i don't want to step on any toes. I happen to have a kit74, I use it to control xmas lights. Im pretty sure that you can't control it with USB. I was under the impression that you have to have the actual harware mapping to activate the relays?

just making sure, in vsa setup, you do have each channel of the relay card set up with different addresses?
setting page...
track | Name | Type | Port | Addr | +Value |- Value | Default
[] 1 dev1 | lpt relay| LPT1 | 0 |
[] 2 dev2 |lpt relay | LPT1 | 1 |
[] 3 dev3 |lpt relay | LPT1 | 2 |

etc.

actually that is my problem i have with the USB cable i have ( guess it goes to serial) so everything sows up as a com connection for example i tried every * Relay and the connection was not lpt1 but com8 or com9 that is the problem

New cable shows out to be delivered right now so we shall see.

Got the new Cable in today and guess what... works perfectly so now i have a couple days to do a couple songs and such in VSA

Glad you found your bug... and a lesson to all of us... a usb to db25 wont work.
You must have usb to db25 ieee 1284!