Running M4 on Win 7 using dosbox

[hothondagurl]

I'm trying to run the old motec m4 software on dosbox on win 7 64 bit. I'm really close but must be missing one little thing. The EMP v6.2d runs on dosbox, com1 opens, the ecu connects, then when I press adjust it hangs with a screen that says "retrieving data" and "wait". And I get framing and overrun messages in the dosbox window.

I'm using an airlink101 usb to serial adapter. This adapter works with no problems when I use it with a different laptop that is running xp.

Does anyone have any idea what could be wrong?

[AdamW]

Hothondagurl sent me a PM about this same subject earlier to which I replied so I thought I would post a copy here in case it helps anyone else out. Unfortunately no magic bullet though...
Unfortunately usb-serial adapters are fairly hit and miss even in their native windows, so when you add another emulator such as Dosbox into the mix it can be difficult to get everything to work nicely together. A couple of suggestions to try;
First ensure you have the newest prolific driver installed, get it from here: http://www.prolific.com.tw/US/ShowProdu ... cid=41Next, many laptops reserve COM1 for system/BIOS use so I would go to device manager and change your usb comport to something like COM4, then change your dosbox .conf to "serial4=directserial realport:Com4" also change your serial1 line back to "serial1=disabled".
If you still don't have success with these changes then its probably time to give up and save your sanity. There are still a couple of options to get you access to Motec EMP however. If your laptop has an expresscard or PCMCIA slot then you will have much better success with dosbox if you use a serial adapter attached to one of these interfaces. Another option would be to install XP into a "virtual machine". If all else fails then a 2nd hand laptop with a serial port from somewhere like ebay wont set you back too much. I use a Dell D620 which cost me <$100 locally. If you stick to a common model such as this you will find that if you ever need to you can get new replacement batteries, keyboards etc for peanuts.

[pftuning]

Hothondagurl sent me a PM about this same subject earlier to which I replied so I thought I would post a copy here in case it helps anyone else out. Unfortunately no magic bullet though...
Unfortunately usb-serial adapters are fairly hit and miss even in their native windows, so when you add another emulator such as Dosbox into the mix it can be difficult to get everything to work nicely together. A couple of suggestions to try;
First ensure you have the newest prolific driver installed, get it from here: http://www.prolific.com.tw/US/ShowProdu ... cid=41Next, many laptops reserve COM1 for system/BIOS use so I would go to device manager and change your usb comport to something like COM4, then change your dosbox .conf to "serial4=directserial realport:Com4" also change your serial1 line back to "serial1=disabled".
If you still don't have success with these changes then its probably time to give up and save your sanity. There are still a couple of options to get you access to Motec EMP however. If your laptop has an expresscard or PCMCIA slot then you will have much better success with dosbox if you use a serial adapter attached to one of these interfaces. Another option would be to install XP into a "virtual machine". If all else fails then a 2nd hand laptop with a serial port from somewhere like ebay wont set you back too much. I use a Dell D620 which cost me <$100 locally. If you stick to a common model such as this you will find that if you ever need to you can get new replacement batteries, keyboards etc for peanuts.

D600/620/630 is the best laptop I've seen for connecting to M4. Windows XP should work well.

I remember Simon Wagnor suggesting FTDI based USB adapters rather than Prolific. I think you can adjust more settings in Device Manager that makes it more likely to work. Other plus is it's Com port assignment is persistent, regardless of which USB port it's inserted into.

[Turby]

+1 for the recommendation to purchase a refurbed Dell D630 running Windows XP. I have had to go down the same path recently as my old Windows XP laptop gave up the ghost recently and would have cost too much to repair (new screen / new battery etc). I didn't relish the headache of getting a modern Win 7 laptop working reliably trackside. I tried a few times with Win 7 virtual XP mode but it was a very hit and miss affair and not something I want to stress over at a circuit!

Around £120 will get you a 1.8 GHz- 2.2 GHz CoreDuo, 40+GB HD modern "Sata" hard disc (not older IDE type), BUT comes with 9-pin serial port connection !!!

Its a huge shame that Motec don't port the DOS based M4 manager to the newer GUI based ECU manager - I wonder how many M4 - M48 ECUs are out there - slowly losing the ability to be configured ?