After getting a laptop with no spare serial port, I tried to find a USB to Serial Adapter that I could use with my Pronto '940. Unfortunately the laptop is running under XP and compatible Adapters are few and far between. I finally found the Belkin F5U103 which had drivers compatible with XP.

Unfortunately my Pronto doesn't want to play ball and the message "COM1: opened but no response from Pronto" appears every time. I've tried reinstalling the drivers and Pronto Edit with no success. Although I know other people have had problems (as per FAQ) is the Belkin adapter completely incompatible with Pronto?

If not, is there a setting that's wrong (I've tried a number of combinations, but with no success).

Else are there any other proven USB to Serial Adapters available which are compatible with XP and Pronto?

Searching for that model of adaptor shows that it *can* work. But I can only suggest more fiddling -- make sure it is indeed configured to COM1, try the "manual" terminal communications routine, etc.

Pronto will recognize the first contiguous port on which PE is loaded. This means that if you have something on COM1, nothing on COM2, and the Belkin on COM3, PE will not cross that open port, and will report what you have seen.

So, 2 suggestions: 1. Make sure the Belkin is on Com1, or the next unused port; 2. Make sure you do not have something, like a Palm or PDA adapter configured to a port, which will not allow the Belkin to get in.