Using FT232 On Arduino Duemilanove Externally

Forum 2005-2010 (read only) Hardware Interfacing
1

I found it kind of hard to create a descriptive topic title with the length Im allowed, so please bear with me.

Im trying to flash a LiteOn DG-16D2S. To read the key from the drive, you need a USB -> RS232 or Serial -> RS232 adapter. You can use a level shifter, or a MAX(3)232 chip. Ive read about one guy who used an Arduino, and connected the Rx and Tx pins to the respective points on the drive, and it worked for him. I tried doing this (both with 3v3 and GND connected and disconnected) but Im told by the program Im using that the "Serial data is bad".

I uploaded a blank sketch to the arduino (blank setup and loop) and connected the Rx and Tx pins on the Arduino to the Rx and Tx pins on the board. Am I missing something? Do I need to do anything to give myself access to these pins that Im not already doing?

For reference, here is the MAX3232 diagram (which wouldnt work for me anyway because I dont have a serial port):

774×600 198 KB

And heres the pinout for the drive:

EDIT It seems that if I unplug the drive and plug it back in, the program will extract the key over serial 3-4 (out of six) times before giving me an error. It keeps giving me the serial data invalid error until I unplug and re-plug in the drive (unplugging and re-plugging the arduino makes no difference). May be a drive issue. I will keep this updated!

2

A blank sketch isn't enough, pull the ATmega168 chip out of the Arduino (very carfully, don't bend any pins and make sure you're grounded).

Also, Rx and Tx are from the ATmega point of view, so they're swapped for what you want.

3

Interesting! With the chip in, it worked for 3-4 seconds, and I got the exact same serial data as when I pulled the chip (which let it work as long as i needed it to) :slight_smile: