Re: gEDA-user: FT232R

[Bill Gatliff <bgat@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Gene Heskett wrote:
> On Wednesday 08 April 2009, Mike Hansen wrote:
>   
>> Quick FYI:
>>
>>
>>
>> The FTDI USB UARTs have noise immunity issues.  They tend to lock up after
>> running for an hour or so.  And worst of all they only reset themselves
>> when the USB cable has been physically removed.  It's a well known problem.
>>  I would avoid this chip for new designs.
>>
>>     
> I could almost argue the point about FTDI stuff.

I've got a commercial FTDI-based RS232-USB adapter, running under Debian 
Linux.  It's gotten cranky lately, but I don't know if it's related to 
noise immunity, a driver issue, or impending hardware failure.  When it 
hangs, I have to physically disconnect it from my PC and then 
re-connect.  It was rock-solid before that.

If I recall, the PL230x stuff is pretty well supported under Linux now, 
too.  I've got one, it seems to Just Work as well as the FTDI.  But I 
don't use it as often, mostly because it got boxed away somewhere and I 
can't seem to find it. :)

Point is, I can't refute either a 100% success or stay-away-at-all-costs 
claim for either device.  USB-powered devices in general demand good 
decoupling and filtering on VCC, and maybe FTDI-based products that fail 
to do that will cause problems.  But so would just about everything 
else.  YMMV.


b.g.

-- 
Bill Gatliff
bgat@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx



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