Serial Port Monitor (Data Logger)

[CDRIVE]

I had to make a decision of what section of the forum I was going to post this in. The Resources section would have been a logical choice but I think only the Mods have access rights to it. So, I'm posting this very useful tool here in the Microcontroller section, as this is where it would find the most use. Not to say that it wouldn't be useful in non uC projects though.

Anyone who has a project, uC or not, that requires Serial Port communication will find this free app very useful. It will enable you to sniff the data being sent from the PC to the serial device and data sent from the device to the PC. This is something that I've done in the past (on XP) with Portmon.exe. Portmon is a MS product but is not compatible with W7(64bit).

So if any of you gents find use for a serial port sniffer you can download this neat app...
AccessPort

Cheers,
Chris

 

[Arouse1973]

Nice Chris, thank-you
Adam

 

[CDRIVE]

You're welcome Adam. Just some notes here..

This is freeware and there's absolutely no help file downloaded with it. The Help button in the GUI is greyed out and clicking the help links at the website returns nothing. Fortunately, I hate reading directions anyway. So I was clicking and checking settings / options like a blind dog testing meat in a butcher shop until "Viola".. it logged a bidirectional communication between my Picaxe compiler/interpreter and a 08M2 while it was being programmed.

Also note that because of W7's elevated permissions issues I install most software after first logging in Administrator. I did so with AccessPort too.

Cheers,
Chris

 

[CDRIVE]

Hey, it took me at least 5 minutes to stop laughing to the point of tearing. Since there's no help files included with AccessPort I decided to read the ReadMe_En.txt (English) file located in the AccessPort directory. Keep the tissues handy! This is what it says verbatim:

SUDT AccessPort 1.37 Readme
=====================

Please read the document carefully before use the program.

1. What's AccessPort
---------------------
SUDT AccessPort is a serial port(RS232) debug and monitor tool for technicians, engineers and software developers designing or debugging serial port related projects.

2. System Requirements
---------------------
Windows 9x/2000/XP/2003/Vista/Win7

3.Install and Uninstall
---------------------
Unzip the zip file to the default folder. If you want to uninstall the software, please removing the folder completely.

4.How to use it
---------------------
After installed, then run it.

Thank goodness that this app works so well because if it didn't I would be crying for real!

Cheers,
Chris

 

[Harald Kapp]

is a MS product but is not compatible with W7(64bit).

Portmon runs on my Win7 (64bit) system - but I confess I never tried to actually monitor a port with teh sw.

 

[CDRIVE]

Portmon runs on my Win7 (64bit) system - but I confess I never tried to actually monitor a port with teh sw.

I don't remember all the hoops I jumped though to get PortMon to run on my W7/64b but I do remember a hoop that 'finally' opened the GUI. Prior to that all I'd get was a very descriptive error message that said "ERROR!". When I reached the point of successfully opening it I don't remember where it failed. I may have been when selecting the port to monitor or when I attempted to connect to it.

If it runs OK on your W7/64b you won't be the first person to successfully install and run an app on W7/64b that scores of others report failure.

Thus far I'm not too bummed out about it because, despite the absence of help files, AccessPort has proved to be a clean and effective alternative. In fact, I think I like it better that Portmon. AccessPort has a cleaner and more modern GUI.

Cheers,
Chris