Have IrDA dongles really gone the way of the dodo?

Was just looking out there for some IrDA USB based dongles and I was not finding much in a cheap price range. (Amazon listings are doing their stock price gouging) Oddly the chips to power this are out there for a few $$. Are folks here like me had sitting on boxes of old tech or how are people sourcing these as of late? Do we need a how to build your own at this point?

Yeah, the usb/irda adapters used to be a dime a dozen. Last year, I bought a ACTiSYS ACT-IR224UN but I could not get it running with Win10. I took the steps to get IrDA back into the Control Panel, but was never certain what was really going on under the hood. Certainly, MS was no help when I was trying to figure it out; MS never truly got on the IrDA/BT wagon.

Jake

I'm thinking that any current solution needs to bypass the Windows host entirely outside of talking to the port. Poking around the ACTiSYS ACT-IR224UN uses the PL2303X i.e. the USB-Serial chip is built in. So as long as it installed in Windows 10 and you can see a COM port mapped in the Device manager there may still be hope.

I will have to poke around there has to be a lost Alibaba listing or the like with a crate of these things sitting somewhere.

You have me intrigued

Jake

If someone need irda dongle I have 15 devices new unopen...

Jake
Install virtual machine windows xp sp3. It works perfectly

I went spelunking in the vast tech archives and fished out my IRMate 210 with a serial connector. Sadly the first serial sniffer unit they shipped me is a dud, but my HP 320LX cradle seems to be waiting for me in my box at the post, so that's fun. New sniffer is here Friday so with any luck my weekend involves curling up with a homemade pumpkin spice latte and some hexdumps. I need to check out this mythical H/PC Explorer.

Not hard really under Windows 10.

1. Go to Windows Settings and select Apps
2. Select Apps & Features
3. Then select Optional Features then add a feature.
4. When the list opens select irda Infrared

That's it to add IR to Win 10. Then install your device driver for your adapter. Remember to work with most HPCs you have to have a FIR compatible adapter which some of the Actisys do not have...most actually.

Or with the PL2303 USB you can use a serial adapter like the Jeteye ESI-9680 or Casio Pad1.

Still what can you do with it under Win10? Other than open a link and echo text character back and forth...

Hi, Rich,

I had taken those steps and produced the IR icon but couldn't get any communication with any PDA. So it must be on the side of my ACT-IR224UN. Its serial number shows it has the right chip, so I dunno.

I have an old Belkin (serial) that can even switched to Sharp's ASK (remember ASK?). I don't know if Win10 will recognize it since B's own drivers would be incompatible, I'm sure.

As for IR's usefulness, I do see an option for it in WMDC, but am unsure what that means.

Jake

Hi Andre

I could use an IR dongle? Do you still have any left?

I don't seem to have pm rights so maybe you could pm me with contact details and costs. Im based in UK. I can make payment via PayPal.

Thanks
Steve

Stevetuc,

There are no initial restrictions on sending (reasonable numbers of) PM's for new users on the site.

Hi Chris

I managed to send a test pm to myself but the pm to Andrej2112 just sat in the outbox when I tried to send it. Probably fingertrouble then. Thanks for the info.

Stevetuc,

It sits in the outbox until the recipient has read it, before which you can recall it. After they read it, it transition to sent where you cannot recall it.

Got it, thanks.

Wow, that is good to know... had no idea. Thanks.

Rich:
Regarding IrDA... I saw somewhere that recent dongles use a different infrared frequency than those in the past, so won't connect.Truth or Fiction?? Thanks in advance.

joval ...on his diminutive J720/RasPi sidekick gizmo

Edited by joval 2022-01-14 5:39 PM