Infrared device

I wanted to understand once and for all whether my IBM PC 330 actually has an IrDA and what kind of device.
I took some photos to help understand what infrared I have and how I can use it.

In the first photo, windows detects a "generic infrared serial port (COM2)"



In the second photo we see the "port settings" and find various options such as "Bits per second" "data bits" "flow control" etc.



Third photo, we find the resources.



In the fourth photo, with another program detects: "generic IrDA Compatible Device" with a number: "PNP0510"



In the last photo we find more details on the device:



The only connection for a cable that I can see behind the PC is the one highlighted with the red circle.



Maybe this device is needed?

Now the question is this, what device do I have and how can I use it? I would like to try it with my Palm. But I don't know how to enable IrDA connection.

Edited by NarakuITA 2023-12-19 11:53 PM

There had to be a special IrDA-adaptor for that mobile. The circled plug is not your common rs232-adaptor (wrong gender). The one with the "square waves" seems to be "com1"

I assume if you get the pin combination of the female 9-pin-dsub you can wire a generic serial IrDA-adaptor to it.

"Infrared Port
Your personal computer comes with an infrared port
where you can connect an optional infrared transceiver
module. This enables you to transfer data to and from
other infrared-capable computers or printers"

From the manual here states that there was a optional infrared transceiver module.
http://ps-2.kev009.com/pccbbs/commercial_desktop/6577us.pdf

Pg. 32 has the pinout of the serial connector for the infrared transceiver.
http://ps-2.kev009.com/pccbbs/commercial_desktop/s78h5083.pdf



Edited by stingraze 2023-12-20 7:37 AM

OK, so if the manual says you need optional infrared transceiver module, do you need a male device to connect it to your PC? But which? Because on ebay I only find connectors with a female cable connection and not a male one.
Or can I use a USB infrared device for windows 95?

Edited by NarakuITA 2023-12-20 9:32 AM

It will take USB, there are devices listed compatible

Unfortunately the device has no drivers and they cannot be found online. Lots of negative receptions. Product to avoid.

One of the reviews said that the drivers hadn't been updated since XP, which isn't a problem for you as you are using 9x. The listing also says contact them if you need the drivers.

You have to distinguish between IrDA and serial IR (the predecessor). First determine exactly which protocol it uses and then buy a transceiver. IrDA has higher speed and some other advantages. Serial IR was used during the nineties with the palmtops because of the easier implementation in hardware (basically RS232, an amplifier and LED/photodiode, 115k max.).

I assume yours is modern enough for IrDA so you may try one of the available RS232-IrDA-Transceivers and handwire it to your plug.

Or use one of the available common IrDA-TRXes and connect it directly to your com1, not to your "IR-plug". That is the purpose these TRXes are made for and with the available Win95/98 drivers you are ready to go


Edited by dl1av 2023-12-21 7:42 AM

Ok, I did a search to buy an RS232-IrDA device and I can't find anything on ebay. can you help me?

Regarding C:Amie, in the various user reviews, it is written that the support does not respond and does not provide drivers. I tried to send a message, if they reply and send me the drivers for windows 95, then I will take the product.

Or something like that:



These all are raw serial IR adaptors but 115k may be enough? It's the limit for RS232.

To use 4Mbit-IrDA-Networking you may need a bus card. These cabled IR-adaptors were quite common during the Win98 era. We used it to setup our mobile companions. But it was all about serial IR.
I never saw a life scenario using IrDA networking.

Well, I should have had a better view at your screenshots in the first place

So to make it clear:

You have two serial ports registered with the OS. One is com1 I assume, that is the common serial RS232 with 115k max.

Com2 is basically the same, a simple serial RS232 but to use for an IR-Adaptor with whatever pin combination it may have. Perhaps a simple gender changer will convert it into a standard RS232?

So no IrDA at all on the board, even the original external adaptor is just plain serial IR (which was all the mobile companions of the nineties needed).

Conclusion: You can perfectly use one of the serial IR-adaptors from the ebay-adverts (or maybe from your local marketplace in your country? These devices are quite common).

That adaptor will work fine just connected to com1 directly, or via some kind of adaptor (gender changer) to com2, which is your male ir-rs232-plug.



Edited by dl1av 2023-12-22 9:22 AM

YES I should get an adapter like this to solve the problem, seeing as all devices have a "male" cable connection.
I just need to see if these devices are compatible with windows 95

The ones from ebay are both compatible with win95. You just need a generic driver and there is no plug-n-play anyway

I found this one that should be even better.

Is it USB, standard female serial or for a male IR port header? It doesn't say anything or show the product spec. They even have a mini DIN version for motherboard headers.

https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ffab&q=Actisys+IRDA+Infrared+Adapter&iax=images&ia=images