VMWare and programming

[NHfirefighter]

I know of the risks using a usb serial adapter and programming older radios using newer PCs however I have some xts3000 portables used for non mission critical things and wanted to see if there is anyway at all to program them using a newer pc.

I have a Windows 7 pc running 64 bit, I don’t have an easy way to make it a 32 bit machine but have see numerous threads alluding to some success using VMWare, a belkin usb-serial adaptor and Windows XP installed on the virtual machine.

What I was wondering is those who have been successful in this setup what settings, tips, tricks can you share with regard to what made it work.

Thanks

[triptolemus]

Take a look at VIrtualBox.

You can create 32 bit VMs on a 64 bit host. Also, it's free.

I regularly program APX, XTS/L/3k and Jedi using an IOGEAR GUC232A USB/Serial adapter in a Win 7 or XP VM on a Mac OS host. There really wasn't any "tricks" required...

https://www.virtualbox.org

https://www.iogear.com/product/GUC232A/

[NHfirefighter]

Take a look at VIrtualBox.

You can create 32 bit VMs on a 64 bit host. Also, it's free.

I regularly program APX, XTS/L/3k and Jedi using an IOGEAR GUC232A USB/Serial adapter in a Win 7 or XP VM on a Mac OS host. There really wasn't any "tricks" required...

https://www.virtualbox.org

https://www.iogear.com/product/GUC232A/

Thanks for the tip, VirtualBox worked perfect!

[NHfirefighter]

A further update for others. I used a Belkin F5U409-CU usb to aerial adapter. I installed the Windows XP driver on the virtual machine and it worked flawlessly. I have now been able to read write xts3000 and Astro spectra subscribers.

[W3AXL]

Interesting note, but you can actually program legacy radios like the Jedi and Astro series all the way up to Windows 10. It just has to be a 32-bit version of whatever OS you want to use. The CPS serial implementation breaks in 64-bit windows for whatever reason.

[flyinace09]

Interesting note, but you can actually program legacy radios like the Jedi and Astro series all the way up to Windows 10. It just has to be a 32-bit version of whatever OS you want to use. The CPS serial implementation breaks in 64-bit windows for whatever reason.

This is what I tell people, especially if they're using a computer with no more than 4Gb of RAM since you can just wipe-and-reinstall to 32-bit and it will still address all 4Gb of RAM. Anything more than that and I usually say to try and dual-boot. I have tried the VM route with hit-or-miss success... mostly depending on if the CPU and chipset supports virtualization enough to capture the serial port or USB port at the hardware layer. Otherwise the VM hypervisor just tries to "route" the bus via software and seems to not agree with the CPS.

[crazyboy]

Using Windows Virtual PC with Windows XP Mode on a plethora of radios and multiple computers with great success.