LaddieCon

What is LaddieCon

LaddieCon is a Model 100 disk drive emulator written for Microsoft .NET. However it does depend on the Win32 API for access to the serial port. So it is completely portable to any Microsoft operating system running .NET ;-) . This is for historical reasons only... when LaddieCon was written, there was no serial port API in .NET. If you need a TPDD emulator for a POSIX system, you should be using DLPlus.

So to run LaddieCon, you need to have installed the .NET Framework redistributable from Microsoft. Most likely if your system is up-to-date on patches this is already done.

LaddieCon and Vista

LaddieCon is reported to work with Vista. However, you must run laddiecon.exe in "Administrator Mode." Also, your USB adapter must have a driver that is compatible with Vista.

To enable "Run As Administrator:"

1. Find your laddiecon.exe executable with Windows Explorer.
2. Right click on laddiecon.exe
3. Select Properties->Compatibility Tab
4. Check the 'Run as Administrator' option.

Note: if anyone knows a more fine-grained way to permit laddiecon.exe to access the COM port without using Administrator Mode, please note it here.

If you're looking for a USB->serial adapter known to work with Vista, the following have been tested:

• USBGEAR U232-P9AP

Also, Chris Fezzler reports this device as working:

Gigaware 6-Ft. USB-A to Serial Cable
SKU Model:26-949
Driver Date 6/25/2007
Driver Version 3.1.0.0
Provider: Prolific Technologies
Purchased at Radio Shack

Please add any other adapters you verify work with Vista and LaddieCon.

The following devices are known not to work with Vista:

• Belkin USB-to-Serial cable Model F5U109. Despite having Vista driver, was unsuccessful in getting it to work.

Reliable Text-Only Transfers

If you are only transferring text files, Hyperterminal is known to be a reliable way to transfer files even at 19200 using XON/XOFF protocol. Note that saving and loading text files via the TEXT application is much faster than TELCOM, because TEXT does not scroll the text to the screen as it captures.

See Text File Transfer using Hyperterminal for details instructions on getting Hyperterminal working.