VB6 MScomm. Does it work on windows 8 for the Maestro?

Support Servo controllers and servos
1

Can anyone help me. I know VB6 is an old program but I still use it very effectively.
I have tried every “so called” solution I could find. I made sure I selected the right port number and Pololu settings for usb.

I one time I got the thing working but it seem to limit it self at 0 to 127 then start all over again. I tried both Pololu and Mini Scc formats. When I use the Pololu servo motor controller it works fine.

I been working on this problem for over a week now and I’ve come to conclusion that the firmware might be the issue.

VB6 uses MScomm fore serial communication. perhaps there are issues with that?

I am ruining Visual basic 6 in Windows 8… could there be a compatibility issue?

I am racking my brains trying to figure it out.

If there is anyone having the same problem under the same conditions please let me know.

If you have reference to a tried and true source code in VB6 I’d really appreciate the reference.

By the way… I did try the following with no results.

Help!!!

The following is the best and most recent solution but it doesn’t work!

Start a new VB6 project.

Add a MSComm control as MSComm1.

Coding…
'a) To open Port 2…
MSComm1.CommPort = 2
MSComm1.Settings = "9600,N,8,1"
MSComm1.PortOpen = True 'Open the port

'b) To set Servo 5 speed to 20…
MSComm1.Output = Chr(135) + Chr(5) + Chr(20 Mod 128) + Chr(20 \ 128)

'c) To set Servo 5 acceleration to 8…
MSComm1.Output = Chr(137) + Chr(5) + Chr(8 Mod 128) + Chr(8 \ 128)

'd) To set Servo 5 target to 1500µs…
a = 4 * 1500 'convert to quarter micro-secs
MSComm1.Output = Chr(132) + Chr(5) + Chr(a Mod 128) + Chr(a \ 128)

'e) To close the port…
MSComm1.PortOpen = False

2

Hello.

It is not clear to me what serial mode your Maestro is configured to, but you should use USB Dual Port or USB Chained serial mode so that the Maestro can accept serial commands from the PC on the Command Port. What COM port is your Command Port assigned to? A screenshot of your Device Manager with the “Ports (COM & LPT)” entries expanded would be best.

What changed between when it was working and now? Can you clarify what you expect to see and what you are seeing? Is the code in your post what you are using?

We don’t know of any problems with using VB6, Windows 8, MSComm, and the Maestro together. However, Microsoft no longer supports the VB6 IDE on any version of Windows; if you are using that IDE then you might have trouble.

- Amanda

3

Hello,

Thank you kindly for your reply.

In answer to your question:

Maestro is configured to USB Dual Port
I used the source code exampled as i posted previously
it work as I described … intermittently.

Is there any other example source code in VB6 that other users have tried in vb6 that is known to work?
I would desperately appreciate any help or example to get the maestro working in vb6.

Thank you so kindly

Donald Dixon
CTO
Creative Robotics

4

Hi, Donald.

We do not have any other VB6 code examples to point you towards besides what is listed under the “Related Resources” section of the Maestro’s User’s Guide, which you have already seen.

You mentioned that your setup works “intermittently”, can you elaborate? If you have not already done so, can you try using a different USB port or a different USB cable to see if that changes anything?

- Amanda

5

Hello Amanda,

I’ve tried the program example in “Related Resources” and I’ve read the results of other people.

It seems I am not the only one experiencing difficulty integrating the Pololu Maestro to receive and carry out an instruction send by a VB6 program. From what I’ve read… some people have gotten the example program to work… others are experiencing the same error I am.

Maybe it has something to do with the operating System?

In any case… the example in “Related Resources” just doesn’t work at all and I still don’t have clear understanding why.

That’s why I am hoping to get help from anyone who has experienced some of the same problems with the Maestro as I have.

Can someone familiar with this problem pls help me with this problem? if you have a solution I’d be grateful if you could please post.

6

It sounds like you might have missed this part of my first post:

You might consider posting your issue to VBForums or a Visual Basic specific forum like this one on MSDN. If you want to continue troubleshooting here, please answer the questions in my previous post.

- Amanda