Keyspan USB-serial is hackable! — #1

Post #1 by Bunsen

Source Forum	68kMLA
Category	Hardware
Post Date	Sat, 19 Jan 2013 - 09:48
Original URL	https://68kmla.org/bb/threads/keyspan-usb-serial-is-hackable.27113/

Post

Well this is interesting.

NB: I do not know if this applies to all Keyspan serial adapters or just some of them. Caveat emptor. /ETA/ The author of the linked article has demolished and described a few different models; there's a table at the bottom of the page.

So I bought a Keyspan USB-to-DB9-serial adaptor dongle.
A little while ago, however, I became curious about the contents of the dongle. / Well, when I popped the plastic case, what to my startled eyes should appear but an Anchor Chips AN2131SC and a TI 75LV4737A! /

Basically, the Keyspan USB adaptor is a general-purpose reprogrammable USB-enabled 8051-compatible microcontroller, plus a level shifter for RS232 use.

the EZ-USB chip. / For extra hackability, the spare I/O pins / are brought out to extra solder pads on the board.

The EZ-USB is made by Cypress Semi. It's not clear from the description which of their USB ICs it is.

Suggested uses: GO!