Software Com port sharing app - Here it is - Page 2

blackwave · 05-21-2002

Quote:

Originally posted by mentat
Actually the idea isn't original. There used to a .com that ran a full site for stuff like this about 4 years ago. I did a google and I could find any references to it, so I guess it's gone. Someone should resurrect the idea now when open source is becoming more mainstream.

I think the idea originates back to where people coded for academic reasons and wanted to improve each others code to be meaner and leaner.. (grass roots thinking) ... but when money comes into play people get greedy... I myself usually purchase Simtel Cd's and the such in case I run across anything I would like to use for a tool... seems though with the rapid changes of OS... these tools become obselete quickly, and because they are free, are rarely supported through more than a few revisions.

mentat, with broadcasting this idea of the v-port-ware do you plan to follow-up with this, or we are going to let this jewel sink into the Sahara?

KC5EVE · 05-21-2002

Ok, While not ready for public release...The installer is not finished. I have a solution working on my laptop that lets me have 99 virtual serial ports on my machine and lets an "unlimited" number of other clients connect to it. When the installer is done I will send out the URL's for the software.

It ammounts to needing TWO pieces of software.
1. The serial port "server" (installer is all that it lacks)
2. Virtual serial port drivers from "www.lantronix.com" I have it working on 2k with no problems and can use APRS+SA, DeLorme Street Atlas, and Netstumbler all with just ONE hardware serial port on my computer.

(of course the GPS data is already split in hardware and going to my tracker AND my computer).
http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/find.cgi?kc5eve-9!KC5EVE

blackwave · 05-21-2002

Quote:

Originally posted by KC5EVE

I have a solution working on my laptop that lets me have 99 virtual serial ports on my machine and lets an "unlimited" number of other clients connect to it.

So the serial port server is able to get data from any of the machine's hardware serial ports say com1 one or com2, and virtualize on on let's say com5 and com6 so that two pieces of software can use one on com5 and the other on com6? Could you also please be more specific with the URLS and what must be done? I would like to try this out on Windows XP.

Otherwise, how long until release?

How much work was involved? You can see I am full of questions!

Quote:

http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/find.cgi?kc5eve-9!KC5EVE

Cool, but I know a better way to find KC5EVE ...
http://www.arrl.org/fcc/fcclook.php3...KC5EVE&x=9&y=6
Those darn FCC databases!

Ashlar · 05-21-2002

I'm curious.. which of the utils at lantronix.com acts as a virtual serial port driver?

blackwave · 05-21-2002

Quote:

Originally posted by Ashlar
I'm curious.. which of the utils at lantronix.com acts as a virtual serial port driver?

My guess would be the Lantronix DeviceComm Manager
http://www.lantronix.com/support/uti...omm/index.html

Quote:

Lantronix DeviceComm Manager is a free COM port redirection software application for PC platforms. Its function is to redirect customer application data destined for a local serial (COM) port on a PC.

Rather than going out the local port, the data is transmitted across the Ethernet network using TCP/IP. A Device Server attached to the network receives the data and presents it on its serial port. Conversely, data into the serial port of the device server is sent back to the customer application via the network to the DeviceComm Manager. The DeviceComm Manager then presents the data to the customer application as if it were from a local serial COM port.

KC5EVE · 05-21-2002

Ok,
Here are MORE details.

Example computer has ONE hardware serial port.

Software (currently called "comfoolery") connects to the serial port and dumps all the data into a TCP port that is specified in the application. This is a TCP/IP server that listens can be connected to from ANY other computer on the network or "localhost".

From within Comfoolery I can see all the data and all of the IP's of computers that are connected to me....In future updates I may have the ability to disconnect users as well.
(This software is NOT available YET...It has only been working for 4 days!) Hopefully within a week or so I will have a post with a URL to it!!!

NEXT: A software virtual serial port driver is used to create serial ports that talk via TCP/IP. The program that we used and tested it with is from Lantronix. (They make some really cool serial port hadware solutions for remote locations of serial port across the network!!) The software is loaded from there install. After that in control panel there is an applet that you enable a serial port and give it the IP of the machine to connect to and the port number.
(when I do it locally I use 127.0.0.1 port 5802)

When you start an app (like netstumbler) and connect to "serial port 8" you get a message that pops up and says "connecting to 127.0.0.1:5802 and I see all the data coming in the serial port.

NOTE: THIS IS A ONE WAY SERIAL PORT!!! YOU CANNOT SEND ANY DATA TO THE SERIAL PORT....ONLY MONITOR THE PORT!!!

blackwave · 05-21-2002

Quote:

Originally posted by KC5EVE
Ok,
Here are MORE details.

Example computer has ONE hardware serial port.

Software (currently called "comfoolery") connects to the serial port and dumps all the data into a TCP port that is specified in the application. This is a TCP/IP server that listens can be connected to from ANY other computer on the network or "localhost".

From within Comfoolery I can see all the data and all of the IP's of computers that are connected to me....In future updates I may have the ability to disconnect users as well.
(This software is NOT available YET...It has only been working for 4 days!) Hopefully within a week or so I will have a post with a URL to it!!!

NEXT: A software virtual serial port driver is used to create serial ports that talk via TCP/IP. The program that we used and tested it with is from Lantronix. (They make some really cool serial port hadware solutions for remote locations of serial port across the network!!) The software is loaded from there install. After that in control panel there is an applet that you enable a serial port and give it the IP of the machine to connect to and the port number.
(when I do it locally I use 127.0.0.1 port 5802)

When you start an app (like netstumbler) and connect to "serial port 8" you get a message that pops up and says "connecting to 127.0.0.1:5802 and I see all the data coming in the serial port.

NOTE: THIS IS A ONE WAY SERIAL PORT!!! YOU CANNOT SEND ANY DATA TO THE SERIAL PORT....ONLY MONITOR THE PORT!!!

This transmission wouldn't be encrypted would it?

I wouldn't want someone sniffing my GPS coords( aka my exact location)... I think that NMEA only requires one way communication, so this should be cool...
The whole client server things reminds me of a few EZRPC projects I have seen down the line... a little too exploitable for my taste.. but beggars can't be choosers eh? If you can create a secure channel (SChannel, SSL) I would be more than happy to try it out

mentat · 05-22-2002

Quote:

Originally posted by blackwave

This transmission wouldn't be encrypted would it? I wouldn't want someone sniffing my GPS coords( aka my exact location)... I think that NMEA only requires one way communication, so this should be cool...
The whole client server things reminds me of a few EZRPC projects I have seen down the line... a little too exploitable for my taste.. but beggars can't be choosers eh? If you can create a secure channel (SChannel, SSL) I would be more than happy to try it out

If it's just on localhost it shouldn't be a big deal. Broadcasting it on your WLAN interface would be a bit risky though.

mentat · 05-22-2002

Quote:

Originally posted by KC5EVE
Ok,
Here are MORE details.

Example computer has ONE hardware serial port.

Software (currently called "comfoolery") connects to the serial port and dumps all the data into a TCP port that is specified in the application. This is a TCP/IP server that listens can be connected to from ANY other computer on the network or "localhost".

From within Comfoolery I can see all the data and all of the IP's of computers that are connected to me....In future updates I may have the ability to disconnect users as well.
(This software is NOT available YET...It has only been working for 4 days!) Hopefully within a week or so I will have a post with a URL to it!!!

NEXT: A software virtual serial port driver is used to create serial ports that talk via TCP/IP. The program that we used and tested it with is from Lantronix. (They make some really cool serial port hadware solutions for remote locations of serial port across the network!!) The software is loaded from there install. After that in control panel there is an applet that you enable a serial port and give it the IP of the machine to connect to and the port number.
(when I do it locally I use 127.0.0.1 port 5802)

When you start an app (like netstumbler) and connect to "serial port 8" you get a message that pops up and says "connecting to 127.0.0.1:5802 and I see all the data coming in the serial port.

NOTE: THIS IS A ONE WAY SERIAL PORT!!! YOU CANNOT SEND ANY DATA TO THE SERIAL PORT....ONLY MONITOR THE PORT!!!

Sounds excellent. I can think of some other cool applications for this too, like using it with ricochet modems or other radios to coordinate between war driving groups (strike forces, etc...) and such. Are you going to collect any of the bounty for this project and are you releasing the source?

KC5EVE · 05-22-2002

In the ever lasting improvement of code, The com port can now be talked to on one port and another port is listen only (before we had listen only).

I should have the code tonight for testing with this new feature and possibly the installer.

I do not have the source code. It is being written by a friend. I know that HE will get all the bounty!

Mark

Dave Joyce · 05-22-2002

But when do we get it??

bpoe · 05-22-2002

Written with netstumblers in mind - Comfoolery!

(link updated April 11, 2003)
http://www.brianpoe.com/comfoolery/index.html

Its free, but if your conscience tugs at you, donations are welcome! Check it out, it works great!

-brian

KC5EVE · 05-22-2002

The software has been posted by the Author under a new thread. For questions about it's use, I will try to answer them, since I requested the app about a week ago for stumbling, mapping, and APRS.

Later!

Dave Joyce · 05-22-2002

Can't get this to work.
ComFoolery seems to work fine. I can telnet to 127.0.0.1 port 5750 and get the GPS data.

But if I try to connect to COM3, I get
"Unable to connect to => 127.0.0.1:5750..."

I've installed and uninstalled "DeviceComm Manager" several times.

Any ideas?

bpoe · 05-22-2002

What version of Windows are you using? Do you see a brief appearance of a client in Comfoolery's client list when your app tries to open COM3?

You could try another ip. Get a command prompt and run IPCONFIG and note your ip address (could be 192.168...). Then use that address in DeviceComm Manager instead of 127.0.0.1.

05-21-2002	#17 (permalink)
KC5EVE Registered Member Join Date: May 2002 Location: Houston Posts: 24	Solved Ok, While not ready for public release...The installer is not finished. I have a solution working on my laptop that lets me have 99 virtual serial ports on my machine and lets an "unlimited" number of other clients connect to it. When the installer is done I will send out the URL's for the software. It ammounts to needing TWO pieces of software. 1. The serial port "server" (installer is all that it lacks) 2. Virtual serial port drivers from "www.lantronix.com" I have it working on 2k with no problems and can use APRS+SA, DeLorme Street Atlas, and Netstumbler all with just ONE hardware serial port on my computer. (of course the GPS data is already split in hardware and going to my tracker AND my computer). http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/find.cgi?kc5eve-9!KC5EVE

05-22-2002	#25 (permalink)
KC5EVE Registered Member Join Date: May 2002 Location: Houston Posts: 24	Update to comfoolery In the ever lasting improvement of code, The com port can now be talked to on one port and another port is listen only (before we had listen only). I should have the code tonight for testing with this new feature and possibly the installer. I do not have the source code. It is being written by a friend. I know that HE will get all the bounty! Mark

05-22-2002	#26 (permalink)
Dave Joyce Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Rancho Cucamonga California - (909) Posts: 39	But when do we get it?? __________________ David Joyce, CSSA Network Security Engineer SafeSectors, Inc. http://www.wirelesstalk.net/

05-22-2002	#27 (permalink)
bpoe Registered Member Join Date: May 2002 Location: texas Posts: 7	Software Com port sharing app - Here it is Written with netstumblers in mind - Comfoolery! (link updated April 11, 2003) http://www.brianpoe.com/comfoolery/index.html Its free, but if your conscience tugs at you, donations are welcome! Check it out, it works great! -brian Last edited by bpoe : 04-11-2003 at 09:35 PM.

05-22-2002	#28 (permalink)
KC5EVE Registered Member Join Date: May 2002 Location: Houston Posts: 24	Software Posted! The software has been posted by the Author under a new thread. For questions about it's use, I will try to answer them, since I requested the app about a week ago for stumbling, mapping, and APRS. Later!

05-21-2002	#19 (permalink)
Ashlar TAN (Truck Area Network) Join Date: Apr 2002 Posts: 27	I'm curious.. which of the utils at lantronix.com acts as a virtual serial port driver?

05-21-2002	#21 (permalink)
KC5EVE Registered Member Join Date: May 2002 Location: Houston Posts: 24	Ok, Here are MORE details. Example computer has ONE hardware serial port. Software (currently called "comfoolery") connects to the serial port and dumps all the data into a TCP port that is specified in the application. This is a TCP/IP server that listens can be connected to from ANY other computer on the network or "localhost". From within Comfoolery I can see all the data and all of the IP's of computers that are connected to me....In future updates I may have the ability to disconnect users as well. (This software is NOT available YET...It has only been working for 4 days!) Hopefully within a week or so I will have a post with a URL to it!!! NEXT: A software virtual serial port driver is used to create serial ports that talk via TCP/IP. The program that we used and tested it with is from Lantronix. (They make some really cool serial port hadware solutions for remote locations of serial port across the network!!) The software is loaded from there install. After that in control panel there is an applet that you enable a serial port and give it the IP of the machine to connect to and the port number. (when I do it locally I use 127.0.0.1 port 5802) When you start an app (like netstumbler) and connect to "serial port 8" you get a message that pops up and says "connecting to 127.0.0.1:5802 and I see all the data coming in the serial port. NOTE: THIS IS A ONE WAY SERIAL PORT!!! YOU CANNOT SEND ANY DATA TO THE SERIAL PORT....ONLY MONITOR THE PORT!!!

05-22-2002	#29 (permalink)
Dave Joyce Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Rancho Cucamonga California - (909) Posts: 39	Can't get this to work. ComFoolery seems to work fine. I can telnet to 127.0.0.1 port 5750 and get the GPS data. But if I try to connect to COM3, I get "Unable to connect to => 127.0.0.1:5750..." I've installed and uninstalled "DeviceComm Manager" several times. Any ideas? __________________ David Joyce, CSSA Network Security Engineer SafeSectors, Inc. http://www.wirelesstalk.net/

05-22-2002	#30 (permalink)
bpoe Registered Member Join Date: May 2002 Location: texas Posts: 7	What version of Windows are you using? Do you see a brief appearance of a client in Comfoolery's client list when your app tries to open COM3? You could try another ip. Get a command prompt and run IPCONFIG and note your ip address (could be 192.168...). Then use that address in DeviceComm Manager instead of 127.0.0.1.

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