triggering TMS machine via serial port (com1)

[Fabrizio Ferri Benedetti]

Hi Bianca,

I've never worked with a TMS machine; nevertheless, some ideas come to 
my mind:

1) Check whether you are using COM1 or not (E-Prime 1 can't use serial 
ports beyond COM4, and some PCs - especially laptops or brand new - 
already have all the ports used by other devices; check that under My PC 
-> Hardware -> Device Manager).
2) Some software only shows the triggers when the recording is up and 
running, and not while in idle mode.
3) Have you tried the DEBUG method to test the communication between the 
machines?
4) Just in case, try all the solutions with a simple E-Prime script, 
easily modifiable and runnable on another PC.

My bet is that there's some I/O problem, perhaps related to wrong or 
busy port number, faulty cables or something similar.

Cheers,

Fabrizio

B de Haan escribió:
>
> Hi all,
>
>  
>
> I would like to trigger a TMS machine (Magstim SuperRapid) in E-prime 
> via the serial port and somehow nothing I try works. Is there anyone 
> out there who has successfully managed this?
>
>  
>
> I have tried:
>
>  
>
> 1) Similarly to the logic when triggering the LPT1 port, adding a bit 
> of inline script after the stimulus:
>
> WritePort &H03F8, 255
>
> WritePort &H03F8, 255
>
> WritePort &H03F8, 255
>
> WritePort &H03F8, 0
>
> Adding the port as device never used to be necessary when I used the 
> parallel port, but I tried it in all possible permutations of 
> with/without adding a port device and with/without adding a serial device
>
>  
>
> 2) I tried the solution mentioned in the post on 
> http://listserv.linguistlist.org/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0609E&L=EPRIME&P=R2&I=-3 
> <http://listserv.linguistlist.org/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0609E&L=EPRIME&P=R2&I=-3>
>
>  
>
> 3) I tried using all the SerialWrite methods (Serial.WriteByte, 
> Serial.WriteInteger, Serial.WriteLong, Serial.WriteString), although I 
> must confess I was not always sure how to use these commands to set 
> the serial port to HIGH. This again I tried with all possible 
> permutations of with/without adding a port device and with/without 
> adding a serial device.
>
>  
>
> So, can anyone help me? I never had any problems with the Magstim 
> Rapids, since they are triggered via the parallel port, but somehow I 
> cannot manage to get a trigger through the serial port. Is there 
> anyone out there using the new Magstim SuperRapids together with 
> E-prime (or anyone else who might have an idea as to what I am doing 
> wrong)?
>
>  
>
> Any help would be greatly appreciated,
>
>  
>
> Bianca de Haan
>


-- 
Fabrizio Ferri Benedetti
Departamento de Psicología Evolutiva y Educativa
Facultad de Psicología
Universidad de Valencia
http://www.uv.es/fafebe