Hi people of the CemeTech forum.

I've been trying to get a TI Graph Link USB cable (TI SilverLink), however this cable is hard to get in the Netherlands.

So I started to look around how to make a home-made cable like this.
I found this website which has something to do with what I want: http://dwsimms.blogspot.com/2008/02/make-your-own-usb-to-25mm-adapter.html.
I tried to solder something while following this picture:


It went pretty well and I got this from it:



However I found out that this wont work and that it needed resitors and stuff.

I searched the web for many hours and I found this (I translated it to English:
"What you need for this:

A LED that lowers the voltage to 2 volt
2x 3.3K Ohm resistor
300 Ohm resistor
2x 5v Zener diode (voltage = a gamble)
USB cable/connector
And a plug for your calculator

Edit: LOL, you need a 4.7v Zener diode "

The thing is I don't know if this is correct and he didn't wrote in what order I need to connect it.

I also need to know what software I need to use:
- TI connect
- Tilp2
- TiglUSB
?

I hope that somebody would respond to me and that it would help me.

Thank you very much so far.

Neijwiert

The only USB cable that works (with both TI-Connect and TILP II) for communicating with older TI calculator models is the SilverLink.

USB and legacy serial are very different beasts. USB is a complex protocol that the 83+ does not talk; the SilverLink's micro-controller does the two-way translation between TI's protocol on the 2.5mm jack and the computer (to which it exposes an USB device). The passive cable you've found can't do that.
Replicating the functionality of the older BlackLink cable (serial DB9 <-> jack 2.5mm stereo) was easy enough, and the resulting cable is known as "$4 cable"; replicating the functionality of the SilverLink cable is much harder.

As Lionel said, the instructions that you're reading that list those discrete components are for a serial (RS232) link, not for a USB link. USB requires a microcontroller between the 2.5mm stereo (not 4-conductor, unlike your schematic and photo) plug and the USB port that talks USB to the computer and TI I/O protocol to the calculator. I suspect that this cable you've found may be for connecting iPods or other iDevices, since I think they use that weird 4-conductor 2.5mm plug. Your options:

1) Build a "$4 serial link"
2) Buy a serial TI-Graph Link ("Black Link") if you can find it
3) Build a "$5 parallel link"
4) Somehow find a Silver link, which you said was a challenge.
5) Get an Arduino and use my TI link routines to build firmware to emulate a SilverLink (not recommended)

And to complement Kerm's reply: "$4 serial link" (unofficial), BlackLink (official) and "$5 parallel link" (unofficial) are options for you only if you have the appropriate ports natively on your computer.
Indeed, the vast majority of USB <-> DB9 and USB <-> DB25 adapters don't support direct wire access, which TI's non-standard protocol requires.

SilverLinks in working condition can be found for $10... plus cost of transportation, which can be twice that amount.

It may also be worth mentioning that a USB-to-serial adaptor may work with a "$4 serial link" (they can supply the wrong voltage and may be missing the necessary control pins), whilst a USB-to-parallel adaptor is almost guaranteed not to work with the "$5 parallel link" (these usually implement enough of a parallel port to support printing and little else).

Edit: Bah, ninja'd by Lionel Debroux.

Hi guys,

Ty for responding so quickly .
I'll try the serial link I think that there might be a way to do it.
If it does not work I need to find a way that I can still get a SilverLink to my country.

Neijwiert

Neijwiert, does your computer therefore have a serial port on it?

Not really related, but is this a silverlink? http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00006BXBS/

I just ordered that a few days ago.

Yes, that's a SilverLink.

Yep, that's a silverlink, as far as the picture shows.
Edit: ninja'd

That is indeed a SilverLink, albeit with a much beefier ferroid than I am used to them having. $13 is a good price, but after $5 shipping, I guess that's not far off from the $20 I paid when I got mine in stores.

Darn. Well, I need a cable no matter what

I can only assume that you have a non-TI-84, then? Also, a slight offtopicness, what's with the project on the right-hand side of your signature that doesn't have a Cemetech topic?

83P. It's always been hard for me to transfer stuff



The Axe Development Environment. I haven't worked on it in weeks I'll post it here when I have some progress.

Ah, I see. You've been writing calculator programs for a long time, though; have you been copying programs to friends' calculators, or borrowing friends' Silverlinks?

Linking via calc-to-calc cables to friends' 84Ps, then asking them to upload. I don't know anyone who owns a Silverlink

Oh wow, you must live in some technophobic middle-of-nowhere. Well, I'm glad that you're remedying the situation, at any rate.

/me got one! So useful

Why did TI make it so easy to open though?

Why not....? I am strongly opposed to electronics with nonstandard stupid screws like Torx-6 or the Nintendo triwing screws.

I mean I pushed it a bit and it fell open. Maybe it's just this one.