Device working slow when used with DELL Docking station

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I am using DELL Latitude laptop (which has an inbuit com-port)..

I also have a DELL E-Legacy Extender (an external docking station which gives me another com-port) to connect a second device.

Please see link for the DELL E-Legacy Extender docking station details:
1. http://accessories.dell.com/sna/PopupProductDetail.aspx?c=us&l=en&cs=04&sku=430- 3115&price=60
2. http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/acc/elio/en/ug/LIOUG0MR.pdf

My problem:
Any device when connected via in-built com port of the laptop runs/operates faster than - when the same device is connected using docking station..

Any suggestions, comments on this??

Posted 10-Aug-11 0:40am

Member 7929601

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CPallini 10-Aug-11 6:57am

What do you mean with 'faster'? Cannot you set the same serial port speed (baud)?

Member 7929601 10-Aug-11 9:15am

We have an Electronic Control Unit (ECU) and a PC side diagnostic tool (written in managed C++). Communication of ecu (detection of ecu/data tx between PC and ecu) is faster when the ecu is directly connected via inbuilt com-port. When inbuilt comport is used it takes 4sec, while on docking station it takes 15secs.
Baud Rate is kept same for both-9600..

E.F. Nijboer 10-Aug-11 7:06am

Maybe the quality of the docking station is less and simply can't handle the higher speed and therefore falls back on a lower speed. (Just like utp cables with different quality offer a different maximum speed). Maybe cleaning the connectors might help.
Ps. your question doesn't sound like an actual programming problem though. Maybe dell support can help you better with this.

Member 7929601 10-Aug-11 9:23am

We are using an original new DELL docking station which is compatible with the laptop. So quality/cleanliness- i don't think is an issue.
Secondly, the PC side application software is written in C++ (we compile and execute it). Then comes detection of the ECU and other processes. so we actually run the diagnostic software by compiling the code.

E.F. Nijboer 11-Aug-11 14:25pm

I understand what you mean. However, it can still be the case that the docking station has more resistance, meaning voltage dropping. Therefor this might get compensated with transmission at a lower speed. But I would also look into what barneyman describes in his answer below.

Member 7929601 12-Aug-11 9:13am

I don't feel there is any problem with the docking station. The hardware(ECU) works fine (data communication speed is fast) when I use the same docking station on a XP PC. The docking system and the assembly works slow when its Win7(64bit).

Any idea/suggestions/comments on the change of speed w.r.t to OS..

E.F. Nijboer 13-Aug-11 10:47am

Could be that some motherboard drivers would be needed to get the same speed on win7x64. If the laptop was still in the support period when windows vista/7 64bit was released, those drivers should be around somewhere. Win7 not probably falls back on some default driver that is much slower (or just slow to be on the safe side). Maybe you can change it manually in the Device Manager.

Member 7929601 16-Aug-11 2:56am

I am done with modifying port settings, FIFO buffers etc. from the device manager. Is there any specific setting you want me to modify? Please suggest.. :)

E.F. Nijboer 17-Aug-11 7:36am

Sorry, I can't really suggest anything. Maybe barneyman has some more on this. I remember that there is also some com configuration in the bios. Maybe you could check out the bios and device manager differences between docked and undocked.

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barneyman · Answer 1 · 2011-08-10T15:54:00

9600 is slow - it was slow 20 years ago, so it's positively glacial now :) so it's probably not that - I'd be more inclined to look at the flow control you're using and the UART settings used on the docking station ...

If you're running this under windows then have a look at the com port in the Device Manager

If you're metal bashing then you'll have to review your flow control and how you handle the the UARTs FIFO buffers