On rare occasions, we get tech support calls from users whose computers have trouble detecting a sensor or interface. The steps below outline what you can do to troubleshoot the issue. If you are using the device on a Windows XP or Vista or Win7 Operating System, you will need to upgrade to a Win8/10/11 PC or Tablet and get our latest software version. Please contact us here.

Check Device Manager

First make sure the load cell or interface shows up in the device manager. All our devices use an FTDI device driver to convert serial port signals to a USB virtual COM port. This virtual COM port will appear in the device manager as a "USB Serial Port" device under the "Ports" section. To launch the device manager, just search for "Device Manager", or go to "Settings...PC Info...Device Manager" or just right click on the Windows icon on the bottom of the screen.

Driver Installation

If the USB serial port entry does not show up then the drivers may not have been properly installed. Reinstall the drivers from the USB drive provided when you purchased the software or you can download the drivers from a link on our downloads page.

The following devices need a miniB to miniB USB cable connected to a S2U USB dongle to connect to the computer. Please make sure you are using such a dongle. You cannot use an off the shelf USB cable to connect the following devices to the computer. It has proprietary electronics built into it.

• DI-100U
• DQ-1000U
• DQ-4000U
• DS-4000U
• iLoad
• iLoad TR
• iLoad Pro
• iLevel
• 
  The DI-1000U and its variants do not need the S2U dongle. You can use an off-the-shelf miniB to USB A cable to connect a DI-1000U to a computer.

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Also check the cable connections to make sure they are tight. If necessary try replacing the cable. If you have a lost or misplaced the dongle and/or cables, or if you have faulty cables or dongles, you can order new ones from us from the Products/Accessories page.

Other things to check:

• DI-100 -> Is the LED blinking? If not the dongle and/or cable issues. The DI-100 unit itself may be faulty.
• DI-1000 -> Check the power switch is turned on. (Some older units do not have power switches)
• iLoad series-> Try pushing the cable or the strain relief portion of the cable HARD into the load cell to ensure a good connection.

Dongle/Cable Failures

If the device manager does show a serial port entry and you still have connectivity issues, it is very likely that the dongle or the cable is damaged. If the unit is still under the 90 day warranty, we will replace the defective parts for free but you have to pay for shippign fees to your location. If you are out of warranty, you can just order the needed replacements online.

Terminal Program

If you can connect, but the sensor reads 0 or invalid values, then you have to check the interface settings to see if the calibration data has been corrupted. To check the settings, you need a terminal program that can read and write to serial ports. If you are using Windows XP, the built-in Hyperterminal program can be used for this purpose. Otherwise, the open source program Putty can be used. This can be downloaded from here (for Windows) or from http://www.putty.org (Windows or Linux).

After launching Putty (putte.exe), click on "Serial" and then fill up the parameters as shown in the figure below:

By default the baud rate is 9600 for most of our devices. For DI-100UHS, DI-400UHS, DI-1000UHS and DI-1000UHS-1K the baud rate is 230400. Then click on Serial and setup serial port parameters. Make sure to set the Flow Control to None.

 You'll need the COM port in use by your sensor/interface before the next step. You can find this from the Device Manager/Ports setting.

Then click on "Open". The terminal screen will be displayed. Hit the enter key a few times. You should see the letter "A". You can then different commands (depending on the device) to check the parameters.

Once you get the A for acknowledgement with a few <CR> (Enter) then you can type SETTINGS commands to see the settings burned into the device and you can use the "?" command to see a help file for the commands. Please do NOT mess around with these settings lest something goes awry and we can't support you.

Remote Support

For help with any issues, go to loadstarsensors.com and under Support menu option click on Remote Support. Download and install the app, and call us with ID and Pwd. We can then see your screen and try to assist you. Please contact us for help.