OneTouch Ultra2 glucose meter data cable

Ok, I ended up with a OneTouch Ultra2 glucose meter. Happened to run across info that you can get a cable to download readings to a free tracking program the company offers.

Well the cable, both the $45+ official one and the $26 knockoff seem way over priced to me. I mean this is really rather trivial convenience when you can just scribble your readings down on piece paper. Figured had to be a workaround. There are some $2 usb cable that look similar but dont have correct end for the meter, has four terminals instead of three. And I dont think it has the PL2303 chip.

After lot searching I found a thread on some forum where some old farts were discussing making one. The thread was few years old and the official cable was only one available back then and it was priced at $70!!!!

Well one of participants in discussion found place giving away the official cables, you just had to call special number and ask for one. It was a short lived program, but it pretty much killed the discussion. Then there was a final post made after nobody was paying attention. Guy said you go buy a generic SERIAL data cable, not usb cable. It has correct end for the meter. Sells around $5 on ebay. If you have a SERIAL port on your computer, thats all you need besides the free software. HOwever if you dont have a serial port, you then buy a $1.50 serial to usb converter cable. Making sure it has a driver for your version of windoze.

To add confusion, many of these cables use PL2303 chipset. And many of the cheap knockoff converter cables dont pay Prolific to use the chipset. Prolific got angry and screwed with the drivers to keep these knockoff cables from working. Course that also meant the early Prolific cables dont work with newer drivers either. Confusion.

Anyway here is link if you ever want to get early Prolific cable or one of the knockoff cables working. http://www.ifamilysoftware.com/news37.html


I have one of the $5 SERIAL cables on its way. My computer has a serial port so dont need the converter cable. Though I went ahead and ordered one ($1.50 shipped on slow boat from China so you know quality is wonderful) just to see if the combination worked. I used one of these converter cables on a dialup serial modem few years ago so probably still have it around someplace though worth $1.50 not to have to look for it. Linux by way has had driver for PL2303 chip built into kernel for many, many years, since like kernel 2.2, maybe even kernel 2.0. Think there has been windows driver since like win98?? Be pointless on win95 since it had very marginal usb support anyway. These cables back in day were used for PDA.

I will post back when I get the cable and try it out. The serial synch cable should be here within week. The converter cable, like say, on slow boat from China so maybe month or so. I have serial port on my computer so will try just using the serial cable without the converter cable, and see what happens.

This is a trivial thing but really bugged me that OneTouch people gouging so much on price. If they would have just priced the official cable like reasonable $10, then I wouldnt even bothered looking for alternative. I mean the meter is usually discounted to like $15, so....

Had a thought. Through google discovered several have tried to get the OneTouch software to run on linux using WINE. Nobody I found succeeded, though think problem was getting the PL2303 driver installed. If one just directly connected to an existing serial port, that problem would go away.. So maybe another project. Havent messed with WINE in some years, easier just to keep an XP partition for things like this.

Ok, got the serial cable. Plugged it into serial port and software cant find it. I am assuming software is only looking at usb ports. So have to wait until the serial to usb converter cable gets here.

I got the serial to usb cable today. Not as described, it is one that uses that horrible CH340 (winchiphead) chipset. Found a driver, seemed to work. At least XP assigned it COM5 port. I set the One Touch software to use COM5. Nothing, software doesnt see it. Dont know if I still have an old serial modem or not. About the only thing I would have to test it.

Well doubt buying another serial to usb cable would help. Have to think about it some more.

I keep learning more or think I have. Found website giving actual schematics. They say you need a MAX232 IC based converter circuit board and show complicated little circuit diagram and tell you all the little bits and pieces you need from Radio Shack... I looked up the main bit and found you can buy one of these all factory preassembled out of china for like $4 shipped (yea, another slow boat...) Comes with set jumper wires. Then bought set of ten 3.5mm stereo cable ends for $1.59 shipped, that I will use ONE to solder three jumper wires. Need small box to enclose the circuit board. Otherwise that should be it.

If this doesnt work, suspect nothing except the official One Touch cable will do. But keep learning more. I am not an electronics person, but should be able to solder the three wires to the generic 3.5mm stereo cable end and push the jumper wires on correct terminals of the circuit board. LOL, really high tech complicated, huh? About as complicated as assembling a flashlight... tab B into slot A sort of thing. Whole lot better than trying to find a premade generic assembled serial cable with right configuration when they dont even mention a converter chip.

There are people that know what they are talking about and some that dont. This guy did and even I passed over his post first few times I read this thread on link below. Nobody else in the thread mentioned any of this. Notice all this info is quite old. (just making this post to document the links that pushed me into direction I am now going to do homemade cable for my One Touch Ultra2 meter --wont know for sure until that slow boat from China gets here...)


http://pinouts.ru/forum/index.php?topic=42.0

May 31, 2006, 14:42
Actually, the serial cable for some of the Onetouch meters have a line-driver chip in the D-connector to translate the voltage levels. This is because the meter runs on 3 volts. The driver draws power from one of the handshake lines on the host.. (Ithink it is the DLE... no sure) a Max232 is a common line-driver. I had an older OneTouch that used 2 button cells and the cable that worked with it doesn't work on the ultra... no driver chip... I can clear the log memory on the meter, but I cannot read the log.

AND: http://www.armory.com/~rstevew/Diabetes/indexe.html

This second link tells you in detail how to solder up your own Max292 line driver board. Like I mentioned in previous post, you can buy one of these for $4 already factory built. Just have to be patient on that slow boat. You might find it even cheaper, but I wanted the little jumper wire bundle that plugs onto terminals of the board. Could just solder your own wires to the pins if you really wanted to buy slightly cheaper version without the jumper wires. Maybe very cheap if you found one of the loss leader 99cent auctions for these. I doubt anybody is going to outbid you. This is old technology.