NetO32

NetO32 (Net-Oh Thirty-Two) is a free application developed by Opticon and using the NetO file transmission protocol.

Setup

• Download the NetO32 installer from the Downloads Section below.
• Unzip and run the installer.
• Launch NetO32 and select 'Tools' > 'Options'
  • From the Menu at left select 'RS232'
    • Select the appropriate COM port for your device (see below for more details on this)
    • Select the appropriate Baudrate (usually 115200, rarely 19200, more rarely anything else)
    • Unless otherwise specified do not change the Parity, Byte Size or Stop Bit(s)
    • Select the appropriate IrDA device (usually None works though some specific devices require specific settings here, see below for a list)
  • From the menu at left select 'Download'
    • Click the 'browse' button at the far right to choose the location you wish your files to be saved to (Use Desktop unless you have some other location specifically in mind)
    • Choose either 'Append', 'Overwrite' or 'Unique' to choose what happens when the file you are downloading from the device already exists at your chosen location
      • Append - The data will be added to the existing file, no data is lost
      • Overwrite - The data previously saved will be deleted in favor of the new data. Previous data is lost.
      • Unique - A new file is created with an incremented number at the end of the file name (i.e. DATA.000 or DATA.001, etc). No data is lost.
  • Click 'OK'

Note: NetO32 will not remember these settings unless you save them. Additionally when you open the program again later on you will need to open the save file.

• Select 'File' > 'Save'
  • Choose a file name appropriate to you. A good rule of thumb is to use the name of your business as the save file name. This makes it obvious which file is yours.
  • Click 'Save'
• Now simply select 'Protocol' > 'Start' and you will see NetO32 start to work. Note that nothing will happen until you start the upload process on your terminal device as well.

Note: At this point the COM port is locked up and cannot be used by another device until you select 'Protocol' > 'Stop'.

Note: Some cradles such as the CRD-9723 have LEDs to indicate data passing back and forth. You should see a blinking orange/amber LED when the protocol has been started in the NetO program.

Note: If you are using a device connected via USB please note that it is common for Windows to assign the device to a completely different COM port than you have previously configured. You can adjust this by going into the 'Tools' > 'Options' menu as described above. Don't forget to save your file again. Be advised that if you use the same physical USB port on the PC continuously for this specific device this behavior does not usually occur.

Daily Usage

Once NetO32 has been configured (See Setup above) the day to day usage of NetO32 is remarkably simple.

PC Side

• Launch NetO32
• Select 'File' > 'Open' and choose your settings file from when you configured it previously.

Note that the title bar (the top of the program window) now should say NetO32 - <your file name> instead of NetO32 - Untitled like it does on startup.

• Select 'Protocol' > 'Start'

Terminal Side

These are the steps to take on your device to complete the data transfer. Note that this set of instructions assumed an OPL9728 running our standard application. Other devices running default Opticon software will have similar, if not identical, setup instructions.

• Scroll down to 'Send Data'
• Select Trigger (the center key just below the display). you will see a confirmation screen with text similar to what you see below:

Trandmit Data
via Cradle
NETO Protocol

• Place the unit on the cradle (nose down as usual)
• Press the trigger key a second time. Your data should now transmit. You will see an activity log on the NetO32 program window and you will have a new file in the location chosen previously during setup.

How To Find Your COM Port

Since NetO32 needs to know what COM port your data will be coming in from you will need to know how to locate this information.

• If you are using a RS232 cable (9 pins on one side with the two thumb screws that hold it in place) direct into your PC (no adapters) then your COM port is almost always COM 1. Rarely it will be COM 2 but this is only if you physically have two serial ports on your PC, a extreme rarity nowadays.
• If you are connected to the PC via USB then you will have installed USB drivers. When USB-VCP (Virtual COM Port) drivers are used Windows will assign you a port number based on some kind of internal logic. To find out which port has been assigned follow these steps:

Windows XP

• Select 'Start' > 'Settings' > 'Control Panel' > 'System' (icon) > 'Hardware' (tab) > 'Device Manager' (button)
• expand the menu tree that says 'Ports'
• Take note of the line that will start with something like 'Opticon OPL/CRD USB Serial Port (COMx)'
• The COMx number at the end of the line is the port number you need during NetO setup (see above)

Windows Vista and 7

• Select 'Start' > 'Control Panel'
• Change the 'View Type' in the upper right corner to either 'Large Icons' or 'Small icons', whichever you prefer.
• Select 'System'
• click 'Advanced system settings' from the menu at left
• Select 'Hardware' (tab) > 'Device Manager' (button)
• expand the menu tree that says 'Ports'
• Take note of the line that will start with something like 'Opticon OPL/CRD USB Serial Port (COMx)'
• The COMx number at the end of the line is the port number you need during NetO setup (see above)

Downloads