Using E-Stim's Commander remotely
The E-Stim systems Series 2B comes with Windows software which allows you to control a unit that's plugged in via a serial cable. I'm a Mac user, so I've written my own program that works on that platform. Plus, it also works as a server, so one Mac user can control another's 2B remotely.
Because of the way I wrote the server software, anything that understands the eStim protocol should work with it. So I tried the official E-stim software and yes, you can make it control my Mac server. This page is all about how.
How to do it
To make all this work, you'll need: my Estim Control/Server for OS X; the E-Stim systems Commander software for Windows, and a serial port redirector. The one I used is free for personal use, called HW VSP. Don't worry if that sounds like gobbledegook - it's just a piece of software that fools the Windows program into thinking that it's talking to a serial port, when it's really talking to something over the internet.
First, I recommend installing the Commander software on Windows, and checking that it works with a box directly connected. Then install HW VSP, as a stand-alone app - you'll be given that choice during the install wizard.
Now, on the Mac version, open the Preferences window, and set the mode to slave. DO NOT tick the HTTP slave option.
Make sure you make a note of the port number that's on screen, click Done and return to the main screen. Turn on the eStim box, set it into Commander mode, and click Connect. You'll see the address displayed; on my network it's 10.0.1.12, and for now, I'm going to assume the Windows PC is on the same network. The page about my Mac software explains a bit more about using this stuff over the internet and through firewalls.
Now head to the PC, and open HW VSP - the icon is probably labelled Hardware Virtual Serial Port. Click the Virtual Serial Port tab, and you'll see a screen like this one.
Pick a COM port number - any will do, as long as you remember it and use it in the Commander software - and in IP Address enter the address of the computer running the server - in this case 10.0.1.12. Enter the correct port number too. Then click the Settings tab.
In the top set of settings, make sure only two options are ticked - 'Purge Buffer when Port is Opened' and 'Connect to Device even if Virtual COM is closed.' Click to save the settings to the INI file, for next time, then click back to the Virtual Serial Port tab, and click the Create COM button to establish the link. You'll see the counters for the COM port start to increase, as it receives the status updates from the remote box, and the Mac software will now show something like this on screen, confirming that it has a connection:
Back at the PC, it's time to start up the E-Stim Systems Commander software. Select the COM port that you created in HW VSP, then click the Connect button. After a moment, the screen will update with the channel levels shown on the box and the Mac software:
An important warning
There is, sadly, one glitch here - though the channels update, the mode doesn't. So, in these screens the box is set to Milk, and the Mac software correctly shows that, but the Windows app doesn't. It also doesn't seem to reflect power level changes made remotely. Mode and power changes on the Windows side work ok, though - so as long as you know what the box is set to to start with, or you change mode and power as soon as you connect, then you should be ok - just remember that if the Mac side changes mode or power, the Commander display may be out of sync.
Also, note that when I was trying this, I did get a couple of instances of Commander crashing and closing - I don't know if that's a problem with it, since I don't use it much, or with the way it works with HW VSP; this is more of a proof of concept than anything else, really.
Want to know more? nigel at roughsex.org