Preparation

1. In this document, we use the CP2102 USB to Serial Module for testing.
(The operation steps described here are applicable to other USB to Serial Modules as well) Therefore, you need to install the CP2102 driver.

2. Wire the cables to the Module as indicated in the Figure below:

3. Connect the CP2102 to the USB port of your PC, and then open the Device Manager to see if the corresponding COM port can be viewed.

4. Download the testing software: File:UART Fingerprint Reader test.zip, and register the relative control.

Please first change your system language to "Chinese (PRC)" and then follow the next steps:

On registering the control of MSCOMM32.OCX, if there is a prompt popped out telling you that The module "mscomm32.ocx" was loaded but the call to DllRegisterServer failed with error code 0x8002801c.

You can solve this problem with the following method:

For a 64-bit OS, copy the MSCOMM32.OCX to the directory of C:\Windows\SysWOW64, and then run the register script. If it still dose not work, you need to copy the MSCOMM32.OCX to the directory of C:\Windows\System32, and run the register script. (It may requires the administrator privileges to register the control successfully in this method.)

Open the UART Fingerprint Reader, you will see the operation interface as the below figure shows if the module works properly. (The default port of the USB to serial interface was set to COM1. If your COM1 isn't in use, there will be a prompt saying that Comm port error!. In this case, just click OK then choose the corresponding COM port in use.

Operations

5. Configure the COM port: select the tab Setting, and choose the correct COM port in the option Communication port selection (Default baud rate: 19200).

6. Check the communication: select the tab Test, and choose the option Get the total number of user in the area of Basic operation. Then, click the button Send. You will see the relative information displayed in the box of Display returned data (e.g. it prompts "用户总数：0" which means "Total number of users: 0"), if the communication between the module and your PC is built up successfully. (In case of no information shown, please turn back to the previous steps to check carefully whether there are any mistakes.)

7. User fingerprint input: select the option User fingerprint input in the area of Basic operation, and check the options Acquire twice and ID auto-increment by 1. Set the parameters P1, P2 and P3 in the area of Parameter selection to 0, 1, 1, respectively. (You can of course set the parameters to other numbers, but just make sure the ID number they make up is not in used. ) Click the button Send. When you hear a 'beep' from the module and find the fingerprint sensing area light up, you can put your finger on the sensing area for scanning. After the second scanning finished, it will prompt "用户录入成功" which means "Input Fingerprint Successfully".

Please take a notice that do not check the option Upload feature. This option may upload the characteristic value to the PC other than fingerprint reader, which will cause fingerprint marching failure and no increase in the total number of user, though you may get the information of 'fingerprint input success!' after a new fingerprint is added.

8. Fingerprint comparison: select the option 1:N comparison in the area of Basic operation, and click the button Send. When you hear a 'beep' from the module and find the fingerprint sensing area light up, you can put your finger on the sensing area for scanning. If the fingerprint scanned is already stored into the module, the module will present the information "n号用户比对成功" which means "No. n user matched". Or else, you may get the information "No match".

Additional operations

9. Modify the baud rate: take the modification of the baud rate from 19200 to 115200 as an example:

Select the tab Setting, and choose the correct COM port in the option Communication port selection. Then, set '115200' into the option of Modify baud rate setting, and click the button Send to make it take effect.

Notice: When the baud rate of the module has been modified to 11520, the baud rate of your PC should be set to 115200 as well. Otherwise, it may cause communication failure.

If you forget the baud rate of the module, the following method can help you to find it back:

Start the software Serial Debugging Assistant, and select the corresponding COM number. Then, open the COM port and check the options HEX display and HEX transmission. Input a string of data , such as 'F5 09 00 00 00 00 09 F5', into the string input box, and click the button Send. If the baud rate setting is correct, the receive box will show the relative data, such as 'F5 09 00 01 00 00 08 F5' in here. For a wrong baud rate setting, there will be nothing displayed. In this way, you can get back the correct baud rate by trying different baud rate setting.

10. Acquire fingerprint image: select the option Acquire fingerprint image in the area of Basic operation, and click the button Send. When you hear a 'beep' from the module and find the fingerprint sensing area light up, you can put your finger on the sensing area for scanning. It may take 6 seconds before displaying the fingerprint image acquired on the PC.

Notice: If the module can not acquire any image or the image acquired is imperfect, you should reduce the baud rate to make sure the quality of the image. It is recommended to use the baud rate of 9600 for fingerprint image acquirement.

11. Sleep mode: select the option Sleep in the area of Basic operation, and click the button Send. Then, you will get the information of "模块进入休眠状态，不再响应任何命令" which means "Module enters sleep mode and no command will be responded". The only way to wake up a sleeping module is to power it up once again.