Answers.Body: <p>Honestly... it was WAY easier for us to find a computer on eBay! We bought an IBM ThinkPad with Windows 2000 installed on it.  We won the auction with a bid of $28 and with shipping it was the best $40 I've spent on eBay!  The laptop fired right up, we inserted the Lego Mindstorms Robotics Invention System disc, and voila!  It installed quickly and easily.  The USB tower was recognized right away and my son was programming his RCX 2.0 within 15 minutes of opening the eBay package!  We have the Mars expansion set and the RoboSports set also.  We are BIG fans of the 20 year old RCX systems!  </p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2018-08-25T03:21:11.440Z
Answers.Text: While this doesn't directly answer the question, I think it's a useful idea. Thanks for your contribution!
Answers.UserDisplayName: jncraton
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2018-09-03T15:48:30.033Z
Answers.Text: Not easy to find space for, but nice idea.
Answers.UserDisplayName: Weckar E.
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2018-08-24T19:56:02.170Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2018-08-24T19:56:02.170Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: Christina Graves
Answers.Body: <p>There are a few hurdles to jump through.</p>
  
  <p>For the IR tower, you need one of the following:</p>
  
  <ul>
  <li><a href="https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?S=9783-1" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Infrared Transmitter with USB Cable</a> (<a href="https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=x431c01&amp;idColor=10" rel="nofollow noreferrer">cheaper BrickLink listings on the part page</a>) (uses USB instead of 9-pin).</li>
  <li>A USB-to-9-pin adapter with a compatible driver (might be hard to find at this point?).</li>
  </ul>
  
  <p><a href="https://bricks.stackexchange.com/questions/1526/lego-mindstorms-rcx-ris-2-0-ir-tower-windows-7-windows-xp-driver">A 32-bit system to run the software on</a>. If you don't have such a system, one option is to install an old 32-bit version of Windows in a virtual machine, and pass the USB device through to the VM.</p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2017-10-31T13:17:31.827Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2017-10-31T13:17:31.827Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: Alexander O'Mara
Answers.Body: <p>The USB RCX Tower only has 32-bit support, which doesn't work on modern Windows versions. It has been reported to work on Linux though (I didn't try that myself).</p>
  
  <p>I own a serial USB RCX Tower which I connected to my computer USB (modern Windows 10) using a (modern) LogiLink AU0002E RS232 adapter which has a Windows 10-compatible 64-bit driver.</p>
  
  <p>I use leJOS and because it is Java I have IntelliJ IDEA community edition as programming environment. This doesn't work with Java 5 and older versions. IntelliJ IDEA does however still support Apache Ant 1.9.14 which in turn supports Java 5 and newer.</p>
  
  <p>Java 5 is the maximum version for leJOS and the minimum version voor Apache Ant 1.9.14 so Java 5 is just right. An Ant build script can compile the java source code and send it directly to the RCX, all from the programming environment.</p>
  
  <p>I started documenting everything here: <a href="https://github.com/oversticht/lego-rcx-lejos/blob/master/README.md" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://github.com/oversticht/lego-rcx-lejos/blob/master/README.md</a></p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2020-04-21T20:31:56.317Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2020-04-23T08:24:35.977Z
Answers.LastEditDate: 2020-04-23T08:24:35.977Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: Rijk
Answers.Body: <ol>
  <li>Buy a <a href="https://duckduckgo.com/?q=usb+to+9+pin+serial&amp;t=canonical&amp;atb=v61-6__&amp;ia=products" rel="nofollow noreferrer">USB to Serial adapter</a>. There are USB IR Towers, but the drivers are only for older version of Windows. A new USB/Serial adapter, on the other hand, should be compatible with Windows 10 (Windows 10 requires signed drivers, so do your homework before buying).</li>
  <li>Use 3rd party software. For example, <a href="http://bricxcc.sourceforge.net/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Brickx Command Center</a> and <a href="http://www.lejos.org/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">leJOS</a> are compatible with RCX and have a better chance of running on Windows 10 than the official LEGO software for RCX.</li>
  </ol>
  
  <p>I also found this site, which has the same advice, but with pretty pictures and more details: <a href="http://www.instructables.com/id/Making-Mindstorms-RCX-Work-Again/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">http://www.instructables.com/id/Making-Mindstorms-RCX-Work-Again/</a></p>
  
  <p>Note: If you use Linux, there is a built-in driver for the USB IR Tower in the kernel, so just about any Linux desktop system will "just work".</p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2017-11-01T14:59:07.553Z
Answers.Text: Will the 3rd party software work on a 64-bit machine?
Answers.UserDisplayName: Weckar E.
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2017-11-01T16:20:52.113Z
Answers.Text: I suspect most of it will. I've only used BrickxCC myself.
Answers.UserDisplayName: David Lechner
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2017-10-31T15:03:48.353Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2017-11-02T16:59:47.083Z
Answers.LastEditDate: 2017-11-02T16:59:47.083Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: David Lechner
Body: <p>I recently bought a new in box 1.5 Mindstorms kit featuring the RCX. My computer unfortunately does not have a 9-pin connection, and the software does not appear to work on Windows 10. Short of buying an old computer, what can I do to still load programs onto the RCX?</p>
  
Tags: <mindstorms><software><rcx>
Title: How to load an RCX from a modern system?
UserDisplayName: Weckar E.
ThreadText: # How to load an RCX from a modern system?
  
  (Asked by: username_0 on 2017-10-31)
  
  I recently bought a new in box 1.5 Mindstorms kit featuring the RCX. My computer unfortunately does not have a 9-pin connection, and the software does not appear to work on Windows 10. Short of buying an old computer, what can I do to still load programs onto the RCX?
  
  **Tags:** mindstorms, software, rcx
  
  
  ---
  
  ## 4 answers
  
  ### Answer by username_5 on 2017-10-31. Score: 8 | Accepted answer
  
  1. Buy a [USB to Serial adapter](https://duckduckgo.com/?q=usb+to+9+pin+serial&t=canonical&atb=v61-6__&ia=products). There are USB IR Towers, but the drivers are only for older version of Windows. A new USB/Serial adapter, on the other hand, should be compatible with Windows 10 (Windows 10 requires signed drivers, so do your homework before buying).
  2. Use 3rd party software. For example, [Brickx Command Center](http://bricxcc.sourceforge.net/) and [leJOS](http://www.lejos.org/) are compatible with RCX and have a better chance of running on Windows 10 than the official LEGO software for RCX.
  
  I also found this site, which has the same advice, but with pretty pictures and more details: <http://www.instructables.com/id/Making-Mindstorms-RCX-Work-Again/>
  
  Note: If you use Linux, there is a built-in driver for the USB IR Tower in the kernel, so just about any Linux desktop system will "just work".
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_0**: Will the 3rd party software work on a 64-bit machine?  
  > **username_5**: I suspect most of it will. I've only used BrickxCC myself.  
  
  ---
  
  ### Answer by username_1 on 2018-08-24. Score: 5
  
  Honestly... it was WAY easier for us to find a computer on eBay! We bought an IBM ThinkPad with Windows 2000 installed on it. We won the auction with a bid of $28 and with shipping it was the best $40 I've spent on eBay! The laptop fired right up, we inserted the Lego Mindstorms Robotics Invention System disc, and voila! It installed quickly and easily. The USB tower was recognized right away and my son was programming his RCX 2.0 within 15 minutes of opening the eBay package! We have the Mars expansion set and the RoboSports set also. We are BIG fans of the 20 year old RCX systems!
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_2**: While this doesn't directly answer the question, I think it's a useful idea. Thanks for your contribution!  
  > **username_0**: Not easy to find space for, but nice idea.  
  
  ---
  
  ### Answer by username_3 on 2017-10-31. Score: 3
  
  There are a few hurdles to jump through.
  
  For the IR tower, you need one of the following:
  
  * [Infrared Transmitter with USB Cable](https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?S=9783-1) ([cheaper BrickLink listings on the part page](https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=x431c01&idColor=10)) (uses USB instead of 9-pin).
  * A USB-to-9-pin adapter with a compatible driver (might be hard to find at this point?).
  
  [A 32-bit system to run the software on](https://bricks.stackexchange.com/questions/1526/lego-mindstorms-rcx-ris-2-0-ir-tower-windows-7-windows-xp-driver). If you don't have such a system, one option is to install an old 32-bit version of Windows in a virtual machine, and pass the USB device through to the VM.
  
  
  ---
  
  ### Answer by username_4 on 2020-04-21. Score: 2
  
  The USB RCX Tower only has 32-bit support, which doesn't work on modern Windows versions. It has been reported to work on Linux though (I didn't try that myself).
  
  I own a serial USB RCX Tower which I connected to my computer USB (modern Windows 10) using a (modern) LogiLink AU0002E RS232 adapter which has a Windows 10-compatible 64-bit driver.
  
  I use leJOS and because it is Java I have IntelliJ IDEA community edition as programming environment. This doesn't work with Java 5 and older versions. IntelliJ IDEA does however still support Apache Ant 1.9.14 which in turn supports Java 5 and newer.
  
  Java 5 is the maximum version for leJOS and the minimum version voor Apache Ant 1.9.14 so Java 5 is just right. An Ant build script can compile the java source code and send it directly to the RCX, all from the programming environment.
  
  I started documenting everything here: <https://github.com/oversticht/lego-rcx-lejos/blob/master/README.md>
  
  
  ---
  
  