USB-to-Serial adaptor stops working

[dinki]

Hey guys, I've been having trouble with my USB-to-Serial (Prolific) adaptor that I use to control my DirecTV receiver. On boot up, it works fine and I'd say it works fine for a day, maybe two. I'm not really sure when it stops working, but at some point, the PC can't communicate with the DTV box. Upon restarting the machine, all is well again.

Does anyone know of a 'keep alive' script that I can use to ping the DTV box every few hours if a better solution to this problem can not be discovered?

Thanks!