See also http://www.8052.com/forum/read.phtml?id=79825

Yes, 1-Wire certainly seems ideal for this.

Note that Maxim also do a 1-Wire to RS232 adaptor.



Well, not quite - he still needs to build his "large breadboard-esque device into which components can be plugged"


Actually, this probably won't work: I think he needs to identify not only what components are connected (easily determined from the 1-Wire IDs), but also where they are connected - which is not possible (?) with a single 1-Wire port:

http://www.8052.com/forum/read.phtml?id=76444