Hi all.

I seem to have a stubborn serial port.

I just got a new motherboard, with one onboard serial port, and also have a
PCI expansion card with two serial ports.

After I installed the drivers for the expansion card I got an error message
regarding COM1 (the onboard port). I blamed it on a silly driver conflict,
forgot to write the exact error message down, rebooted the PC, and everything
was fine. Or so I thought...

Yesterday, when I started one of my programs that use all 3 COM ports, I
immediately got a "cannot open port 1" message. After checking the ports and
their settings in the device manager, I saw "this device is working properly"
for all 3 ports. Yet COM1 refused to work. 2 and 3 worked fine.

Blame it on pure luck, for some reason I disabled COM1, and then enabled it
again. And after that it worked. So I didn't investigate further.

This morning I start up my PC, only to find out that COM1 wasn't working
again. "This device is working properly". No, it isn't... So I decided to do
the disable/enable routine again, and sure enough, it worked.

I have gone so far as to uninstall/install COM1 through the device manager,
thinking that that would fix it. After uninstalling and rebooting XP (SP2)
picked up the "new" device, and installed the drivers. But again, the COM
port was not working until I disabled/enabled it.

Does anyone have any idea how I can fix this permanently?

Thanks,

Erik

new mobo?
You have installed the chipset drivers?

"Erik" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:0D48120C-ACCD-48E9-BF1B-(E-Mail Removed)...
> Hi all.
>
> I seem to have a stubborn serial port.
>
> I just got a new motherboard, with one onboard serial port, and also have
> a
> PCI expansion card with two serial ports.
>
> After I installed the drivers for the expansion card I got an error
> message
> regarding COM1 (the onboard port). I blamed it on a silly driver conflict,
> forgot to write the exact error message down, rebooted the PC, and
> everything
> was fine. Or so I thought...
>
> Yesterday, when I started one of my programs that use all 3 COM ports, I
> immediately got a "cannot open port 1" message. After checking the ports
> and
> their settings in the device manager, I saw "this device is working
> properly"
> for all 3 ports. Yet COM1 refused to work. 2 and 3 worked fine.
>
> Blame it on pure luck, for some reason I disabled COM1, and then enabled
> it
> again. And after that it worked. So I didn't investigate further.
>
> This morning I start up my PC, only to find out that COM1 wasn't working
> again. "This device is working properly". No, it isn't... So I decided to
> do
> the disable/enable routine again, and sure enough, it worked.
>
> I have gone so far as to uninstall/install COM1 through the device
> manager,
> thinking that that would fix it. After uninstalling and rebooting XP (SP2)
> picked up the "new" device, and installed the drivers. But again, the COM
> port was not working until I disabled/enabled it.
>
> Does anyone have any idea how I can fix this permanently?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Erik

Of course :-)

"DL" wrote:

> new mobo?
> You have installed the chipset drivers?
>
> "Erik" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:0D48120C-ACCD-48E9-BF1B-(E-Mail Removed)...
> > Hi all.
> >
> > I seem to have a stubborn serial port.
> >
> > I just got a new motherboard, with one onboard serial port, and also have
> > a
> > PCI expansion card with two serial ports.
> >
> > After I installed the drivers for the expansion card I got an error
> > message
> > regarding COM1 (the onboard port). I blamed it on a silly driver conflict,
> > forgot to write the exact error message down, rebooted the PC, and
> > everything
> > was fine. Or so I thought...
> >
> > Yesterday, when I started one of my programs that use all 3 COM ports, I
> > immediately got a "cannot open port 1" message. After checking the ports
> > and
> > their settings in the device manager, I saw "this device is working
> > properly"
> > for all 3 ports. Yet COM1 refused to work. 2 and 3 worked fine.
> >
> > Blame it on pure luck, for some reason I disabled COM1, and then enabled
> > it
> > again. And after that it worked. So I didn't investigate further.
> >
> > This morning I start up my PC, only to find out that COM1 wasn't working
> > again. "This device is working properly". No, it isn't... So I decided to
> > do
> > the disable/enable routine again, and sure enough, it worked.
> >
> > I have gone so far as to uninstall/install COM1 through the device
> > manager,
> > thinking that that would fix it. After uninstalling and rebooting XP (SP2)
> > picked up the "new" device, and installed the drivers. But again, the COM
> > port was not working until I disabled/enabled it.
> >
> > Does anyone have any idea how I can fix this permanently?
> >
> > Thanks,
> >
> > Erik
>
>
>

Thats often missed

When you get the problem, any conflicts shown in Hardware Devices?
Any err.msgs in Event Viewer?
Tried the card in a different slot?


"Erik" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:A2CAEDD5-2461-4BB6-A5F1-(E-Mail Removed)...
> Of course :-)
>
> "DL" wrote:
>
>> new mobo?
>> You have installed the chipset drivers?
>>
>> "Erik" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
>> news:0D48120C-ACCD-48E9-BF1B-(E-Mail Removed)...
>> > Hi all.
>> >
>> > I seem to have a stubborn serial port.
>> >
>> > I just got a new motherboard, with one onboard serial port, and also
>> > have
>> > a
>> > PCI expansion card with two serial ports.
>> >
>> > After I installed the drivers for the expansion card I got an error
>> > message
>> > regarding COM1 (the onboard port). I blamed it on a silly driver
>> > conflict,
>> > forgot to write the exact error message down, rebooted the PC, and
>> > everything
>> > was fine. Or so I thought...
>> >
>> > Yesterday, when I started one of my programs that use all 3 COM ports,
>> > I
>> > immediately got a "cannot open port 1" message. After checking the
>> > ports
>> > and
>> > their settings in the device manager, I saw "this device is working
>> > properly"
>> > for all 3 ports. Yet COM1 refused to work. 2 and 3 worked fine.
>> >
>> > Blame it on pure luck, for some reason I disabled COM1, and then
>> > enabled
>> > it
>> > again. And after that it worked. So I didn't investigate further.
>> >
>> > This morning I start up my PC, only to find out that COM1 wasn't
>> > working
>> > again. "This device is working properly". No, it isn't... So I decided
>> > to
>> > do
>> > the disable/enable routine again, and sure enough, it worked.
>> >
>> > I have gone so far as to uninstall/install COM1 through the device
>> > manager,
>> > thinking that that would fix it. After uninstalling and rebooting XP
>> > (SP2)
>> > picked up the "new" device, and installed the drivers. But again, the
>> > COM
>> > port was not working until I disabled/enabled it.
>> >
>> > Does anyone have any idea how I can fix this permanently?
>> >
>> > Thanks,
>> >
>> > Erik
>>
>>
>>

Hi DL.

Sorry for the late reply; I didn't get a notification that you had replied
again.

Often missed yes; but if I'd tell you how many times I've called the 1800
number for a new activation code (if I could remember...) you'd know that
I've done this "a couple" of times

To answer your questions:

1. No conflicts in device manager at all. Everything is reported as "working
properly".
2. Error messages in event viewer: lots! A little over 600 in the
Application tab, almost 2,000 (yep, two thousand) under the System tab. Many
of these entries are merely Information (about SP2 that was installed), some
are related to some CDROM issue (even though they appear to work fine); but
I've found a few that say "While validating that \Device\Serial1 was really a
serial port, a fifo was detected. The fifo will be used." I've done a Google
(oops!) search for this error message; but didn't find anything useful. Any
idea what that means? And, what else am I looking for?
3. I haven't swapped the expansion card to a different PCI slot yet, no. I
was kinda hoping that there is an easier (as opposed to opening the box -
again - and swapping cards around...).

Any ideas?

Thanks,

Erik

"DL" wrote:

> Thats often missed
>
> When you get the problem, any conflicts shown in Hardware Devices?
> Any err.msgs in Event Viewer?
> Tried the card in a different slot?
>
>
> "Erik" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:A2CAEDD5-2461-4BB6-A5F1-(E-Mail Removed)...
> > Of course :-)
> >
> > "DL" wrote:
> >
> >> new mobo?
> >> You have installed the chipset drivers?
> >>
> >> "Erik" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> >> news:0D48120C-ACCD-48E9-BF1B-(E-Mail Removed)...
> >> > Hi all.
> >> >
> >> > I seem to have a stubborn serial port.
> >> >
> >> > I just got a new motherboard, with one onboard serial port, and also
> >> > have
> >> > a
> >> > PCI expansion card with two serial ports.
> >> >
> >> > After I installed the drivers for the expansion card I got an error
> >> > message
> >> > regarding COM1 (the onboard port). I blamed it on a silly driver
> >> > conflict,
> >> > forgot to write the exact error message down, rebooted the PC, and
> >> > everything
> >> > was fine. Or so I thought...
> >> >
> >> > Yesterday, when I started one of my programs that use all 3 COM ports,
> >> > I
> >> > immediately got a "cannot open port 1" message. After checking the
> >> > ports
> >> > and
> >> > their settings in the device manager, I saw "this device is working
> >> > properly"
> >> > for all 3 ports. Yet COM1 refused to work. 2 and 3 worked fine.
> >> >
> >> > Blame it on pure luck, for some reason I disabled COM1, and then
> >> > enabled
> >> > it
> >> > again. And after that it worked. So I didn't investigate further.
> >> >
> >> > This morning I start up my PC, only to find out that COM1 wasn't
> >> > working
> >> > again. "This device is working properly". No, it isn't... So I decided
> >> > to
> >> > do
> >> > the disable/enable routine again, and sure enough, it worked.
> >> >
> >> > I have gone so far as to uninstall/install COM1 through the device
> >> > manager,
> >> > thinking that that would fix it. After uninstalling and rebooting XP
> >> > (SP2)
> >> > picked up the "new" device, and installed the drivers. But again, the
> >> > COM
> >> > port was not working until I disabled/enabled it.
> >> >
> >> > Does anyone have any idea how I can fix this permanently?
> >> >
> >> > Thanks,
> >> >
> >> > Erik
> >>
> >>
> >>
>
>
>

Just a thought, you could try killing mouse detection on the serial
ports with the /fastdetect switch.

Available switch options for the Windows XP and the Windows Server 2003
Boot.ini files
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/833721/en-us

Erik wrote:

> Hi DL.
>
> Sorry for the late reply; I didn't get a notification that you had replied
> again.
>
> Often missed yes; but if I'd tell you how many times I've called the 1800
> number for a new activation code (if I could remember...) you'd know that
> I've done this "a couple" of times
>
> To answer your questions:
>
> 1. No conflicts in device manager at all. Everything is reported as "working
> properly".
> 2. Error messages in event viewer: lots! A little over 600 in the
> Application tab, almost 2,000 (yep, two thousand) under the System tab. Many
> of these entries are merely Information (about SP2 that was installed), some
> are related to some CDROM issue (even though they appear to work fine); but
> I've found a few that say "While validating that \Device\Serial1 was really a
> serial port, a fifo was detected. The fifo will be used." I've done a Google
> (oops!) search for this error message; but didn't find anything useful. Any
> idea what that means? And, what else am I looking for?
> 3. I haven't swapped the expansion card to a different PCI slot yet, no. I
> was kinda hoping that there is an easier (as opposed to opening the box -
> again - and swapping cards around...).
>
> Any ideas?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Erik
>
> "DL" wrote:
>
>
>>Thats often missed
>>
>>When you get the problem, any conflicts shown in Hardware Devices?
>>Any err.msgs in Event Viewer?
>>Tried the card in a different slot?
>>
>>
>>"Erik" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
>>news:A2CAEDD5-2461-4BB6-A5F1-(E-Mail Removed)...
>>
>>>Of course :-)
>>>
>>>"DL" wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>>new mobo?
>>>>You have installed the chipset drivers?
>>>>
>>>>"Erik" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
>>>>news:0D48120C-ACCD-48E9-BF1B-(E-Mail Removed)...
>>>>
>>>>>Hi all.
>>>>>
>>>>>I seem to have a stubborn serial port.
>>>>>
>>>>>I just got a new motherboard, with one onboard serial port, and also
>>>>>have
>>>>>a
>>>>>PCI expansion card with two serial ports.
>>>>>
>>>>>After I installed the drivers for the expansion card I got an error
>>>>>message
>>>>>regarding COM1 (the onboard port). I blamed it on a silly driver
>>>>>conflict,
>>>>>forgot to write the exact error message down, rebooted the PC, and
>>>>>everything
>>>>>was fine. Or so I thought...
>>>>>
>>>>>Yesterday, when I started one of my programs that use all 3 COM ports,
>>>>>I
>>>>>immediately got a "cannot open port 1" message. After checking the
>>>>>ports
>>>>>and
>>>>>their settings in the device manager, I saw "this device is working
>>>>>properly"
>>>>>for all 3 ports. Yet COM1 refused to work. 2 and 3 worked fine.
>>>>>
>>>>>Blame it on pure luck, for some reason I disabled COM1, and then
>>>>>enabled
>>>>>it
>>>>>again. And after that it worked. So I didn't investigate further.
>>>>>
>>>>>This morning I start up my PC, only to find out that COM1 wasn't
>>>>>working
>>>>>again. "This device is working properly". No, it isn't... So I decided
>>>>>to
>>>>>do
>>>>>the disable/enable routine again, and sure enough, it worked.
>>>>>
>>>>>I have gone so far as to uninstall/install COM1 through the device
>>>>>manager,
>>>>>thinking that that would fix it. After uninstalling and rebooting XP
>>>>>(SP2)
>>>>>picked up the "new" device, and installed the drivers. But again, the
>>>>>COM
>>>>>port was not working until I disabled/enabled it.
>>>>>
>>>>>Does anyone have any idea how I can fix this permanently?
>>>>>
>>>>>Thanks,
>>>>>
>>>>>Erik
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>
>>

With that amount of event viewer err.msgs you've got something going on,
which aint right

"Erik" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:34B1F6E1-D753-4804-B81A-(E-Mail Removed)...
> Hi DL.
>
> Sorry for the late reply; I didn't get a notification that you had replied
> again.
>
> Often missed yes; but if I'd tell you how many times I've called the 1800
> number for a new activation code (if I could remember...) you'd know that
> I've done this "a couple" of times
>
> To answer your questions:
>
> 1. No conflicts in device manager at all. Everything is reported as
> "working
> properly".
> 2. Error messages in event viewer: lots! A little over 600 in the
> Application tab, almost 2,000 (yep, two thousand) under the System tab.
> Many
> of these entries are merely Information (about SP2 that was installed),
> some
> are related to some CDROM issue (even though they appear to work fine);
> but
> I've found a few that say "While validating that \Device\Serial1 was
> really a
> serial port, a fifo was detected. The fifo will be used." I've done a
> Google
> (oops!) search for this error message; but didn't find anything useful.
> Any
> idea what that means? And, what else am I looking for?
> 3. I haven't swapped the expansion card to a different PCI slot yet, no. I
> was kinda hoping that there is an easier (as opposed to opening the box -
> again - and swapping cards around...).
>
> Any ideas?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Erik
>
> "DL" wrote:
>
>> Thats often missed
>>
>> When you get the problem, any conflicts shown in Hardware Devices?
>> Any err.msgs in Event Viewer?
>> Tried the card in a different slot?
>>
>>
>> "Erik" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
>> news:A2CAEDD5-2461-4BB6-A5F1-(E-Mail Removed)...
>> > Of course :-)
>> >
>> > "DL" wrote:
>> >
>> >> new mobo?
>> >> You have installed the chipset drivers?
>> >>
>> >> "Erik" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
>> >> news:0D48120C-ACCD-48E9-BF1B-(E-Mail Removed)...
>> >> > Hi all.
>> >> >
>> >> > I seem to have a stubborn serial port.
>> >> >
>> >> > I just got a new motherboard, with one onboard serial port, and also
>> >> > have
>> >> > a
>> >> > PCI expansion card with two serial ports.
>> >> >
>> >> > After I installed the drivers for the expansion card I got an error
>> >> > message
>> >> > regarding COM1 (the onboard port). I blamed it on a silly driver
>> >> > conflict,
>> >> > forgot to write the exact error message down, rebooted the PC, and
>> >> > everything
>> >> > was fine. Or so I thought...
>> >> >
>> >> > Yesterday, when I started one of my programs that use all 3 COM
>> >> > ports,
>> >> > I
>> >> > immediately got a "cannot open port 1" message. After checking the
>> >> > ports
>> >> > and
>> >> > their settings in the device manager, I saw "this device is working
>> >> > properly"
>> >> > for all 3 ports. Yet COM1 refused to work. 2 and 3 worked fine.
>> >> >
>> >> > Blame it on pure luck, for some reason I disabled COM1, and then
>> >> > enabled
>> >> > it
>> >> > again. And after that it worked. So I didn't investigate further.
>> >> >
>> >> > This morning I start up my PC, only to find out that COM1 wasn't
>> >> > working
>> >> > again. "This device is working properly". No, it isn't... So I
>> >> > decided
>> >> > to
>> >> > do
>> >> > the disable/enable routine again, and sure enough, it worked.
>> >> >
>> >> > I have gone so far as to uninstall/install COM1 through the device
>> >> > manager,
>> >> > thinking that that would fix it. After uninstalling and rebooting XP
>> >> > (SP2)
>> >> > picked up the "new" device, and installed the drivers. But again,
>> >> > the
>> >> > COM
>> >> > port was not working until I disabled/enabled it.
>> >> >
>> >> > Does anyone have any idea how I can fix this permanently?
>> >> >
>> >> > Thanks,
>> >> >
>> >> > Erik
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>>
>>
>>

Thanks Bob, but that switch is already present in boot.ini. I suspect it's
the default.

"Bob I" wrote:

> Just a thought, you could try killing mouse detection on the serial
> ports with the /fastdetect switch.
>
> Available switch options for the Windows XP and the Windows Server 2003
> Boot.ini files
> http://support.microsoft.com/kb/833721/en-us
>
> Erik wrote:
>
> > Hi DL.
> >
> > Sorry for the late reply; I didn't get a notification that you had replied
> > again.
> >
> > Often missed yes; but if I'd tell you how many times I've called the 1800
> > number for a new activation code (if I could remember...) you'd know that
> > I've done this "a couple" of times
> >
> > To answer your questions:
> >
> > 1. No conflicts in device manager at all. Everything is reported as "working
> > properly".
> > 2. Error messages in event viewer: lots! A little over 600 in the
> > Application tab, almost 2,000 (yep, two thousand) under the System tab. Many
> > of these entries are merely Information (about SP2 that was installed), some
> > are related to some CDROM issue (even though they appear to work fine); but
> > I've found a few that say "While validating that \Device\Serial1 was really a
> > serial port, a fifo was detected. The fifo will be used." I've done a Google
> > (oops!) search for this error message; but didn't find anything useful. Any
> > idea what that means? And, what else am I looking for?
> > 3. I haven't swapped the expansion card to a different PCI slot yet, no. I
> > was kinda hoping that there is an easier (as opposed to opening the box -
> > again - and swapping cards around...).
> >
> > Any ideas?
> >
> > Thanks,
> >
> > Erik
> >
> > "DL" wrote:
> >
> >
> >>Thats often missed
> >>
> >>When you get the problem, any conflicts shown in Hardware Devices?
> >>Any err.msgs in Event Viewer?
> >>Tried the card in a different slot?
> >>
> >>
> >>"Erik" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> >>news:A2CAEDD5-2461-4BB6-A5F1-(E-Mail Removed)...
> >>
> >>>Of course :-)
> >>>
> >>>"DL" wrote:
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>>new mobo?
> >>>>You have installed the chipset drivers?
> >>>>
> >>>>"Erik" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> >>>>news:0D48120C-ACCD-48E9-BF1B-(E-Mail Removed)...
> >>>>
> >>>>>Hi all.
> >>>>>
> >>>>>I seem to have a stubborn serial port.
> >>>>>
> >>>>>I just got a new motherboard, with one onboard serial port, and also
> >>>>>have
> >>>>>a
> >>>>>PCI expansion card with two serial ports.
> >>>>>
> >>>>>After I installed the drivers for the expansion card I got an error
> >>>>>message
> >>>>>regarding COM1 (the onboard port). I blamed it on a silly driver
> >>>>>conflict,
> >>>>>forgot to write the exact error message down, rebooted the PC, and
> >>>>>everything
> >>>>>was fine. Or so I thought...
> >>>>>
> >>>>>Yesterday, when I started one of my programs that use all 3 COM ports,
> >>>>>I
> >>>>>immediately got a "cannot open port 1" message. After checking the
> >>>>>ports
> >>>>>and
> >>>>>their settings in the device manager, I saw "this device is working
> >>>>>properly"
> >>>>>for all 3 ports. Yet COM1 refused to work. 2 and 3 worked fine.
> >>>>>
> >>>>>Blame it on pure luck, for some reason I disabled COM1, and then
> >>>>>enabled
> >>>>>it
> >>>>>again. And after that it worked. So I didn't investigate further.
> >>>>>
> >>>>>This morning I start up my PC, only to find out that COM1 wasn't
> >>>>>working
> >>>>>again. "This device is working properly". No, it isn't... So I decided
> >>>>>to
> >>>>>do
> >>>>>the disable/enable routine again, and sure enough, it worked.
> >>>>>
> >>>>>I have gone so far as to uninstall/install COM1 through the device
> >>>>>manager,
> >>>>>thinking that that would fix it. After uninstalling and rebooting XP
> >>>>>(SP2)
> >>>>>picked up the "new" device, and installed the drivers. But again, the
> >>>>>COM
> >>>>>port was not working until I disabled/enabled it.
> >>>>>
> >>>>>Does anyone have any idea how I can fix this permanently?
> >>>>>
> >>>>>Thanks,
> >>>>>
> >>>>>Erik
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>
> >>
>
>

You say "3 com ports". You wouldn't happen to be trying to "force" IRQ4
on 2 of them? In the old ISA system, IRQ 4 is used in COM1 and COM3,
and that would be conflict.

Erik wrote:
> Thanks Bob, but that switch is already present in boot.ini. I suspect it's
> the default.
>
> "Bob I" wrote:
>
>
>>Just a thought, you could try killing mouse detection on the serial
>>ports with the /fastdetect switch.
>>
>>Available switch options for the Windows XP and the Windows Server 2003
>>Boot.ini files
>>http://support.microsoft.com/kb/833721/en-us
>>
>>Erik wrote:
>>
>>
>>>Hi DL.
>>>
>>>Sorry for the late reply; I didn't get a notification that you had replied
>>>again.
>>>
>>>Often missed yes; but if I'd tell you how many times I've called the 1800
>>>number for a new activation code (if I could remember...) you'd know that
>>>I've done this "a couple" of times
>>>
>>>To answer your questions:
>>>
>>>1. No conflicts in device manager at all. Everything is reported as "working
>>>properly".
>>>2. Error messages in event viewer: lots! A little over 600 in the
>>>Application tab, almost 2,000 (yep, two thousand) under the System tab. Many
>>>of these entries are merely Information (about SP2 that was installed), some
>>>are related to some CDROM issue (even though they appear to work fine); but
>>>I've found a few that say "While validating that \Device\Serial1 was really a
>>>serial port, a fifo was detected. The fifo will be used." I've done a Google
>>>(oops!) search for this error message; but didn't find anything useful. Any
>>>idea what that means? And, what else am I looking for?
>>>3. I haven't swapped the expansion card to a different PCI slot yet, no. I
>>>was kinda hoping that there is an easier (as opposed to opening the box -
>>>again - and swapping cards around...).
>>>
>>>Any ideas?
>>>
>>>Thanks,
>>>
>>>Erik
>>>
>>>"DL" wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>>Thats often missed
>>>>
>>>>When you get the problem, any conflicts shown in Hardware Devices?
>>>>Any err.msgs in Event Viewer?
>>>>Tried the card in a different slot?
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>"Erik" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
>>>>news:A2CAEDD5-2461-4BB6-A5F1-(E-Mail Removed)...
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>>Of course :-)
>>>>>
>>>>>"DL" wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>>new mobo?
>>>>>>You have installed the chipset drivers?
>>>>>>
>>>>>>"Erik" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
>>>>>>news:0D48120C-ACCD-48E9-BF1B-(E-Mail Removed)...
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>>Hi all.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>I seem to have a stubborn serial port.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>I just got a new motherboard, with one onboard serial port, and also
>>>>>>>have
>>>>>>>a
>>>>>>>PCI expansion card with two serial ports.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>After I installed the drivers for the expansion card I got an error
>>>>>>>message
>>>>>>>regarding COM1 (the onboard port). I blamed it on a silly driver
>>>>>>>conflict,
>>>>>>>forgot to write the exact error message down, rebooted the PC, and
>>>>>>>everything
>>>>>>>was fine. Or so I thought...
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>Yesterday, when I started one of my programs that use all 3 COM ports,
>>>>>>>I
>>>>>>>immediately got a "cannot open port 1" message. After checking the
>>>>>>>ports
>>>>>>>and
>>>>>>>their settings in the device manager, I saw "this device is working
>>>>>>>properly"
>>>>>>>for all 3 ports. Yet COM1 refused to work. 2 and 3 worked fine.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>Blame it on pure luck, for some reason I disabled COM1, and then
>>>>>>>enabled
>>>>>>>it
>>>>>>>again. And after that it worked. So I didn't investigate further.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>This morning I start up my PC, only to find out that COM1 wasn't
>>>>>>>working
>>>>>>>again. "This device is working properly". No, it isn't... So I decided
>>>>>>>to
>>>>>>>do
>>>>>>>the disable/enable routine again, and sure enough, it worked.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>I have gone so far as to uninstall/install COM1 through the device
>>>>>>>manager,
>>>>>>>thinking that that would fix it. After uninstalling and rebooting XP
>>>>>>>(SP2)
>>>>>>>picked up the "new" device, and installed the drivers. But again, the
>>>>>>>COM
>>>>>>>port was not working until I disabled/enabled it.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>Does anyone have any idea how I can fix this permanently?
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>Thanks,
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>Erik
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>
>>

Nope, not forcing anything.

COM1 has its own IRQ. COM2 and 3 share IRQ 16.

What's weird though, is that I just noticed that COM1 now has IRQ 7 (not
shared with anything else), while it had IRQ 4 yesterday (again not shared).
And I swear it's always been 4 in the BIOS...

"Bob I" wrote:

> You say "3 com ports". You wouldn't happen to be trying to "force" IRQ4
> on 2 of them? In the old ISA system, IRQ 4 is used in COM1 and COM3,
> and that would be conflict.
>
> Erik wrote:
> > Thanks Bob, but that switch is already present in boot.ini. I suspect it's
> > the default.
> >
> > "Bob I" wrote:
> >
> >
> >>Just a thought, you could try killing mouse detection on the serial
> >>ports with the /fastdetect switch.
> >>
> >>Available switch options for the Windows XP and the Windows Server 2003
> >>Boot.ini files
> >>http://support.microsoft.com/kb/833721/en-us
> >>
> >>Erik wrote:
> >>
> >>
> >>>Hi DL.
> >>>
> >>>Sorry for the late reply; I didn't get a notification that you had replied
> >>>again.
> >>>
> >>>Often missed yes; but if I'd tell you how many times I've called the 1800
> >>>number for a new activation code (if I could remember...) you'd know that
> >>>I've done this "a couple" of times
> >>>
> >>>To answer your questions:
> >>>
> >>>1. No conflicts in device manager at all. Everything is reported as "working
> >>>properly".
> >>>2. Error messages in event viewer: lots! A little over 600 in the
> >>>Application tab, almost 2,000 (yep, two thousand) under the System tab. Many
> >>>of these entries are merely Information (about SP2 that was installed), some
> >>>are related to some CDROM issue (even though they appear to work fine); but
> >>>I've found a few that say "While validating that \Device\Serial1 was really a
> >>>serial port, a fifo was detected. The fifo will be used." I've done a Google
> >>>(oops!) search for this error message; but didn't find anything useful. Any
> >>>idea what that means? And, what else am I looking for?
> >>>3. I haven't swapped the expansion card to a different PCI slot yet, no. I
> >>>was kinda hoping that there is an easier (as opposed to opening the box -
> >>>again - and swapping cards around...).
> >>>
> >>>Any ideas?
> >>>
> >>>Thanks,
> >>>
> >>>Erik
> >>>
> >>>"DL" wrote:
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>>Thats often missed
> >>>>
> >>>>When you get the problem, any conflicts shown in Hardware Devices?
> >>>>Any err.msgs in Event Viewer?
> >>>>Tried the card in a different slot?
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>>"Erik" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> >>>>news:A2CAEDD5-2461-4BB6-A5F1-(E-Mail Removed)...
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>>>Of course :-)
> >>>>>
> >>>>>"DL" wrote:
> >>>>>
> >>>>>
> >>>>>
> >>>>>>new mobo?
> >>>>>>You have installed the chipset drivers?
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>>"Erik" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> >>>>>>news:0D48120C-ACCD-48E9-BF1B-(E-Mail Removed)...
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>>>Hi all.
> >>>>>>>
> >>>>>>>I seem to have a stubborn serial port.
> >>>>>>>
> >>>>>>>I just got a new motherboard, with one onboard serial port, and also
> >>>>>>>have
> >>>>>>>a
> >>>>>>>PCI expansion card with two serial ports.
> >>>>>>>
> >>>>>>>After I installed the drivers for the expansion card I got an error
> >>>>>>>message
> >>>>>>>regarding COM1 (the onboard port). I blamed it on a silly driver
> >>>>>>>conflict,
> >>>>>>>forgot to write the exact error message down, rebooted the PC, and
> >>>>>>>everything
> >>>>>>>was fine. Or so I thought...
> >>>>>>>
> >>>>>>>Yesterday, when I started one of my programs that use all 3 COM ports,
> >>>>>>>I
> >>>>>>>immediately got a "cannot open port 1" message. After checking the
> >>>>>>>ports
> >>>>>>>and
> >>>>>>>their settings in the device manager, I saw "this device is working
> >>>>>>>properly"
> >>>>>>>for all 3 ports. Yet COM1 refused to work. 2 and 3 worked fine.
> >>>>>>>
> >>>>>>>Blame it on pure luck, for some reason I disabled COM1, and then
> >>>>>>>enabled
> >>>>>>>it
> >>>>>>>again. And after that it worked. So I didn't investigate further.
> >>>>>>>
> >>>>>>>This morning I start up my PC, only to find out that COM1 wasn't
> >>>>>>>working
> >>>>>>>again. "This device is working properly". No, it isn't... So I decided
> >>>>>>>to
> >>>>>>>do
> >>>>>>>the disable/enable routine again, and sure enough, it worked.
> >>>>>>>
> >>>>>>>I have gone so far as to uninstall/install COM1 through the device
> >>>>>>>manager,
> >>>>>>>thinking that that would fix it. After uninstalling and rebooting XP
> >>>>>>>(SP2)
> >>>>>>>picked up the "new" device, and installed the drivers. But again, the
> >>>>>>>COM
> >>>>>>>port was not working until I disabled/enabled it.
> >>>>>>>
> >>>>>>>Does anyone have any idea how I can fix this permanently?
> >>>>>>>
> >>>>>>>Thanks,
> >>>>>>>
> >>>>>>>Erik
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>>
> >>>>
> >>
>
>