Can I slow down a serial port ?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Dr. David Kirkby
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Dr. David Kirkby

I have some expenive (but oldish) hardware that needs to be controlled
from a PC serial port. Running the software on an old 233 MHz PC works
OK, but I can't tollerate the PC's lack of power.

However, running the same software, with the same operating systems
(tried XP Pro and 2000 Pro) on much newer PCs, I find the hardware
will not function.

I have some suspicion the serial ports on the newer machines might be
running at a speed too high for the oldish hardware, but I don't know
how to slow them down.

Any ideas?
 
Dr. David Kirkby said:
I have some expenive (but oldish) hardware that needs to be controlled
from a PC serial port. Running the software on an old 233 MHz PC works
OK, but I can't tollerate the PC's lack of power.

However, running the same software, with the same operating systems
(tried XP Pro and 2000 Pro) on much newer PCs, I find the hardware
will not function.

I have some suspicion the serial ports on the newer machines might be
running at a speed too high for the oldish hardware, but I don't know
how to slow them down.

Any ideas?
Click to expand...

Well, the software *should* have a means to set the serial port speed but,
if not, you can set that in Device Manager. Select the target
"Communications Port (COM1, or 2)", right click --> properties, and then
the "Port Settings" tab.
 
Dr. David Kirkby said:
I have some expenive (but oldish) hardware that needs to be controlled
from a PC serial port. Running the software on an old 233 MHz PC works
OK, but I can't tollerate the PC's lack of power.

However, running the same software, with the same operating systems
(tried XP Pro and 2000 Pro) on much newer PCs, I find the hardware
will not function.

I have some suspicion the serial ports on the newer machines might be
running at a speed too high for the oldish hardware, but I don't know
how to slow them down.

Any ideas?
Click to expand...

What OS was this software written for? If it wasn't written for WinXP
or Win2K, it probably won't work with those operating systems. I don't
know what you're running on your "old 233 MHz PC", but if it's not one
of those two operating systems, you may have other problems.
 
In XP (as well as Win 2K and NT4, IIRC) the port speed can be set in the Device
Manager or the Ports tab in the Control Panel.
 
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