Change COM port

W

William B. Lurie

My SmithMicro HotFax software doesn't find the COM
port any more, since I upgraded to SP2. I'd like to
try changing port. Please give me a sequence.
 
G

Guest

Don't think so.

Based upon your previous posts you will either
1. Not understand the answers to your post
2. Make a big deal out of nothing
3. Become generally argumentative.

Go troll somewhere else - please. Enough of your crap already!
 
M

Mike Hall

Version 6 of that program adapts to the modem so presumably you are using an
older version.. is there nowhere in the program that allows you to change
the com port being used?
 
B

billurie

Mike said:
Version 6 of that program adapts to the modem so presumably you are using an
older version.. is there nowhere in the program that allows you to change
the com port being used?
No, Mike, I recently bought their upgraded HFMC. I fully
uninstalled Version 6, and now I am waiting for them to
tell me how to change the COM port being used. In the same
vein, is there no way in XP/SP2 to change the COM port
being used?
 
R

Richard Urban

Should it not be set for the same com port that the modem is operating
under?

That can be found in device manager/modem/advanced settings. See if they are
the same.

--
Regards,

Richard Urban

aka Crusty (-: Old B@stard :)

If you knew as much as you thought you know,
You would realize that you don't know what you thought you knew!
 
B

billurie

Richard said:
Should it not be set for the same com port that the modem is operating
under?

That can be found in device manager/modem/advanced settings. See if they are
the same.
I do have the warning yellow triangle and ! telling me that
there is a problem under device manager, Ports>>Communication
Port (COM1)
Device mgr>modem>advanced tab>advanced port settings>>>COM Port 3 for
the modem is what shows.....
If I were to change it, I see that COM1 is marked as (in use).
I presume that to be the mouse.
But Control Panel>>Mouse>>hardware>>properties, etcetera, doesn't
tell me what port the PS2 mouse is on, so I can't tell me
if they are the same. In olden days' systems, there used
to be a table of COM and IRQ to tell what was on each.
 
M

Mike Hall

Bill

Traditionally, COM 1 was indeed the 'mouse' port.. serial mice worked better
on COM 1 than COM 2, sometimes because COM 2 was of the 25 pin D type (not
always though.. it is not unusual to see two 9 pin connections), and mice
were 9 pin.. also, external modems of the day (they still are) were fitted
with 25 pin D type connectors.. other devices could also be connected to COM
2, serial printers etc.. Direct Cable Connection also brought about a use
for the 25 pin serial port known as COM 2.. but that was then and this is
now.. serial port connections for most home users are a thing of the past,
at least the physical ports found on the back of most computers.. they are
there mainly for compatibility with older devices..

The mouse that you have connected is a PS2 mouse, so called because it is
connected to the (IBM) PS2 port (IRQ 12) allocated for mouse use.. there is
absolutely no physical connection to COM 1..

Internal modem installation programs select COM 3 for obvious reasons.. it
is generally the first free COM port after the two physical ports on the
backplate.. even if there is only one COM port there, the installation will
attempt to use COM 3.. if COM 3 is in use, it will select the next up..

So your modem is sitting on COM 3, and the Fax/Voice software should either
automatically find the modem, or you should be able to tell the software
which modem is in use.. most software of this type scans the COM ports
looking for a valid modem, finds it on COM 3, and then finalizes set up.. it
should work..

The fact that COM 1 seems to have a problem could be down to two things at
least.. the first is that there is a physical problem with it (unlikely), or
that the operator has attempted to force settings to make a device use COM
1.. what you might try doing is removing COM 1 from the configuration,
rebooting to let XP sort the problem for you..

Even if COM 1 has a problem, the modem and Fax software should work ok..

Re a table of IRQ allocations, I really can't see this of being any help to
you, especially as XP and modern systems are quite capable of sorting all
of these things without the any user interference..

IRQ 0 Timer channel 0 (May mean "no interrupt".)
IRQ 1 Keyboard
IRQ 2 Cascade for controller 2
IRQ 3 Serial port 2
IRQ 4 Serial port 1
IRQ 5 Parallel port 2, Sound card
IRQ 6 Floppy diskette
IRQ 7 Parallel port 1
IRQ 8 Real-time clock
IRQ 9 Redirected to IRQ2
IRQ 10 not assigned
IRQ 11 not assigned
IRQ 12 not assigned
IRQ 13 Math coprocessor
IRQ 14 Hard disk controller 1
IRQ 15 Hard disk controller 2
 
B

billurie

Mike, other readers and of course I, do appreciate the complete
historical account of the COM ports. I remember the days going
back to DOS 6.22, when in connecting up a modem, it had to
be set, and sometimes jumpered, for appropriate COM port.

I interpret your advice to be saying that COM3 is assigned to the modem,
and the FAX software should find it automatically. Unfortunately,
HotFax does not come with a manual and their on-board Help doesn't
provide a way to solve the problem. I'm waiting for help from them
now.

It isn't impossible that some sort of anti-virus or firewall is
really what the problem is, but I've tried it with everything that
I can turn off, disabled, to no avail. So I'm on hold for now.
Thanks for your help.
WBL
 
M

Mike Hall

With all respect, Bill, you shouldn't need a manual to sort this.. it is
easy enough to uninstall COM 1 and then let Windows find it and set the
appropriate drivers..you might also want to remove all traces of the fax
software and physically remove your modem so that you can reboot the system
'clean'.. reinstalling the modem and fax software should then be a breeze
unless you have, at some point, forced other hardware to use COM 1 or any
other port..

XP is the result of quantum leaps forward since those heady days of DOS 2.11
and '1200' modems.. there should be little need if any to tinker/tweak the
system.. while it is useful to know the history of COM ports and IRQ's, it
is certainly not obligatory..

It also has to be stated that applying Win 3/3.1/3.11/9x/ME rules to XP can
only land the user in more hot water than can be reasonably sustained.. this
applies to all home users who 'apparently' enjoyed tinkering and tweaking
with DOS and DOS based Windows.. one of the reasons for the myth about
Windows requiring re-installation to get rid of the crap comes from amateur
tinkerers and tweakers essentially sending their systems to hell with so
called 'performance tweaks'.. you still see it in the newsgroups now.. the
'tweak kings' come out of the woodwork every now and again with some crap
that just might recover 6k of wasted memory and other similar things..

I would also like to state that some third party software is written very
badly, often utilising memory addresses that should not be used, in an
attempt to get their programs to run at a decent speed.. for the most part,
they get away with it, but if you then add into the equation 'Mr Tinkerer'
who has gone into system BIOS and made BIOS and Video memory cacheable or
whatever, now you have a major problem..

... and while I have the podium, I would also add that people who disable
services and stuff, that again with all respect, they have loaded to appear
in Start-up, in a sorry attempt to get more speed from their system that
doesn't have enough memory or hard drive space (well, it was ok then, so why
not now, they bleat) to run Win 9x, let alone XP, deserve all they get when
trying at some point in the future to load hardware or software that
requires the items that have been disabled..

How I have survived so long in IT support is a mystery.. you have to been in
receipt of the patience of ten, be able to bite your tongue without spilling
blood, smile when you could cry, look straight-faced when you feel like
laughing.. anyway.. I am ok.. I have a fresh cup of coffee and a huge amount
of cigarettes.. all is well and the sun is shining.. :)
 
N

not to bright

LOL That was very exciting to read and I applauded you guy's and the work
you do.
 

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