COM port assignments

[Bill Bickner]

Have a ThinkPad 600 with integral serial port configured as COM 2. Internal
modem originally assigned to COM 3 is disabled. Installed a virtual COM port
driver which used COM 3 as input and created virtual COM 4 and COM 5.
Installed a 4-port USB hub, USB to 2 serial port adapter and other hardware,
using several COM ports.

When I uninstalled the virtual COM port driver, disconnect the 4-port hub,
and connected the USB serial port adapter directly to the ThinkPad USB port
and tried to configure the USB adapter serial ports as COM 3 and COM 4
(after rebooting), they (and all others, up to COM 9) were shown as "in use"
and could not be used. Is there a way to recover the use of these COM port
numbers?

 

[William W. Plummer]

Have a ThinkPad 600 with integral serial port configured as COM 2. Internal
modem originally assigned to COM 3 is disabled. Installed a virtual COM port
driver which used COM 3 as input and created virtual COM 4 and COM 5.
Installed a 4-port USB hub, USB to 2 serial port adapter and other hardware,
using several COM ports.

When I uninstalled the virtual COM port driver, disconnect the 4-port hub,
and connected the USB serial port adapter directly to the ThinkPad USB port
and tried to configure the USB adapter serial ports as COM 3 and COM 4
(after rebooting), they (and all others, up to COM 9) were shown as "in use"
and could not be used. Is there a way to recover the use of these COM port
numbers?

ThinkPads are a little strange. IBM added some hardware that prevents
running DOS programs to manipulate the hardware directly. IBM Tech
Support only knows how to get the machine back to its factory
configuration.