When a com port goes bad

[Lars]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsnt.misc (More info?)

Hi group,

Last week a colleague replaced one PS/2 mouse with another.
Since then com 1 does not work reliably. NT 4, SP 6, NTFS.

I am quite familiar with W2K as well as W98 and Dos, but do
not feel at home with Win NT, particularly when dealing with
hardware.

The Com 1 is one of two onboard serial ports. The other one,
Com 2 works fine. There is also an additional ISA card for
Com 3 and 4. All other ports work fine.

The computer is mainly used for running a navigation program
and has a GPS connected to Com 1. I have tested the GPS and
its cable by connecting it to my laptop, and it works fine.

When rebooting several times Com 1 occasionally springs to
life, but it is like once out of seven or so.

Is there some way I can test to see if it is a hardware
problem or something in Windows that has been upset?
Maybe after booting from CD or floppy?

Like I said, the HD is NTFS.


Lars
Stockholm

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsnt.misc (More info?)

Try appending boot.ini startup option with the /noserialmice switch
something like

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINNT="Windows NT" /NoSerialMice
or
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINNT="Windows NT" /NoSerialMice:com1
or
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINNT="Windows NT"
/NoSerialMice:com1,3,6

;131976]http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;[LN];131976

--
Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect

<Lars@fake.com> wrote:
| Hi group,
|
| Last week a colleague replaced one PS/2 mouse with another.
| Since then com 1 does not work reliably. NT 4, SP 6, NTFS.
|
| I am quite familiar with W2K as well as W98 and Dos, but do
| not feel at home with Win NT, particularly when dealing with
| hardware.
|
| The Com 1 is one of two onboard serial ports. The other one,
| Com 2 works fine. There is also an additional ISA card for
| Com 3 and 4. All other ports work fine.
|
| The computer is mainly used for running a navigation program
| and has a GPS connected to Com 1. I have tested the GPS and
| its cable by connecting it to my laptop, and it works fine.
|
| When rebooting several times Com 1 occasionally springs to
| life, but it is like once out of seven or so.
|
| Is there some way I can test to see if it is a hardware
| problem or something in Windows that has been upset?
| Maybe after booting from CD or floppy?
|
| Like I said, the HD is NTFS.
|
|
| Lars
| Stockholm

 

[Lars]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsnt.misc (More info?)

Been there, done that. It has nothing to do with this
problem.

My question remains;

>Is there some way I can test to see if it is a hardware
>problem or something in Windows that has been upset?
>Maybe after booting from CD or floppy?

>Like I said, the HD is NTFS.

On Tue, 27 Jul 2004 20:38:05 -0600, "Dave Patrick"
<mail@NoSpam.DSPatrick.com> wrote:

>Try appending boot.ini startup option with the /noserialmice switch
>something like
>
>multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINNT="Windows NT" /NoSerialMice
>or
>multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINNT="Windows NT" /NoSerialMice:com1
>or
>multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINNT="Windows NT"
>/NoSerialMice:com1,3,6
>
>http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;[LN];131976



Lars
Stockholm

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsnt.misc (More info?)

You can check your hardware port(s) by;

Short pins 2-3 on the com port to be tested
Select Start|Programs|Accessories|HyperTerminal. Double-click on the
Hypertrm icon.
If you are asked if you would like to install a modem, select No. You are
prompted to select an icon to represent the connection you are about to
define. Choose any one, and name the session.
In the next Pop-Up menu, choose direct to COMx where x is the number of the
COM Port you are testing. Set the flow control setting to None. You may
leave the other settings in the next dialog box, though you can increase the
speed if you like.
Select File|Properties from the menu bar, select the "Settings" tab, and
then push the "ASCII Setup" button. Check the option for Echo typed
characters locally.
Start typing. If you see double characters (that is, you see two characters
for every one you type), the serial port is setup correct and is functional.


--
Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect

<Lars@fake.com> wrote:
| Been there, done that. It has nothing to do with this
| problem.
|
| My question remains;
|
| >Is there some way I can test to see if it is a hardware
| >problem or something in Windows that has been upset?
| >Maybe after booting from CD or floppy?
|
| >Like I said, the HD is NTFS.

 

[Lars]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsnt.misc (More info?)

Thank you David,

I have chopped up a serial cable and will sort out which
wire goes where and then try your suggestion, even if that
will be inside Windows.

I think I have straightened out this particular computer
already though. Today I brought a modem and a bootable CD on
which among other tools I also had a copy of QuickLink, a
communication program I got with my US Robotics Courier.
After booting to Dos from CD, with the modem plugged in to
Com 1, I set up the Dos version of QuickLink and tried some
AT-commands, like ATi4 and ATi6. They both came back
beautifully with good responses from the modem.

Once I knew that there was nothing wrong with the port per
se I could focus on how Windows might have messed things up.

This computer has four Com ports, and need them all. One of
them is strapped to use Irq 10. It seems that the software
package coming with the new Logitech mouse somehow wrestles
its way to Irq 10, and then Windows loses track of which Com
port is which, or whatever. Anyhow, when I start
Hyperterminal to monitor whatever is coming in through Com1,
Windows often reports that there is no Com 1.

After removing Logitechs mouse stuff things work a lot
better. Hyperterminal on Com1 displays a steady stream of
GPS data and the navigation software runs fine. But still on
some reboots it is back to being lost, but not nearly as
often as it used to.

On Wed, 28 Jul 2004 08:35:16 -0600, "Dave Patrick"
<mail@NoSpam.DSPatrick.com> wrote:

>You can check your hardware port(s) by;
>
>Short pins 2-3 on the com port to be tested
>Select Start|Programs|Accessories|HyperTerminal.
......................
> Start typing. If you see double characters (that is, you see two characters
>for every one you type), the serial port is setup correct and is functional.

Lars
Stockholm