USB woes!

[John O]

Every so often the Programming/Editor gives me an error message that the (usb) serial port is already in use. Usually a bit of faffing about and rebooting sorts it but not this time.

I've spent the best part of this afternoon uninstalling/reinstalling the PE and its drivers and I still get the error message.

The port (COM8) shows as Ready for Use under the PE Options but as soon as I try it, I get the "port error. port not present or in use.

Scan for USB cable gives: the download cable on COM 8 is being used by another application. It even shows up in the "safely remove hardware" icon in the systray.

I'm on the point of ordering an RS232 cable (as the PC does have COM1) - anyone got any suggestions before I do.

Every other USB device I have works in every usb port without complaining.

Thanks,

John.

 

[Andrew Cowan]

Is this with an Axe027?

 

[John O]

Yeah.

More trouble than its worth.

 

[hippy]

Are you sure something isn't actually trying to use COM8 ? Something like a PDA / Phone synchroniser which could be scanning ports looking for connections ?

 

[John O]

Yeah, the only other USB device that's plugged in is the mouse.

The USB has always been a pain on this PC. The usual problem is that a device isn't recognized at all but usually a Scan for Hardware Changes fixes it.

I've got the opposite here. I get the "success bing" when I plug the Axe027 in, it shows up as a COM port (COM4) and it's listed in USB devices. PE lists it as Ready to use but then throws up the error when I try it. I can't use the "Test Port" button in PE-Options becaus eit just gives the "error ping" and nothing happens.

Hopefully a proper serial port will fix it because the last thing I need to be doing is diagnosing USB faults with the programmer when all I want to do it use the thing

John.

 

[John O]

Hmm, I think I'm getting to the bottom of this. When I plug my digital camera in to a USB port, Windows seems to be mistaking it for a "Microsoft Serial Ball Point" - when I unplug the camera, that's staying installed.

But, it's propeties shows it as the Axe027 Serial device on COM4. At least I think I know where to uninstall it to solve the problem - until I plug the camera in again!

John.

 

[fritz42_male]

IMHO this is almost certainly an out of date chipset driver for your motherboard. Identify your motherboard type and visit the manufacturer's site and install the latest driver.

 

[John O]

I've tried installing the latest drivers but the problem persists.

I've confirmed the problem is exactly as in my previous post. The camera has the normal USB / Removable media type driver but it should have a separate driver to allow it to be used as a webcam. Unfortunately, none is available for Windows 7 64bit. I suspect it's that one that gets installed every time I plug the camera in and, as it's listed under 'Mice', it doesn't get uninstalled when I unplug the camera.

I'll have a rummage round the O/S to see if I can find a way of disabling it but at least I now know exactly how to work around it. Why the "phantom" Microsoft Serial Ball Point should hijack the Picaxe027 driver and install that instead of asking for the proper software is another mystery!

John.

 

[hippy]

Why the "phantom" Microsoft Serial Ball Point should hijack the Picaxe027 driver and install that instead of asking for the proper software is another mystery!

From Googling it does seem to be a problem which can occur with Windows with a variety of USB devices, not specifically related to the AXE027. It's reported with Windows XP and obviously still persists in some cases.

http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=Microsoft Serial Ballpoint

Also see -

http://www.picaxeforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=16501

 

[John O]

Thanks, yes, I noticd the Serial ball Point cropping up myself a few times on google.

I did notice that uninstalling it in Device Manager (as suggested in your Picaxe link) doesn't solve the problem for me because it just installs itself again as soon as I plug the camera in.

I've now Disabled it in Device Manager, rather than uninstalling it, and it does finally seem to have got the message that I don't want it, I don't need it, and I'm very happy to live without it !

John.