COM port issues

Alex Hunter

I am trying to download a program to my SX tech board, but the software cannot find the correct com port. In the Configure dialog, the Serial Port box is compltely blank, there are no options to choose from. I am using a keyspan USB-Serial adapter, and I am able to download to a basic stamp. The device manger shows this com port (COM2) as being available. Any ideas what the problem is? Sorry if this issue has already been addressed, but i can't find it anywhere.

Thanks,
Alex Hunter

Rsadeika

Since you have not gotten any responses, if I were you, I would email the Parallax tech dept, they should be able to give you some direction.

Alex Hunter

Thanks, I have done so. I have also noticed that every time I open the SX-key program, I get a message that this is the first time I have opened the program. Has anyone else experienced this?

Kevin Wood

Try uninstalling the SX-IDE, rebooting, reinstalling the SX-IDE, and rebooting again. It sounds like you might be having a registry conflict of some sort.

Just back-up any source files that you need to keep, just in case.

Alex Hunter

Still nothing. Its odd how the serial port box is blank, not even any options to choose from. I can't figure this out.

Kevin Wood

Does the BS2 IDE let you choose the com ports?

Alex Hunter

Yes, well, I added COM2 in the BS2 IDE and it ID's the stamp fine.

I emailed Parallax, no response yet. Does anyone at Parallax have any ideas what's up here?

Basic Jim

Hello ALex,
I don't lnow if this will help but you might peek in the device manager tab and expand the ports section. There you may·see·a USB Serial port with a com port in brackets. That would be the one you want.·Also if you unplug the·USB and plug it back in there should be·an audio sound and you should see the comm port disapear and reapear when you plug it back in. If it doesn't sense it then I would uninstall the USB software and reinstall it. At least that how mine works.

Good luck,
Jim W.

PJMonty

Alex,

What version of the IDE are you using? If it's not 3.2, then download and install it. Previous versions of the IDE could get confused with USB COM ports.

Thanks, PeterM

Alex Hunter

Jim-
The USB adapter does show up in the device manger, with the com port listed (COM2). I get the sound when i plug in or out. I would choose this port in the IDE configuration window, but there are no ports listed to choose from.

Peter-
Yes, i am using the latest version of the software. I have downloaded and installed a bunch of times, with the same results.

Chris Savage

Alex,

·· Can you try re-assigning the COM Port to another unused port and see if the IDE picks it up then?

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Chris Savage
Parallax Tech Support
csavage@parallax.com

Alex Hunter

OK, i changed the com port to COM1, and it still didn't show up in the version 3.2 IDE. I tried it in version 3.0, and it was seen. So, version 3.0 works bt but 3.2. Any ideas how i can get 3.2 to work?

Oliver H. Bailey

Hi Alex,
I have a couple of questions. First, do you have any other USB to serial devices installed that may use the FTDI chip? Second, which FTDI drivers are you using. The drivers from the Parallax web site or the drivers from the FTDI web site. And finally, have you updated the FTDI drivers recently and if so did you uninstall the old drivers by using the FTDI uninstall program on their web site. If you have uninstalled and reinstalled a different USB driver for FTDI devices in the past year, you download the FTClean program and run it. It requires that you unplug all FTDI USB devices before running it. Then plug a device in and let the driver download automatically. There are some very serious issues with FTDI drivers right now. And let explain one of the problems. You install the FTDI drivers from the Parallax web site and things work fine for a few days. Then you have a problem and unplug the device while your connected to the Internet. When you plug the device in again, the driver updates automatically and you may not even know it. FTDI released new drivers about a month ago and I had a similar problem. When I started checking through the device manager I noticed the driver updated automatically when I plugged the device in and caused all kinds of problems. If your uncertain, unplug the device, uninstall the driver, download and run the FTClean program from the FTDI web site and then install the drivers from the Parallax site once more. Things may just start working properly. Just a suggestion.

Regards,
Oliver

Alex Hunter

Thanks Oliver, but i'm not using a FTDI adapter.· Mine is made by keyspan.· So this driver issue doesn't apply, right?

Chris Savage

Alex,

·· Pending a better reply from Peter I am leaning towards it being some issue with the KeySpan driver, mainly since I haven't heard of this issue before and KeySpan are rare on SX use, although I know quite a few customers use them on the BASIC Stamps.

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Chris Savage
Parallax Tech Support
csavage@parallax.com

PJMonty

Alex,

It sounds like some sort of USB serial port issue. The FTDI chipset is known to work with the SX-Key, while others are hit or miss. The code in the new version of the IDE goes out of it's way to locate serial ports, so the fact that none show up seems rather odd. The older versions of the IDE used a much more primitive COM port search, and the fact that the port shows up may have more to do with luck/coincidence than anthing else. I would recommend getting a USB COM port using the FTDI chipset ( Parallax makes one, but others do as well) and let me know if this solves the problem.

Thanks, PeterM

Alex Hunter

OK, thanks Peter. I will try that, and let you know the results.

Thanks,
Alex Hunter