vB Easy Archive - HELP: Running WinDoMo for firmware upgrade using COM port 11???

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HELP: Running WinDoMo for firmware upgrade using COM port 11???
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Posted by: kcheung

So I finally got the data cable package with Fone Data Suite and am ready to upgrade my firmware to A39_nosound. After installing the driver for my USB data cable, I noticed that it was being set to COM11 (COM1 to COM10 are indicated as used). I know that in order to run WinDoMo, the assigned port number must match the one used by the computer. However, WinDoMo only goes up to COM8. So can I switch the COM port for the data cable to any one of the first 8 ports in device manager? Otherwsie, how do I go around this problem?

Thanks,

Kenny

Posted by: TriMesh

Yes, you will need to change the port # - go to the device manager (control panels/system/hardware tab/device manager) and check which ports are present. Then change the properties on the "MA T USB-to-Serial-Bridge" (Properties/port settings tab/Advanced...) to any port number that's not currently in use. You can ignore the warning message, but the settings won't actually change until you remove and reattach the device.

It's also worth noting that this setting works on a per USB port basis, so you will have to reset it if you plug the cable into another port or add a hub.

If you want to use the code reader, then you should set the cable to COM1 - it doesn't seem to like other port settings. Obviously if you do this you will have to disable the existing COM1 port.

Posted by: kcheung

Thanks for the info. I ended up installing the software on another machine and was able to get it mapped to COM3 tgo proceed with the firmware upgrade.

Just curious, is there a software tool that displays which hardware uses what COM port? So far in device manager of my original laptop I only see COM1 is communication port (?), and COM11 for MA T USB-to-Serial-Bridge. But I have no idea who uses COM2 to COM10... With the info at least I can tell which one I can temporarily disabled without causing any potential conflicts..

Thanks.

Kenny

Posted by: TriMesh

If the device isn't displayed in the device manager, then it's not physically present, and you can reasssign the port numbers. In your example, you could change the cable to COM2, and it would work without problems.

If you're trying to find out what device could possibly be using the port, then it gets a bit complicated. There might be a program that will tell you this, but I don't know for sure. You can do it manualy using regedit - but it's a bit tedious, since there are a number of device types that can use COM ports.

Start by running regedit, and going to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Contro l\Class
Look for the ClsIDs with the number {4D36E965-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318} - there are several of them, move down the list and look for the description "Ports (COM & LPT)" in the right pane. Expand this key - there will be a set of subkeys under this. For each one, open it, and look at the "MatchingDeviceId" key. This is a pointer to an entry in the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Enum section of the registry. The names that start with "*" (like *pnp0501) are in the "ACPI" section, the others are used as is (so "MatchingDeviceId=usb\vid_067b&pid_2303" corresponds to the key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Enum\U SB\Vid_067b&Pid_2303) each of these keys has a set of subkeys under it - DeviceParameters/PortName is the COM port name assigned to this device.

This is for the NT based OSes like XP - I would assume that 9x is pretty similliar, but I don't have a machine that runs them handy to check.

Posted by: kcheung

Very helpful information to have! Thanks a lot Trimesh!

Kenny