Reassigning port numbers did not solve the problem, and I did try that as one of the first steps in troubleshooting.
With one day’s work under my belt here’s where the situation lies as of tonight. 1. After a cold reboot, the first attempt to launch either CI-V Commander (DX Labs rig interface) or N1MM Logger + may or may not capture the COM5 port used for CAT control (which was briefly changed to COM8 then changed back after finding no change). 2. Launching either the old version of N1MM Rotor (v12.11) or the current .NET version, there’s about a very slim chance that it will work, but the usual result is that on attempting to start the rotor software it indicates both rotor com ports (COM1 and COM3) are already in use, and any attempt to invoke a direction command generates an error message (8018, IIRC) stating the function can only work if a port is open. 3. Using the DX Lab “DX View” software, which interfaces with the rotor control software, if I repeatedly enable/disable the rotor control tick box, it **MAY** come back, and will keep working until the program is closed. 4. If CAT control is in fact established, whether through N1MM or Commander, it will remain active until the program is closed. Once closed, either reopening it or opening the other control software will result in either program not being able to see the radio (i.e. the port remains locked out). Note than if it is Commander that is closed and N1MM does not see the radio at first, if I hit the “Reset Radio” bar in the bandmap several times it does seem to come back and start working again. 5. Every other function of the PC is working the same as it always has, and once a COM port feature is working it remains working flawlessly. 6. Troubleshooting has involved using Process Explorer to see if any devices are holding a port open when the problem is occurring, and none appear to be doing so. Phantom COM ports were removed, all USB devices were set to fix the issue of stopping the device for power saving (I hoped that one would work, but it didn’t), and all USB Serial drivers were deleted and allowed to reinstall themselves upon reboot. The results were identical. In short, it appears to me that there is SOMETHING within Windows 11 that has changed somehow, and is locking serial ports on its own, with no easy way to release them. - pjd From: Lyn Norstad <l...@lnainc.com> Sent: Thursday, June 30, 2022 8:46 PM To: 'Julia Tuttle' <ju...@juliatuttle.net> Cc: 'Peter Dougherty (W2IRT)' <li...@w2irt.net>; 'George Thornton' <gthorn...@thorntonmostullaw.com>; 'Elecraft' <Elecraft@mailman.qth.net> Subject: RE: [Elecraft] COM port problems Julie – I can look for it … but I don’t believe it was in an official MSFT document. Nevertheless, it has been going on for a couple years. It seems to affect almost every ham using Win 10 sooner or later. My understanding is that one or more specific Windows 10 Pro 64 updates reassigned COM ports in order to prevent a potential hacker from accessing the system. It may have been related to the presence of specific software installed on the system. In any event, the fix I mentioned does indeed work and ends the problem. George may have other issues, since he’s already tried this 73 Lyn, W0LEN From: Julia Tuttle [mailto:ju...@juliatuttle.net] Sent: Thursday, June 30, 2022 2:47 PM To: l...@lnainc.com <mailto:l...@lnainc.com> Cc: Peter Dougherty (W2IRT); George Thornton; Elecraft Subject: Re: [Elecraft] COM port problems Lyn, Can you share your source that COM port reassignment is a deliberate security feature? I'm curious what vulnerability it's mitigating. Thanks, Julie On Thu, Jun 30, 2022 at 3:25 PM Lyn Norstad <l...@lnainc.com <mailto:l...@lnainc.com> > wrote: Are you running Windows 10 by any chance? As a security measure, Win 10 automatic updates often reassign COM port numbers. If you know how to do it, you can rename and reassign port numbers. If you give them a number of 20 or higher, Win 10 update will leave them alone. Hint: Control Panel>Device Manager>Ports>(Elecraft connection port)>General>Advanced>COM Port Number Be sure to make the corresponding port number change in the software. 73 Lyn, W0LEN -----Original Message----- From: elecraft-boun...@mailman.qth.net <mailto:elecraft-boun...@mailman.qth.net> [mailto:elecraft-boun...@mailman.qth.net <mailto:elecraft-boun...@mailman.qth.net> ] On Behalf Of Peter Dougherty (W2IRT) Sent: Thursday, June 30, 2022 12:28 AM To: 'George Thornton'; Elecraft@mailman.qth.net <mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net> Subject: Re: [Elecraft] COM port problems It's possible (and I'm guessing somehow likely), but darned if I know what to even look for. These are things that were set when the computer was built from scratch last year, they have worked 100% reliably over thousands of QSOs in both Commander and N1MM+ ever since, and absolutely nothing was changed in terms of configuration or even a Windows Update in at least two weeks. I just needed to restart the computer after moving it from a wall outlet to a UPS, and it started going crazy from that point on. Whatever the issue is, it seems to affect ALL the COM ports in the system the same; neither Commander nor N1MM can open the radio port, or either of the two rotor ports. I did somehow manage to get Commander working (don't aske me how, it just started), but the rotors are still no-go (and not critical at the moment). - pjd From: George Thornton <gthorn...@thorntonmostullaw.com <mailto:gthorn...@thorntonmostullaw.com> > Sent: Wednesday, June 29, 2022 10:23 PM To: Peter Dougherty (W2IRT) <li...@w2irt.net <mailto:li...@w2irt.net> >; Elecraft@mailman.qth.net <mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net> Subject: RE: [Elecraft] COM port problems It is possible the parameters set in the computer after reboot don't match those set in the program. Check the port and baud settings. Generally xom port settings need to match for communication to occur. Sent from my Galaxy -------- Original message -------- From: "Peter Dougherty (W2IRT)" <li...@w2irt.net <mailto:li...@w2irt.net> <mailto:li...@w2irt.net <mailto:li...@w2irt.net> > > Date: 6/29/22 6:59 PM (GMT-08:00) To: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net <mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net> <mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net <mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net> > Subject: [Elecraft] COM port problems OK, got a massive problem that just cropped up this evening that is far beyond my understanding that has completely killed my ability to use my K3 with my computer. After restarting the PC, suddenly I cannot communicate with the radio using DX Lab Suite or N1MM+ on the assigned COM port. I have downloaded the K3 Utility software and it is able to connect to the radio on COM5, its usual port, and invoke macros via the Utility. So I know there's proper communication between the radio and the PC. But once I close down the K3 Utility program I get the first major problem. The radio goes into transmit for 10 seconds, releases for about 4 or 5 second, and goes back in to transmit. Only powering the radio off and back on again stops this behavior. The main issue is that no CAT control software seems to be able to connect to the radio at all. The radio is on COM5, and has been for at least the last 4 or 5 years, and until today it has just worked, even after building a new computer last November. I just rebooted today and everything went to heck. The kicker is that's it's not a K3 hardware problem, and since it works with neither N1MM nor DX Lab software any more it's apparently not those programs either, and quite frankly I just don't know where to look next. Compounding the issue, and likely related to it, the N1MM Rotor control cannot find either COM port assigned to the rotors (COM1 and COM3). I have tried removing the ports and re-adding them in Device Manager but the problem still persists. I am absolutely prepared to pay a certified systems professional to diagnose and fix this, but with ultra-specialized radio gear I doubt they'd be able to figure it out either. Any suggestions? I'm basically QRT until I can fix this. ---------------------------------------------------- Regards, Peter Dougherty, W2IRT DXCC Card Checker/CQ-WAZ Checkpoint www.facebook.com/W2IRT <http://www.facebook.com/W2IRT> <http://www.facebook.com/W2IRT> ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net <mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net> This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to gthorn...@thorntonmostullaw.com <mailto:gthorn...@thorntonmostullaw.com> <mailto:gthorn...@thorntonmostullaw.com <mailto:gthorn...@thorntonmostullaw.com> > ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net <mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net> This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to l...@lnainc.com <mailto:l...@lnainc.com> ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net <mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net> This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to ju...@juliatuttle.net <mailto:ju...@juliatuttle.net> ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to arch...@mail-archive.com
