COM Ports Are Grayed Out

w1smc

Device Manager.png

I logged a QSO using Log4OM 2 and I noticed there was no frequency on the log entry. The connection to my 6600M showed offline on Log4OM.

So I opened up Device Manager and low and behold the COM10 port I was using from SSDRCAT was listed but it was grayed out.

I went into CAT and COM10 was there (and I accidentally deleted it).

I'm not sure how these COM ports became unusable / disabled?

I have a Help Ticket opened to assist in a fix for this.

Does this happen all the time? And how come CAT will not let me add another COM port. It only allow COM4 and when I try to do the Add I get, "The Virtual Serial Port (VSP) failed to create. Double check the Serial Port Settings".

w1smc

Well I went back and followed the procedures to Removing Hidden or "Ghosted" Com ports, How to Re-associate CAT ports with Virtual Serial Ports, and Resetting the CAT.settings file.

I still could not create a new COM Serial Port via SSDRCAT.

Here's some screen prints showing what I have now:

Issue.png

w1smc

Problem Solved ...

I worked with Ken Wells this morning to correct mu issue ....

Thanks Ken!

James Del Principe

I have now experienced a com port issue about 6 times this year. The first time the ports listed in the CAT tool were scrambled. The next several times the com ports were missing from the CAT tool. Each time I used Tim's procedures to resolve this but in the end, I had to remove the ports in windows, removed SSDR 3.2.39 and reload SSDR. That is very involved and I don't think it should be necessary to keep doing this. Yesterday everything worked just fine but tonight when I tried to use Winlink, all the CAT ports were missing in the tool. Looking in Device Manager, I see two of each port. That is, two com port 4 and two 6 and two of 7. Likewise, there is two of 104, 106 and 107. One of each of these is greyed out. The ports are OK in each application. Those are intact.

In addition, SSDR is usually very slow to boot up and SDR CAT is also very slow. DAX boots up quickly.

This is all very discouraging. My other radios, an FT 897 and TM G707, using a signal link to a cheap ONN laptop, never loose communications.

Any thoughts on this? It's easy to blame Windows 10 but do others see this as often? Best 73, Jim

KD0RC

Hi Jim, I have never seen this. Have you talked with Flex support yet? If not, I would submit a helpdesk ticket.

James Del Principe

There are a number of threads on this issue. I had submitted a description detailing my experience with this com port issue in the past. Tonight, I resolved it yet again but this time I did not need to delete SSDR and reload from scratch. I deleted the com ports in Windows using Tim's procedure, rebooted and then brought up the CAT tool. Right click the 'delete' button and then click 'Reset Flex VSP Ports'. This time it worked. When I brought up the CAT tool again and then clicked 'add', it started with com port 4 as it should. I then restored all my previously used com ports: 4, 6 and 7 for my apps. All is working for the moment but I don't know for how long. Thanks for the reply. I had an answer previously from Mike but had not opened a ticket. 73, Jim

Mike-VA3MW

I have a close friend of mine have this exact problem. Every week, he would have to rebuild his com ports.

The answer that worked from him is not one you will like, but it worked for him and it was a similar solution that solved a problem I had with the drivers for my IC-9700 being very confused.

Something in Windows is causing this to happen over and over.

Last week, he decided to rebuild his Windows computer and re-install windows. That solved his problem.

(I told you wouldn't like the answer).

James Del Principe

There are a number of threads on this issue. I had submitted a description detailing my experience with this com port issue in the past. Tonight, I resolved it yet again but this time I did not need to delete SSDR and reload from scratch. I deleted the com ports in Windows using Tim's procedure, rebooted and then brought up the CAT tool. Right click the 'delete' button and then click 'Reset Flex VSP Ports'. This time it worked. When I brought up the CAT tool again and then clicked 'add', it started with com port 4 as it should. I then restored all my previously used com ports: 4, 6 and 7 for my apps. All is working for the moment but I don't know for how long. Thanks for the reply. I had an answer previously from Mike but had not opened a ticket. 73, Jim

James Del Principe

Mike, thanks for the suggestion to rebuild my Windows computer.... I'm looking for my sword... going to fall on it. That may, of course, be the only solution. It really is a strange problem because it worked fine for a very long time. I bought this computer 4 years ago and was running SSDR v 1.x.x.... I upgraded a while ago to V 3 and still did not have this issue until the beginning of this year. Best to All, Jim

Peter West

[{"insert":"I’m the guy who did a complete new install of Windows 10 on my dedicated I7 PC. I’ve had mysterious port issues for months where ports would just disappear and my 6600 would fail showing flashing red warning lights and would require a factory reset to work (and yes I got the new SD card installed). I’m not a technical expert but I am pretty practical and I’ve been running Flex since I started a long time with a 1500 so I was really committed to doing whatever it took. So far after the Windows reinstall a week ago no issues the Flex fires up every time plus as a bonus the I7 is back to being super quick. \n"}]

James Del Principe

Peter, Thanks for the reply. Mine has run without failure for a few weeks at a time so I would give it some time before calling it a success. I do hope this works for you. Not sure why a reload on an almost new computer would make it run faster? Good luck and 73, Jim

Peter West

Day 10 of no issues after the complete new Windows 10 install. So I've been thinking again: Will the Flex 6600 fire up without the PC (which BTW is an old I7 PC which had been used professionally with Photoshop and video and audio editing programs for years and was filled with junk and thus was slowing up)? And of course it will as I can control the 6600 with other devices (IPhone and MacAir) without a problem and, unlike the PC, I've had no issues with these periferals at all for years. So as a contester, who gets seriously upset when things don't go right from 8pm local Friday to 8pm local Sunday on big contest weekends, I am highly motivated to do whatever it takes to realize station stability and that means I'll sell or buy anything that gets me there. So I am speculating here that the issue lies with the PC and not the Flex. I could be wrong but I am wondering if certain PCs (since this issue doesn't appear to be universal across the Flex world) aren't prone to port conflicts over time which are resolved using Tim's method (which I have used successfully) or just a complete Windows 10 reinstall which was available for free online and took about an hour? And I am not yet convinced that using an external audio interface box with another contest-quality big box rig like an Icom, Yaseu or Kenwood is any less prone to issues as I used to setup for different contests on the Thursday prior hoping to have everything working by Friday night. I didn't always succeed. It also involved a lot of wiring up stuff. The fact that some of us experience long periods of no issues and then boom port issues all over the place is a clue that wiser heads than mine can ponder. Mike VA3MW has another solution and that's when everything is working just not turn anything off and with CQ WW DX CW coming up at the end of the month this maybe a path I take.

Larry _ NY8T

I periodically had similar issues including corrupted dax that needed to be restarted when it happened. Going from windows 10 home to fresh install of windows 10 pro solved everything. Its been 6 months with no issues, I also stopped using my main flex pc for experimentation of new softwares, it only has installed on it just what I need to operate.