SOLVED Setting up serial COM ports

[John Ames]

After installing Windows 10 one of my existing Windows 7 COM ports disappeared.
I have an Elecraft K3 radio transceiver connected to the computer which runs the DX Lab suite of software. One of the programs is DX Commander which displays frequency and other items from the radio.

The port the radio had been using was COM10. It is now not in the Device Manager list and I get the error message "Invalid port number (8002) the port = primary CAT port number 10 = settings = 38400,N,8,1"

Serial port COM11 works fine to another radio device. The only problem is that COM10 is gone, and I don't know how to re-establish it. The help pages direct me to a procedure for establishing new internet ports, of which there are thousands. I'm sure the serial ports are something else, but this seems hidden.

 

[Trouble]

Depending on how the device, when connected to the computer, presents in Device Manager
You should be able to right click it and choose properties and use the Advanced Port Settings button to produce a dialog box where you should be able to select the com port number.

 

[John Ames]

The problem is that the device does not show up in Device Manager. The device is set to be on COM10, but that port does not appear in device manager. COM10 was the port used in Windows 7. It seems to have disappeared in the move to Windows 10. I think what I need is to create a COM10 port, but I'm not sure of this.

 

[Trouble]

IS there a software / driver package that comes with the device or that can be downloaded from the vendor?

 

[John Ames]

That's the next thing to try. I never needed to do this before, but who knows. Thanks for the comments. I'll post when I fix this.

 

[John Ames]

The problem was that I did not know that Windows would change the COM port assigned to a particular program when it updated (installed the new version). I was reluctant to try all the available COM ports because I didn't know what they did. When I tried COM3, the program connected to the radio.

 

[Trouble]

Very cool.
Glad to hear that you managed to figure it out and resolve your problem.
Thanks for posting back with that information and lettings us in on your resolution.
Much appreciated.
Regards
Randy

 

[AC2OY]

I’m having the same issue but I don’t see any com ports in my device manager!!! And I can’t install the legacy hardware when I hit action I get nothing!!!

 

[Bighorn]

After 3 years Jun 14, 2016 and a few different versions of Win10 it may be up to the device maker to have the solution.

 

[AC2OY]

After 3 years Jun 14, 2016 and a few different versions of Win10 it may be up to the device maker to have the solution.

Well Bighorn I made progress after reinstalling Windows I now see a com port and even figured out how to change it to Com port 2 but my Amateur Radio Rig interface software still wont work but at least I see a Com Port!!! LOL Maybe one day I’ll actually figure it out!!!