Serial/Com Port Failure, or Not?

[GreatBambino2]

I believe I may be experiencing a partial failure of my com/serial port.

Here is the situation. I am using several pieces of Motorola Programming Software. I am able to use my serial port to read/write radios using some of the programing. However when I am trying to program other radios using a different cable and different software I am not able to program the radio. By using a different computer running the same OS and Motorola Software I am able to program the radios fine. I basically have isolated it down to an issue with the serial port. Has anyone ever had any similar issues?

[Jim202]

I believe I may be experiencing a partial failure of my com/serial port.

Here is the situation. I am using several pieces of Motorola Programming Software. I am able to use my serial port to read/write radios using some of the programing. However when I am trying to program other radios using a different cable and different software I am not able to program the radio. By using a different computer running the same OS and Motorola Software I am able to program the radios fine. I basically have isolated it down to an issue with the serial port. Has anyone ever had any similar issues?

You need to supply some more details on what you were doing when the software failed to function.

Let me say that if you programmed one radio and then try to program another radio, you might just have to boot the computer again. I have run into this a number of times. Motorola software is not very forgiving when you make changes. Some times you get away with it and most of the time it complains.

Guess that's what you get for using 5th grader software developers. They never seem to ask the boys in the field how it works. They just let them complain and then maybe think about trying to fix the issues several months later.

Jim

[GreatBambino2]

I am not sure that I can say for certain that I am experiencing a software issue. It very well and seems more likely to me that I am having a hardware issue however I am not an expert and this is why I am asking for others input.

Upon a fresh boot of the computer I have tried to read a Motorola M1225 or CP200 and I am unable to do so. I use to be able to do this however no longer can. I have completely reformatted my hard drive and reinstalled a clean version of Windows XP SP3 with all the updates. I have properly installed all my Motorola Software and took my time doing so. I performed a complete reboot of the computer after each install. All the software seems to be working and functioning appropriately.

I am using Motorola Commercial Series CPS R05.16 along with Motorola Radius RSS/CPS R04.00 to program my CP200 and P/M1225 respectively. When trying to read the radios I get a failure to communicate error from the software. I have tested the radios, cables and software on a backup laptop and I was able to read/write the radios without any errors. This leads me to believe the issue is isolated to my laptop. I am using a hard connected serial port to the laptop, no after market serial port or USB to serial adapter. However I did try the USB to Serial Adapter and was able to read/write the radios fine. This leads me to believe the issue is with the serial port itself. Could it be possible I have a lose or broken pin within the serial port itself or at the motherboard? I am able to use the serial port to successfully program some radios, such as the Motorola XTS2500 which I have no issues with.

I have tried uninstalling, rebooting, and reinstalling the software individually with no success or change in behavior of the serial port.

Any thoughts? I am looking into ways to test the full functionality of the serial port itself.