How do I get my PCMCIA 232/2 to install properly?

[philwai]

I have downloaded the 1.6 drivers and installed them only to find XP (sp1) complains the drivers are unsigned and renders the new com ports unusable. Any ideas on a solution?

[Holly_D]

Driver signing means that the driver has been through Microsoft's certification process. So, although the drivers aren't signed by Microsoft, they should work just fine.

When the driver signing warning window appears, you have two options: "Continue Anyway" and "Stop Installation". When you choose Stop, drivers do not get installed and your hardware will not work. When you choose Continue, the drivers will install and your ports should work properly. To fix your ports, go into the device manager and delete them. Then do a rescan for hardware. You should see the add new hardware windows again. Click "Continue Anyway" every time you see the warning and all will be well.

Also, you can turn this warning off, which can be helpful when installing large nu
mbers of ports. Right click on My Computer and select properties. Under the hardware tab, click the button called "Driver Signing". If you choose the Ignore option, it will stop giving you those warning windows. You can later come back and select Warn to turn the warning windows back on.

Good luck!

[philwai]

I am afraid the "Continue Anyway" does not have the desired effect. V1.5 or V1.6 drivers are the same on my Dell laptop. Com5 and Com8 appear in device manager with an exclamation mark over them and a Code31 complaint in the device status. The port claims to be enabled. The NI diagnostics do not see either port. May I suggest NI test on a Dell Precision Laptop.

[JLS]

Attempt the following:

If you are certain that you have properly installed NI-Serial version 1.6 proceed to step 2.

1.Uninstall your board and any NI-Serial software on your machine, and then reinstall NI-Serial Version 1.6. If you do not have a CD handy, you can download it by selecting Serial, NI-Serial, 1.6, and Windows XP respectively in the drop down boxes at: http://digital.ni.com/softlib.nsf/MainPage?ReadForm&node=132010_US

Reinstall your board after you complete the software installation process.

2. If the problem persists after step 1, go to Device Manager and find your serial ports with exclamation marks. Right click on them and select uninstall. After uninstalling, reboot your machine and let the operating system find them again.

If the pr
oblem still persists, please repost and we will take a closer look!

Best Regards,

JLS
Applications Engineer
National Instruments

[philwai]

I am afraid none of your suggestions has fixed the problem. I have our device driver programmers take a look at the problem and it still persists. Please can you help. I am using a Dell Precision M60 running XP SP1 and trying to install a PCMCIA-232/2. I have deleted all COM ports 2..4 (including not-present ports that XP remembers) and now the card installs as COM3 and COM4 but the following error messages still appear. For COM3 it reads:-
"This device is not working properly because Windows cannot load the drivers required for this device. (Code 31)

Click Troubleshoot to start the troubleshooter for this device."
For the second Com port (COM4) it reads:-
"Windows cannot load the device driver for this hardware because a previous instance of t
he device driver is still in memory. (Code 38)

Click Troubleshoot to start the troubleshooter for this device."
Please can you help. This problem is a serious one for all Wilcox programmers.
Phil H