How to install the PCI-8431 card as a replacement for the PCI-485/8 card?

[dj143]

I have a computer with an old PCI-485/8 card that I want to replace with a new PCI-8431 card.  NI SERIAL in the computer is v.3.4 and v.3.5 came with the PCI-8431.  Obviously I should update NI SERIAL.  However, my concern is what will happen when the system sees the new card?  Is the replacement as simple as changing cards or will there be a problem with keeping the ASRL numbers the way they are currently setup?

Please advise the appropriate steps to take to update the computer.

Thanks,

Dave

[EEsRULEtheWORLD]

Hi, Dave.

Replacing the PCI-485/8 with the PCI-8431 should not affect the current assignment of ASRL numbers.  When you restart your computer, the BIOS will enumerate the COM ports in order.  There have been issues associated with Windows 7 systems regarding the enumeration process.  Windows 7 parallelizes the COM port enumeration process which causes the ports of newly installed hardware to be enumerated in a random order.

If you are operating under Windows 7 or for some reason, the ASRL numbers are not assigned correctly, the NiPortConfig.exe is a utility that allows you to manually assign a contiguous range of COM numbers to a board. It is located in the NI-Serial Installation Directory, which is C:\Program Files\National Instruments\NI-Serial on 32-bit operating systems and C:\Program Files (x86)\National Instruments\NI-Serial on 64-bit operating systems by default.

Check out this KnowledgeBase for more information regarding the NiPortConfig.exe.

Let me know if you need any more information.  I hope you're having a great day!

[dj143 · Accepted solution]

Thank you Sara for your reponse.  It will be awhile before I can get back to this project. I'll let you know if I have further questions.

Thanks,

Dave

[JasonSmith]

To help ensure that the COM port numbers remain the same, you should go into Device Manager and delete your PCI-485 board before you remove if from the computer. Without this step, the ports will remain reserved for the PCI-485/8 even though it is no longer present. Deleting the device from device manager (or from MAX) will unreserve those ports, so that the new board can use the same numbers.

-Jason S.