Trouble Shooting - No Free Com Ports

If you have received an error message that you have no free com ports available on your computer you must sort out this issue before you can download from your PAT tester.

Have you got any Com Ports!

Most modern PC's particularly laptops often come without any serial (RS232) ports on them, often they only have USB ports. You can get around the problem of having no serial ports on a such a PC or laptop by purchasing a USB to serial converter. This special cable will allow you to add a serial port on a computer, connected to a USB port. They are relatively inexpensive and can be bought from RSR Sytems Ltd.

If you have a USB to Serial converter please connect it to your PC/Laptop, wait a moment then click "Refresh" on the "PAT Settings" screen. You should now be able to select the correct COM Port from the drop down list. You can check which port the converter cable is using by clicking the "Device" button on the "PAT Settings" screen. See PAT Settings Screen.

If you are using a USB to Serial Converter cable with a Seaward Europa (+), Supernova (+) or Prime Test 350 you may encounter download problems. Use the USB to Serial tick box on the PAT Settings screen if you experience such issues. See PAT Settings Screen.

Some USB to Serial Converters can cause problems when downloading, please contact us for recommendations on which USB to Serial Converter to buy.

NOTE! - We endeavour to always buy the same USB to Serial converters, ones that we have tested and know to work with all makes of PAT tester. We always have these in stock and whilst you maybe able to find USB to Com Ports cheaper elsewhere, should you buy one from us we will guide you through installing it and make sure we get you downloading.

See Wiring Diagram for what a com port looks like.

Software That Blocks Serial Ports

• The following types of software installed on your computer might be holding on to the com ports and not letting any other software use them.
• Mobile Phone software - such as Nokia Data Suite
• PDA software - such as Active Sync when using a serial connection. (USB connections are normally fine)
• GPS software that use a serial connection to your PC.
• Digital Camera software where the camera attaches to the PC with a serial cable - USB camera connections are normally fine.
• Firewall software such as Zonealarm can stop access to the com ports.

You may have to disable, reconfigure, or remove such software if it wont let you use your ports with other programs.

PC Configuration

Sometimes the computers com ports may not be set up correctly. You may need to get a PC engineer to find out why the com ports are not correctly installed on your PC. SimplyPats Version 5.2.5 and above checks for up to 20 com ports. Below this version of SimplyPats, only comports up to 10 are checked for. Particularly if you are using a USB to Serial converter, the driver software may install your new com port on a high setting e.g. Com Port 14.

If you still have problems ring RSR Systems Ltd for support. Technical Support

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(This Topic Last updated 31/10/2011)