Arduino COM port fails

Using Arduino IDE 1.x
1

Every now and then the com port the arduino is connected to fails and I need to unplug it and plug it in again. I am running XP and on the Device Managaer the Arduino is always there and working fine but the Arduino window says its not there and under tools -> Serial Ports, its also not there. I changed computers incase the USB ports were fried and I get the same problem. I am using a lot of Serial communication so i wonder if that somehow does something. Any help would be great.

Thanks,
Andy

2

What do you have connected to your board?

3

I have a DTMF serial decoder hooked up to it. So its receiving bytes via the Rx and then sending them back to the computer serial window.

Andy

4

I have a DTMF serial decoder

OK. Are you here to get help or did you just need to vent?

5

LOL
BTW If its connected to pins 1 & 2, it cant interfere with serial communication.

6

Um not really sure what the comment means. I have seen this problem posted before but I have never seen anyone come with an answer. I dont think its something that has anything to do with my current project though. I try to avoid using the rx tx perhaps. It probably fails once every 10 updates,

Andy

7

andycomic:
Um not really sure what the comment means.

In order to offer helpful suggestions, we need meaningful details. "I have a DTMF serial decoder" is slightly meaningful but does not include any details. "I have something connected to my board" provides about the same meaning and detail.

8

oh my bad, actually i should not have mentioned that anyway. its fails in all situations. Even when just uploading the simple blink example on both of my computers. Its not a crippling problem but its kinda annoying. Sometimes I get the error 'comm port already in use', other times it just cant find it.

Thanks,
Andy

9

Even when just uploading the simple blink example

With what connected to the board?