conflict between the serial port COM1 and the mouse

[FSehiri]

Experts,

Could you please help me to resolve the problem that I'm encountering since a long time
I have a data coming through the serial port COM1 almost every 3 seconds (Real-Time data) and I'm using a USB mouse which plugged in one of the USB ports
When I reboot the machine the mouse start moving everywhere, and I can't take control of it.
it seems that serial port COM1 is considered as the mouse signal
Knowing that even if I remove the mouse, the problem reside

Could you please advise in how I can fix this issue?

I will appreciate your help
Thanks in advance

 

[MITPRO]

Did you try a known good USB mouse? Maybe the mouse is bad. If you observe the same problems with the new mouse, maybe the drivers may need to be uninstalled and reintalled. Please test and see what you come up with.

Do not pray to have an easier life, pray to be a stronger man!!!

B.S. Computer Information Systems
Masters of Information Technology in Network Security
CompTIA A+, Net+, Security+
MCSE: Security 2003

MCITP: Exchange Server 2007 (Pending)
MCITP: Server 2008 (Pending)
MCTS: Windows Vista (Pending)

 

[FSehiri]

I have this issue in three new machines with new mice, the issue is on the startup detection on the serial port and USB
Is there any command that I have to write in the boot.ini file to avoid detecting the mouse at the startup?

Thanks for your help

 

[MITPRO]

IF COM1 is in use and you are using a USB mouse this should not affect the mosue, unless this is a serial mouse. In this case, while the mouse is attached to the computer, try uninstalling the driver for the USB mouse and reintalling them. The only other test would be to disable COM1 to see if the mosue will properly work.

Do not pray to have an easier life, pray to be a stronger man!!!

B.S. Computer Information Systems
Masters of Information Technology in Network Security
CompTIA A+, Net+, Security+
MCSE: Security 2003

MCITP: Exchange Server 2007 (Pending)
MCITP: Server 2008 (Pending)
MCTS: Windows Vista (Pending)

 

[edfair]

Anything in CMOS setup to enable/disable mouse support?

And is there a possiblity that the serial port is wired in such a way that it would detect as a mouse? That is, does it still detect as a mouse if the USB mouse is disconnected?

Ed Fair
Give the wrong symptoms, get the wrong solutions.

 

[MITPRO]

The male serial port on the back of a pc is not always dedicated to mouse. you also can connect console cables to this port, so it will not just detect mouse. These ports use ports as they are detected. Many devices use COM1, 2 3 4. It will not detect a device that is not connected or set in the BIOS to use the mouse. I cannot recall right off, but i do not think you can manually set the COM1 to use a particular device. You may be able to turn it on or off. USB is USB and should not conflict with the COM ports.


Do not pray to have an easier life, pray to be a stronger man!!!

B.S. Computer Information Systems
Masters of Information Technology in Network Security
CompTIA A+, Net+, Security+
MCSE: Security 2003

MCITP: Exchange Server 2007 (Pending)
MCITP: Server 2008 (Pending)
MCTS: Windows Vista (Pending)

 

[FSehiri]

Unfortunalty, Im using the COM1 to receive those data and a USB mouse, when I reboot, the mouse start moving in all direction, I can't even take control of the machine(Mouse)
I will try to uninstall the driver of the USB mous, I will let you know, thanks

 

[BadBigBen]

is there any chance you could just use a PS-2 to USB adapter (most mice come with these), and plug the USB mouse into the PS2 port?

Ben

"If it works don't fix it! If it doesn't use a sledgehammer..."

 

[edfair]

What kind of handshaking on the serial port?

And will the sending device still work without handshaking or with forced handshaking on the sending end only?

Ed Fair
Give the wrong symptoms, get the wrong solutions.

 

[FSehiri]

BadBigBen,

all the new pcs (generation) will not have the PS2 port, all will move to the USB ports.
I would like really fix this issue without chaging any peripherics

Regards

Effair,

How can I check the handchaking? (sorry for the qst)

 

[FSehiri]

Effair,

If I put the flow control to Xon/Xoff what will affect?

 

[edfair]

You could open the shell and see if the flow control signal wires are connected to the cable or jumpered back to themselves.

I can't find my 9 pin chart, but IIRC 4 and 6 would be jumpered as one handshake set. Pin 3 would be send, 2 receive, and 5 is signal ground.

Xon-Xoff is a software method of telling the external device to start/stop sending data. It will crash your application unless the app is also expecting xn/xf.

I would suggest a reboot with no mouse, no 232 and verify that the OS identifies the serial port correctly to start with. Then reboot with the serial port only and see if it IDs as mouse. This to prove to yourself that you are on the right track.

Your OS will allow a second mouse. And the screen will show mouse movement from either one. So the jumping around is from the data input incorrectly identified as a mouse input.

You might be able to assign the serial port to com2 if your application will support that address. That would eliminate the problem.

Ed Fair
Give the wrong symptoms, get the wrong solutions.

 

[LawnBoy]

Windows NT used to do this to me all the time (only not with a usb mouse). The only way I found a way around is to unplug the data on the serial port and let windows find the mouse on bootup. Then plug the data in.



"We must fall back upon the old axiom that when all other contingencies fail, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth." - Sherlock Holmes

 

[PRPhx]

Open device manager. Look at all your USB devices. Open up the properties and look at resources. Are there any conflicts?

If device manager shows a com port(s) look there as well. Is your BIOS set to detect PNP devices? If not, can you enable this and see if that makes a difference.

 

[FSehiri]

All,

Apparently, this is a common issue since Microsoft stopped using the serial mouse.
There is no material or address conflict, even if the USB mouse is plugged or no, the signal coming from the COM (serial port) is considered as serial mouse signal, nothing to do with the USB and IRQ conflict.
And even if you change the handshake and the default COM tp COM2 (changing IRQ), the problem reside.
Please have a look in the link below, as there is somebody else had encounter this issue

http://forums.cnet.com/5208-7813_102-0.html?forumID=5&threadID=234847&messageID=2410109

as mentioned on this article, I'm looking for the register key to to be modify to fix this issue, and create a Batch file to corect it automaticaly.
Has somebody done this before?

Thanks in advance for your suggestions
Regards

 

[PRPhx]

In your boot.ini file add the following:
/NOSERIALMICE=[COMx | COMx,y,z...] -

Disables serial mouse detection of the specified COM port(s). Use this switch if you have a component other than a mouse attached to a serial port during the startup sequence. If you use /NOSERIALMICE without specifying a COM port, serial mouse detection is disabled on all COM ports.

For an explanation of all boot.ini switches look here:

http://www.pctools.com/guides/registry/detail/1268/

 

[FSehiri]

PrPhx and All,
Thanks for your suggestion
I've tried all your advices and nothing worked, I’ve tried the command that you have suggested in boot.ini and I discovered that this issue is a common one especially in Windows XP, I've applied the command /NOSERIALMICE=[COMx | COMx,y,z...] , but it doesn’t work with XP.

Finally, I’ve found some useful utility in Microsoft support allowing the change of a registry key to disable the detection of the COM at the startup, as even if the mouse is present or no, the signal coming from any COM will be considered as a serial mouse.
Please refer to this utility:

http://download.microsoft.com/download/b/2/6/b2624690-0fdc-4842-b850-8d21ca893962/COMDisable.msi

Just for your information, even if you disable the active COM at the startup with this utility, it will not disable it when the system is running
I'm really happy to find the solution

Thanks again for all your suggestion