Serial port not found

[Mike C]

2 year old Win 11 comp . Trying to connect JMRI but it's not finding any serial ports .  Downloaded Java 17 and the driver for the USB connection but not having any luck . Mike

[nickelplate759]

It's been a while, but I remember seeing this.
First of all, on a 2-year old PC, there are no serial ports, so the message is correct.
You may need a USB-to-serial adapter.

Dunno why JMRI/DecoderPro hasn't been updated to use USB.

This article has some hints:
https://www.jmri.org/install/Debug.shtml#:~:text=You%20need%20to%20either%20get,libraries%20aren't%20properly%20installed.

[Mike C]

  I do have the NCE USB serial adapter . Power cab to USB adapter then adapter to program track . Worked fine with old comp . I have another laptop I may try next but it's Linux based .    Mike

[peteski]

USB->serial adapters require Windows drivers to work. Various adapters use different brand chips in them. Some drivers for certain chip vendors are included in Windows, some are not. The newer the Windows version is the more cumbersome the driver problems can be. And all the extra security in new versions of Windows makes it difficult to install some drivers.

When you plug in the USB-> serial adapter into your computer for the first time, it sees new hardware and tries to find appropriate driver automatically. If it does, you're golden. If not . . . things get more complicated.

[Sumner]

You might try Type "device manager" in the taskbar's search box, and then select Device Manager from the menu.  Then go down to Ports (COM, LPT).  Click on it.  Then plug and unplug your USB serial port and see if a port opens and closes and what the number of it is.

Sumner

[Mike C]

  The device manager shows it pluged into " other devices " there is no listing for ports . What it is telling me now is "unable to create connection "NCE" (N) . Serial port none selected / not found . Unable to run start-up actions due to earlier failures . "

  Well heck I think I found the prob . I tried to update the driver for the port but the stupid computer claimed it wernt there . Finally found it in the update folder . I think it is working now !    Mike

  Thanks for the help again !

[Mike C]

  Well I was able to read 1 loco into the roster . Second loco won't read I get service mode offline and ops mode offline . I've seen this before I go to JMRI help but NONE of the asked questions ever get any solution .

  There is also an unknown error symbol at the top of the page .  OK so that means Power State unknown .

[Mike C]

 Spent over 4 hours getting 3 locos read into JMRI . The programmer keeps going offline but if I jiggle the cables on the USB adapter It will come back . Looks like the prob is either the usb board or cables .... It never ends 

[GGNInNScale]

My sympathies.  Yes, the comments above are correct.  The serial ports went the way of the (choose your extinct species here) years ago.  Most computers today have internal conversions that reroute "serial port" requests to the USB port(s).  I have a few old programs that want to find a serial port, but the computer maps the S/P to a USB address.   I tried JMRI three times over a period of a year.  It was a constant fight to get it to load and function.  I decided that it is too much trouble for a layout of my dimensions.  I gave up, and use Excel spreadsheets to keep track of things.  My NCE PowerCab runs 6 trains at a time.  I made a control panel that indicates where trains are located, and the switches are controlled and routed by Arduinos.   Azatrax detectors keep track of the train positions, with the output signals controlling lights and switches.
Background and opinion- I grew up with computers since the late 1960s and worked with some of the geniuses at Bell Laboratories in the 1980s and 1990s.  OMG were these guys amazing- one guy could read hexadecimal from the screen and tell you what the computer was doing...  But, somehow I think we lost the ability collectively to make computers and interfaces easy to use... kind of sad, actuallly.   Big Disclaimer- I use old HP calculators because RPN works for me.  I built most of my computers up until the past 5 or 6 years.  I cannot use an Apple computer, either- too difficult to do what I want, tough to interface and not modifiable.  I use Arduino's all over (under?) my layout, and program them in the modified C language that is used in Arduino-land. 

[Sumner]

One solution that isn't that expensive is...



.... get a Raspberry Pi, a $35 keyboard/mouse combo and a monitor.  You don't need to know anything about the Pi computer operating wise.  Download Steve Todd's SD card image file ( HERE ) to a SD card and plug it into the Pi.  Turn the Pi on and it will boot and JMRI will come up on the screen.  Pick the command station you are connected to in JMRI and you are up and running for probably well under $100 using a monitor and keyboard you have laying around or can find at a yard sale or one of the good well stores.

Now you have a dedicated train room computer.   Spend another $75 or so and put together a DCC-EX Command Station in an hour and you now have a complete DCC system that programs, runs DC and DCC trains on with the options to run routes that control about anything with complete automation if you want that.  connectivity via WiFi in the command station to all kinds of wireless throttle options along with phone throttles.

I use it and love it.

Sumner