Any reason why the COM1 port would suddenly act up or die?

[MichaelD]

This is weird, not really a biggie, but weird.

I recently bought a UPS. It has the shutdown software. The UPS connects to the PC via a 9-pin cable to one of the COM ports. The instructions didn't specify which port to use, so I just used COM1. This is on an Abit KT7R, BTW.

Last night, on bootup, the UPS and PC weren't talking to each other. Rebooted. Nada. Again. Nada. The UPS is fine. Hmm. So, I switch the cable to the COM2 port and tada...all is good. Rebooted, still good. 4 hours later, still good. Puzzled at this. Any ideas? BTW, I had no other probs at all.

 

[Bozo Galora]

you plugged it in and out while the computer was on, blowing one of the channels in the Winbond chip
to see, look in dev man to find out if there is a com1 configured and working properly

 

[MichaelD]

Good guess, but negative...I didn't unplug anything while powered up. Or plug-in for that matter. I booted up like always (I turn off the PC 75% of the time when not in use) and the PowerPanelPlus software started up and started searching for the connection to the PC. Didn't find it. Tried numerous times w/the same neg result. Switched it to COM2 and everything is fine.

BTW, what is a Winbond chip? Sheesh, just when I thought I was gettin' good, you stump me w/something I can't define!