WXforum.net
Weather Software => Heavy Weather by LaCrosse Technologies => Topic started by: highriseweather on March 07, 2009, 04:29:54 AM
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I have plugged in everything to the main unit, installed the software and when I go into heavy weather everything is greyed out. Did I do something wrong? Is there an order the connections have to be done?
Edit: 6/22/2012 because title didn't fit thread. Title changed because I do not use Heavy weather, I use Cumulus but was running into problems, got them fixed on the old machine, and now new machine is having issues.
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First off, is the weather station console communicating with the remote sensors? All data being received?
Secondly, are your comm port settings on the computer set correctly?
Are you using a direct serial port connection or a USB connection?
Dan
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Well right now all I have is the temperature sensor operating due to the other concerns as you addressed eariler. The weather station is communicating fine with the temperature sensor, I am getting readings every few seconds.
As for the comm port settings, not sure which one to use, have tried all of them none of them work. All I have done though is selected each one individually in the software, I have no idea how to set them for the unit.
For right now I am using a direct serial port connection, I just ordered a USB to serial and may change it later.
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As for the comm port settings, not sure which one to use, have tried all of them none of them work. All I have done though is selected each one individually in the software, I have no idea how to set them for the unit.
For right now I am using a direct serial port connection, I just ordered a USB to serial and may change it later.
I can only speak to XP and the way I do it. There may be an easier way. (I'm sure any errors will be swiftly corrected. There's some really really smart folks on this board!)
Start>Control Panel>System>Hardware>Device Manager>Ports
That is where you assign the ports. Make sure you adjust the settings in the software accordingly.
It's my experience that if you can use serial port, it will work much better than serial to usb.
If you have Vista or Mac, I can offer no advice.
Good Luck,
Greg
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... and as per Greg's advice, while in the device manager checking your port you shouldn't have to change the default settings of 9600 BPS, 8 DB, None parity, 1 SB and ,None FC.
Stay with the serial connection vs. the USB if you can. May save a lot of headaches.
Keep at it. It will come eventually. (keep notes for the next time :roll:).
Dan
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I am not very familiar with making changes like this. I went to the Start>Control Panel>System>Hardware>Device Manager>Ports, but there is no where to assign a port there. When the list comes up in Ports, there is only one listed, COM1, communications. That's it. I tried updating to see if any would show up, nope... So where do I go from here?
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I am not very familiar with making changes like this. I went to the Start>Control Panel>System>Hardware>Device Manager>Ports, but there is no where to assign a port there. When the list comes up in Ports, there is only one listed, COM1, communications. That's it. I tried updating to see if any would show up, nope... So where do I go from here?
Geeze, I guess I only led you half way there! I'm sorry.
If you see the serial port listed there, right click on it and select properties.
Then you want the Port Settings tab, then click on advanced. There you can set the serial port number. Then that's what you match the software to.
I hope that gets you where you want to be.
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You know I went into the properties earlier but apparently did not go far enough, well now I have another problem, it seems all the com ports are full, they are all telling me they are in use. Should I unplug the weather station to see if it is conflicting with something?
All but com 1 seems full. 2 says not full, but when I try to use it it says it is, and 3 and 4 say in use, also tried but said i may interfer with something else...
Do you need a list of my machine specs?
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PC Specs:
Windows XP SP2
Intel Core 2 Duo CPU @ 2.8GHz
Asus P5B Deluxe Wifi-AP Motherboard
2Gb AData DDR-II 800MHz
Asus 7300GT 256mb NVida PC-Express Graphics Card
3x 320GB Seagate 16mb SATA II HDD
1x Maxtor 250GB HDD
1x WD 640GB HDD
S12 430W Seasonic PSU
4x 90mm exhuast fans
1x 220mm intake case fan
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I guess I should also mention that prior to this device I was using the serial port for my UPS, now that it is unplugged the UPS doesn't even show up, I just ordered the USB to Serial and will be using that for the UPS when it comes.
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Well, now you're getting beyond what I know. Maybe some of the experts around here can tell you how to see what's on each port and how to assign stuff.
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With the UPS disonnected from Com1 and any software used to control it turned off, try connecting your weather station to com1 and select com1 in the weather station's software. Then after all this is set, restart the computer. When it comes up and finishes booting see what happens.
If it's still not cooperating check My Computer, Control Panel, Administrative Tools, Event Viewer, (Application and System) both show events happening on your computer and give useful information/clues.
Dan
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With the UPS disonnected from Com1 and any software used to control it turned off, try connecting your weather station to com1 and select com1 in the weather station's software. Then after all this is set, restart the computer. When it comes up and finishes booting see what happens.
If it's still not cooperating check My Computer, Control Panel, Administrative Tools, Event Viewer, (Application and System) both show events happening on your computer and give useful information/clues.
Dan
What a handy tip! I'll have to remember that!
(http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss298/Slowmodem_photo/twothumbsup.gif?t=1236459701)
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Hi Greg. Yeah I have the "Event Viewer" icon set as a short cut on my desk top and am refering to it all the time for things. Handy to use. :grin:
Dan
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Ok folks, here is the latest.
1. Everything about the UPS has to be disabled. In the System Config, it has to be disabled in the services and startup menus. Then a reboot. I can use the heavy weather software now thank you.
Some other questions though, when I get my usb to serial cable can someone help me get my UPS running on that? otherwise will need your help to put heavy weather on it, which you guys said might be troublesome.
Also, I am having issues getting the publisher figured out, the software is so difficult to figure out, I want to publish my readings to a website so my family and friends can see what it's like here... Can anyone help with that or should I post in another forum? Would love to create a banner also, but the software is not very helpful doing this... it would be nice if they had some templates other than the full page ones they give us, I like to play with stuff, but not like this...
Thanks for the help on the com port issues guys! Much apprecaited!!!!! I may end up moving the system to another computer when I buy a new one, I will run two machines, one to do folding and weather while the other for my main work. That way I can save the resources.
Edit: One other question I have why is the pressuer .01 different from the base unit to the software? That's just odd. Base unit says 29.99, software says 29.98.. What gives?
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Great, a step in the right direction.
Lots of folks here will help you with all the software stuff you mention when the time comes.
The WuHu program (free to download and use) works great in place of heavyweather and has uploading your data built in so you don't have to play around with publisher. That's your choice.
The UPS on the USB adapter sounds like the best way to go and we'll be glad to help you with that too.
Good work!
Dan
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Can you give me the link to the WuHu program? I think I will use that, you say it is easier and has uploading already built in, that will be great. Is it easier to use?
I am pretty much ready for that now, when I buy a new machine I will transfer everything, but for now will be using this one. Does the WuHu program come with banners or we still need to create them?
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Yeah a lot of folks here use it including me. It's WuHu.com and you see the software choice to download. Banners are created on the site you upload to. Get it going and play with it for a while. You'll soon see how much better it is for doing what you want to do.
Dan
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highriseweather,
You might also look here: http://sandaysoft.com/products/cumulus
My PWS is a Davis but this software should work for you and the Author supports it well. Oh, and the price is right!
FWIW
George
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Yeah a lot of folks here use it including me. It's WuHu.com and you see the software choice to download. Banners are created on the site you upload to. Get it going and play with it for a while. You'll soon see how much better it is for doing what you want to do.
Dan
I hate to sound like a nit picker, but the wuhu software is at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/wuhu_software_group/ (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/wuhu_software_group/)
Greg
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highriseweather,
You might also look here: http://sandaysoft.com/products/cumulus
My PWS is a Davis but this software should work for you and the Author supports it well. Oh, and the price is right!
FWIW
George
I d/l this a few minutes ago. I have two stations, and they cant run on wuhu together. So I am trying cumulus for the 2315 and wuhu for the 968. We'll see how it goes. Thanks for the tip!
Greg
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Greg,
I am pleased with Cumulus and like to recommend it. However, Steve does have one WARNING that I post here because I don't want to see anyone trying overcome a known problem.
"Warning: If your weather station is a La Crosse and it is connected using a serial/USB adapter, then you will probably have problems using it with Cumulus, in that you will get erroneous data from time to time. These weather stations are known to have problems with serial/USB adapters, and for some reason Cumulus seems to suffer more than other software. There doesn’t seem to be anything I can do about this. For this reason, I am sorry to say that I cannot support the use of Cumulus in this way."
FWIW
George
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Thank you all for the information. It seems like both of them are free, though one asks for donations, fair enough. Seems my topic has stirred other ideas, that's great, the more the better! So what you are telling me is that we can easily create banners using either of the two software mentioned above?
Wuho or Sanday Soft? So no need to create them using other software, is it easy?
So which one should I use? Wuhu or Sanday Soft or Cumulus?? Should we compare? Are they all easy to use? All can create banners easily for websites? All upload automatically to a website of your choice?
I guess I edited my last post too late before someone read it, can someone tell me why heavy weather and the base unit have different numbers for the pressure?
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Oh I am so irritated with this software, I just looked at the history, I see it records every hour. So I closed the window and closed the heavy weather also, and then tried to reopen it, it's all greyed out again!!!!! Thsi is soooo irritating. That means if I close it out I have to reboot everytime?!! What a pain in the @!# Unbelievable cruddy software!!!
Do all three of these programs above contain all three programs that come with Lacrosse? The weather viewing software, the publishiing software and the reviewing software? If they do, I am unintalling everything from Lacrosse tomorrow, I am so dissappointed!
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Greg,
I am pleased with Cumulus and like to recommend it. However, Steve does have one WARNING that I post here because I don't want to see anyone trying overcome a known problem.
FWIW
George
Thanks George! I have it hooked up to the serial port and into the Cumulus.
I have the 968 going through the usb port (for some reason it doesn't have as much trouble with that) and into the WUHU.
In case you're wondering why two stations, I got mad at OS last year ](*,) because of the humidity sensor and got the 2315 to use until they sent me another sensor. They never did and I'm still mad, but it's a good unit so I might as well use it. I use the 2315 as kind of a calibration/check thing.
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Greg, do you think the humidity sensor on your 968 is something you can get into and repair yourself or is there still warranty/hope for repairing it? I have spent over a year (so far) experimenting with the 23xx humidity sensor improving it's accuracy and have some hints if you want to go that route.
Dan
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I have changed to Cumulus, much easier to use and it actually works. The only issue I have is there seems to be no control over spacing of the data on the website, or adding or deleting items you want or do not want shown. Another issue is the graphs and pictures for moon and other things are not being downloaded, not sure why, any ideas?
Thanks for the recomendations, do I have leave the program running all the time for it to upload the data?
How to create a banner with this software to post in forums emails and what not?
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There is a bug in publisher where the file must already exist on the server. Upload any file will the same name, after the first upload, it will be fine.
As far as the pressure goes, there is a rounding error in the software.
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Which software are you refering to? Wuho or Cumulus or Heavy Weather? I deleted heavy weather from my computer entirely. I am now using Cumulus, so with that software just upload any file with the same name as one of the pictures and all will be ok?
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Also noticing the cumulus software does not have a history record like heavy weather, or am i looking in the wrong place?
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Greg, do you think the humidity sensor on your 968 is something you can get into and repair yourself or is there still warranty/hope for repairing it? I have spent over a year (so far) experimenting with the 23xx humidity sensor improving it's accuracy and have some hints if you want to go that route.
Dan
Dan,
Well, I took it into work once. There are some highly skilled Instrument Maintenance folks there and they just kind of scratched their heads. They suggested cleaning it with alcohol. I did that to one and it died completely (it was just reading 45% low). I have another one (that I got from ebay because OS didn't have any to send as a replacement) and it reads around 15% all the time. So I don't know if it can be worked on or not. I'm not very electrically inclined. I'm using the thnx122 (I don't remember if that's the right number for it). It works like a champ.
Greg
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If you get another chance to peek inside, see if it has one of these (or similar)
(http://i588.photobucket.com/albums/ss324/DanS_photo_09/HumiditySensor.jpg)
if it does, there;s hope. Easy fix too.
Dan
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Is there anyway to display the units in C and F and mm and in, etc? Or you have to pick only one? Or is there a way for people to choose whatever they want from the website? Maybe the other software has that function?
And what's up with the forecast? Exceptional weather, stormy, much precipatation? How can it be all three at once?
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Which software are you refering to? Wuho or Cumulus or Heavy Weather? I deleted heavy weather from my computer entirely. I am now using Cumulus, so with that software just upload any file with the same name as one of the pictures and all will be ok?
I was referring only to Heavyweather Publisher, Cumulus should be able to upload just fine.
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Ok guys, very odd, I closed Cumulus, rebooted and tried to reopen the software, now it is telling me something else is using that com port... I have not installed anything else, all I did was reboot. Any ideas?
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I had a feeling, from what you mentioned earlier that when Heavyweather did the same thing, that it wasn't Heavyweather. You said it came back "grayed out" meaning it alsodropped connectivity with the comms. You can check "device manager", "Com ports" again and right click on the com port and select disable. Go back to the same "device manager", com port, again . right click and select enable and see if any conflict messages pop up telling you what's trying to use that port. Also by right clicking on the bottom toolbar you can pull up "Task Manager". In here the tabs "Applications" and "Processes" show you what's up and running currently. May be helpful finding why your computer want's that com port for something.
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Try rebooting w/out the weather station connected, and then connect it. If the unit streams data continuously, it can be sometimes be detected during boot by Windows as a mouse, which will lock out that com port. If it is detected as a mouse, it can mess with the cursor, too...
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I'm at a loss guys. I went to the device manager, no messages popped up other than you need to reboot your computer, yadda yadda ya...
I have tried unplugging the serial cable from the base unit on bootup like Cumlus suggested, and to no avail.
I have checked through the task manager, I see nothing that would be using a serial connection. Could it my mouse that is causing the problem?
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Try rebooting w/out the weather station connected, and then connect it. If the unit streams data continuously, it can be sometimes be detected during boot by Windows as a mouse, which will lock out that com port. If it is detected as a mouse, it can mess with the cursor, too...
Must have missed your post before I posted. Already tried that, didnt work.. very strange, after I disconnected the UPS and removed all the config sys stuff from loading up, which I have checked agian, no problem, it worked fine, but the second time I reboot then issue happen.. What's going on?
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The UPS service might have somehow restarted... It will snag the port at boot. Verify that the UPS is disabled.
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Have gone through the system configuration utility and it seems everything is fine, the UPS is still unchecked and not booting up... really odd.
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Have gone through the system configuration utility and it seems everything is fine, the UPS is still unchecked and not booting up... really odd.
Do you have other software like say a PDA support program that is loading up on boot?
I remember once I had a Palm that would grab the port even though I did not tell it to.
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Have pcsuite for my Nokia phone, but all of that is through USB. And even if that were the case, how the heck can I manage to use all these programs if they keep interferring with the weather station?
I have a pda, but the software is not installed on this pc, have not used it for 3 years.
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Have pcsuite for my Nokia phone, but all of that is through USB. And even if that were the case, how the heck can I manage to use all these programs if they keep interferring with the weather station?
I have a pda, but the software is not installed on this pc, have not used it for 3 years.
The guy who wrote all of the utilities for sysinternals (now hired at Microsoft) wrote a program that you get download that can show you which application (if any) has taken control of the port.
I have run in to situations where the registry is corrupt, the port appears to be in use but it is not. In my case, I used to restore point to recover the port. You may be able to change the COM number in hardware manager or re-install the drivers to recover it, I am not sure.
It really is pathetic that there is no way to easily find out which resource (like serial ports) have been claimed by applications under Windows.
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Do you happen to know where I could get a copy of this neat little program?
I am not sure what else to do, I even tried uninstalling Cumulus and reinstalling it. No use.
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Do you happen to know where I could get a copy of this neat little program?
I am not sure what else to do, I even tried uninstalling Cumulus and reinstalling it. No use.
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb545027.aspx (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb545027.aspx)
I believe you want Process Monitor.
In the serial box within the program, enter 'serial'.
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Ok thank you so much! So I am assuming I have to wait until it finishes loading everything? It's sitting at about 1 million right now and only like 65% complete. When it is finished I can search for "serial" right?
And anything specific I should be looking for in that list when it's finished?
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Ok thank you so much! So I am assuming I have to wait until it finishes loading everything? It's sitting at about 1 million right now and only like 65% complete. When it is finished I can search for "serial" right?
And anything specific I should be looking for in that list when it's finished?
If you download then install, there should be a search box or search option.
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Sure there is, but what would I be looking for specifically after I type in serial, what should come up? I did it already but all that came up was like Explorer and the processes kept running and adding more stuff to the box, have no idea what I should be looking for...
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Sure there is, but what would I be looking for specifically after I type in serial, what should come up? I did it already but all that came up was like Explorer and the processes kept running and adding more stuff to the box, have no idea what I should be looking for...
You are trying to find the process that has your port open.
try searching for serial0, serial1, ect, those are internal identifiers that Windows uses to enumerate it's serial ports.
As an example, use Hyperterminal to open a port, then search for serial0, serial1, etc, to see if you find hypertermial in the list.
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Don't mean to sound stupid or anything, but when it comes to this sort of indepth computer monitoring, I am not an expert.
I did a search, I am not finding much.
Google update
svchost.exe
outlook
msn
serial_access_num is what is behind some of them.
I also found msn com3. but it doesn't make much sense to me...
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Don't mean to sound stupid or anything, but when it comes to this sort of indepth computer monitoring, I am not an expert.
I did a search, I am not finding much.
Google update
svchost.exe
outlook
msn
serial_access_num is what is behind some of them.
I also found msn com3. but it doesn't make much sense to me...
For search, enter this within the Process Monitor that you downloaded:
\Device\Serial
Then if a process is listed, write down the Process ID number. In task manager, select the View menu, then select columns, check Process ID.
Find the process in the task list that matches what you find in Process Monitor (assuming something came up).
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Still nothing.
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Ok folks, today I completely removed the UPS software from my system, rebooted, still didn't work. So I unplugged the cable from the base unit, rebooted and then wa-la! Success! It is finally working again, and it is uploading data to my website, pws, and wunderground as it was 3 days ago.
The issue is now, what will happen when I go to reboot again, will it grey out the software? We shall see as I will reboot later on.
When I get the usb to serial I have my concerns that the UPS won't work or the onboard serial port will have problems again or conflicts. I hope to have that sometime next week, but the quality of that maybe is not very good as I only paid 6 bucks for it..
No one answered before, but where is the history kept in Cumulus? Heavyweather had a history file that recorded and saved the data to your PC, I am not finding that in Cumulus.
Thank you all for your help.
Could someone make me a banner to use for forum postings?
Thanks!!!
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Re: Cumulus History
Cumulus => Help => Help Topics => Data Log File Format => The Data Log Files
Extensive, Editable files.
FIRST SENTENCE
Cumulus creates two sets of log files, these are kept in a folder called data within the folder where you installed Cumulus.
FWIW
George
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Yeah, the old help function sure does come in handy doesn't it? :oops:
Thanks :grin:
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Actually glad you asked here and I was able to help. I was getting ready to ask the same general question on the Cumulus forum a few months ago when someone beat me to it. Poor Steve, the mild mannered, Scottish gentleman that he is, just went off. It seems that he had answered the question several times and at least two of us had missed it. Steve speaks the King's English and I talk good ol Southern Red Neck American and sometimes the two can pass right by as strangers in the night.
It's always good to check the help files and then to gently ask if still not found.
FWIW
George
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I am running Heavy Weather Beta 2.0 and would like to try Cumulus. I get an error when I try to start Cumulus, here is the actual error:
Cannot open the serial port. Another application may have opened it. Close the other application and restart Cumulus, or try rebooting. It may help to disconnect the station from the serial port while Windows is loading. Error message: SetupComm function failed (win error code: 1)
I am connecting my station to my PC via serial port, not using a USB/Serial adapter. I have tried to exit Heavy Weather, restart my PC, but the error still appears when starting Cumulus. I even disconnected the station as stated in the error message, but the error is still there. I have posted this problem on the Cumulus forum, but have not yet received any responses.
Anyone have this issue? Any suggestions?
Thank you,
Tom
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I am running Heavy Weather Beta 2.0 and would like to try Cumulus. I get an error when I try to start Cumulus, here is the actual error:
Cannot open the serial port. Another application may have opened it. Close the other application and restart Cumulus, or try rebooting. It may help to disconnect the station from the serial port while Windows is loading. Error message: SetupComm function failed (win error code: 1)
I am connecting my station to my PC via serial port, not using a USB/Serial adapter. I have tried to exit Heavy Weather, restart my PC, but the error still appears when starting Cumulus. I even disconnected the station as stated in the error message, but the error is still there. I have posted this problem on the Cumulus forum, but have not yet received any responses.
Anyone have this issue? Any suggestions?
Thank you,
Tom
Try assigning the serial port another number, and enter that number into cumulus.
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Thanks!!!! That worked! =D>
Tom
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Hi all, I know this thread is a bit old, but I am running into similiar problems now on a new machine.
I bought a new computer late last year and since that time I have not been able to use it with my Lacrosse station with Cumulus... My new machine does not have any serial or parrelle ports, it is all USB. So in order to get the station connected I bought a serial card, it didn't work, so I bought an adaptor from Serial to USB, that isn't working either. I am getting a com port in use error no matter which port I choose. I retraced all the steps from the posts above with the new machine and updated Cumulus software but to no avail. Is there anyway to get this to work? I would really like to start getting data downloaded again.. Thanks
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are you sure you have selecting the com port number assigned to the USB to serial adpaptor showing in device manager, ports
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The problem is this machine has like a godzillion usb ports. And all of them are full currently except the front panel. I have no idea how to assign this particular serial port adaptor to a usb port in the device manager.. I thought once you plug in the usb it will auto assign, because all the other devices have no issues...
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you need to make sure you have installed the driver for the USB to serial adaptor
then the com port assigned to it will show in device manager, ports
and you set to use that com port number
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also, after trying Brian's suggestions, if your USB-to-serial adapter is still not working you may try one suggested by other members that has proved itself to work in this configuration, IOGEAR GUC232A USB1.1 to Serial/ PDA Converter Cable. (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812107906) I've heard stories about compatibility problems between LaCrosse stations and many USB/Serial adapters and possibly your new P.C. won't work with your existing adapter.
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there was no driver that came with the serial to USB cable.. Can I just download one somewhere? Years ago I used it and never needed a driver for it.. and the new one I bought that is supposively compatible with Win 7 didn't have any software with it...
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Ok here is the latest. I found my newer serial/usb cable, plugged it in and Win 7 recognized it immediately as com port 9. So I went into cumulus and it actually started downloading everything, so I thought... It locks up for awhile and then finishes, but when it finishes there is nothing in the program, and it does not display anything... It's just all 0's. any ideas what is happening? It seems to be connected right and it seems to be communicating with the base unit, but it is not grabbing the numbers, or cumulous update cannot work well with this unit. I haven't used the newer version yet so... and i dont have a copy of the old one. Any ideas what could be going on here?
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Does this newer USB cable work with just your PWS console and Heavyweather program only? If it won't work like this then chances are it won't work with other programs like Cumulus or WuHu either. Just to establish a known good pc-to-console connection first before introducing other variables/programs.
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If this cable were to work it should just automatically start downloading data from heavyweather right? plug in and there it is right? If that is the case then it doesn't work...
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For those of you who are having the same problem you may not need to buy the expensive IOGear Cable.
I bought a PowerSync USB2.0 to RS232 (UMC-918) And it solved the problem for $12! It's been going for 24 hours without any issues at all. It works with cumulus but does not work with Heavy Weather, perhaps because I didn't remove cumulus first. I prefer cumulus anyway as it gives more details, Heavy weather has never worked for me and I don't really like it anyway.
Anyway problem solved for now. Thanks!