Topic: WL for Windows Can No Longer Find VP2

[NorthNJwx]

Hi all,

Ever since my dedicated weather PC (running Win10) installed some overnight Windows updates, WeatherLink for Windows (6.0.5) has been unable to connect to my VP2 console (6312) via two separate Davis dataloggers, as explained below.  I typically run WxSolution software (alone, without VirtualVP), which has also been unable to connect to my VP2 since this occurred.  To clarify, when I say "unable to connect to my VP2," I mean that the software simply does not recognize that a station is physically connected to the computer via the datalogger.

I rolled back those Windows updates, but that did not solve the problem.

Here are additional pertinent details:

1) I had been using the same VP2 console (6312) with a serial Davis datalogger and a serial-to-USB converter since 2008 with no issues until this occurred.

2) Thinking there may be an issue with the 16-year-old 6312 console and/or the old serial Davis datalogger, I decided to swap those out for a spare Vue console (6351) and a spare Davis USB datalogger I am lucky enough to have.  This did not solve the problem.

3) I also tried uninstallling and reinstalling both WeatherLink for Windows 6.0.5 and the Silicon Labs CP210x drivers.  This also did not solve the problem.

4) The datalogger shows up in the Device Manager as Silicon Labs CP210x USB to UART Bridge (COM5), so my PC recognizes that it is plugged in and assigned a virtual COM port for it.

5) In WeatherLink for Windows, on the "Communications Port" page of the setup walkthrough, when I try to Auto Detect the virtual com port, it stops at COM5 for a while -- seemingly acknowledging that something is there -- before then going through the remaining potential virtual COM ports and, ultimately, failing to detect the station.  I get a "No station could be found.  Try once more to make sure" error message.

6) Similarly, in WxSolution, COM5 appears as a connection option (indeed, as the only virtual COM port available), but the software cannot find the station there.

I am at a total loss now.  Admittedly, I am not great with respect to the tech end of things; I am much more fluent regarding matters related to the weather itself.  Does anyone have any ideas as to the cause of the problem and any potential remedies?

[johnd]

My first thought would be to check that the baud rate settings are still correct. Normally there is no need to worry about these as the default or automatic settings seem to work fine. But who knows if an update somewhere might have changed a parameter to a different/incompatible value. Two checks to do:

1. That the console is set to 19200. (No reason at all why this should have changed but very easy to double-check)

2. On the virtual com port driver that Windows is using for your serial-to-USB utility. This should be accessible via Device Manager on Windows, on eg a Properties tab for the driver though the details may depend on the driver.

[NorthNJwx]

My first thought would be to check that the baud rate settings are still correct. Normally there is no need to worry about these as the default or automatic settings seem to work fine. But who knows if an update somewhere might have changed a parameter to a different/incompatible value. Two checks to do:

1. That the console is set to 19200. (No reason at all why this should have changed but very easy to double-check)

2. On the virtual com port driver that Windows is using for your serial-to-USB utility. This should be accessible via Device Manager on Windows, on eg a Properties tab for the driver though the details may depend on the driver.

Thank you for the quick response!  Your post reminded me to check the console baud rate and, upon entering setup mode, I realized that I could not even reach the baud rate screen -- informing me that there was no console-datalogger connection.  I powered off the console, reinserted the datalogger, powered the console back on, and I am now back in business. WeatherLink for Windows and WxSolution are now both able to communicate with the station (separately, because I am not running VirtualVP anymore).

Perhaps my problem was that the physical console/datalogger connection was not perfect or perhaps I accidentally inserted the datalogger while the console was still powered on the last time I tried.  Thanks again for the assistance.