[RTTY] 4-port serial card for Windows 8.1 results

[Joe Subich, W4TV]

Don,

Sorry the Syba card gave you problems.  My 2S1P card uses the same
MOSChip set and was found/installed automatically when I built by
new Windows 8.1 based system.  My recommendation was based on the
total lack of problems with that card.

73,

    ... Joe, W4TV


On 4/25/2014 8:06 AM, Don AA5AU wrote:
> Great info again, as usual Joe.
>
> Thanks,
> Don AA5AU
>
>
>
>> ________________________________
>> From: "Joe Subich, W4TV" <lists at subich.com>
>> To: rtty at contesting.com
>> Sent: Thursday, April 24, 2014 11:08 PM
>> Subject: Re: [RTTY] 4-port serial card for Windows 8.1 results
>>
>>
>>
>> Part of the problem with installing drivers in Windows 8/8.1 is the
>> new hybrid sleep (fast boot) capability.  In essence, Win 8/8.1 closes
>> any running applications then saves the operating system and hardware
>> drivers image to disk just like hibernate.  When rebooting that old
>> image is reloaded complete with all the drivers that were previously
>> installed - even if the hardware changed.  If the previous image had
>> drivers for hardware that was no longer present or drivers that were
>> to be replaced, that conflict can cause page faults and other (BSOD)
>> errors.
>>
>> When installing new hardware the best thing one can do is to hold the
>> shift key while shutting down Windows 8/8.1 before making any hardware
>> change, install any new drivers, then restart Windows 8/8.1 before
>> trying to run anything new.  Shift-shutdown and restart both force a
>> complete (fresh) reload of the operating system and all drivers.
>>
>> Another little known tip ... when installing new USB devices, always
>> disconnect any previously connected devices and restart before
>> connecting a new USB device for the first time.  This allows drivers
>> for the new device to be installed with a "clean slate" and prevents
>> older drivers and drivers from hardware no longer present from
>> interfering with the installation of a new device.
>>
>> 73,
>>
>>      ... Joe, W4TV
>>
>>
>> On 4/24/2014 11:36 PM, Don Hill AA5AU wrote:
>>> Thanks to everyone who sent information on the serial cards they were using in their Windows 8 computers. I purchased a new Dell
>>> 3847 desktop PC with Windows 8.1 and it arrived this past Monday.
>>>
>>> On the serial card, I decided to go with a suggestion from Joe, W4TV, on the Syba model SD-PEX15011 for three reasons. One is that
>>> Joe is usually good about suggesting hardware (I purchased two USB sound cards he recommended and they work great), secondly because
>>> this particular 4-port board is the sister of the 4-port board I have been using in my XP Pro machine for many years, and thirdly
>>> because of the price. It is cheaper than any of the others. Although the manufacturer is listed as Syba, it says "Best Connectivity"
>>> on the box.
>>>
>>> I purchased the SD-PEX15011 from Newegg on Monday and it arrived today.
>>>
>>> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815124075
>>>
>>> I installed the board this evening using the instructions that came with the board. I'm sorry to report that nothing worked as it
>>> was suppose to but in the end, for reasons I can't explain, all four ports magically started working.
>>>
>>> The instructions said to install the board, turn on the computer and Windows would recognize it - it did not. Windows did not like
>>> the board being installed and kept giving an error that it had to shut down and restart because "page fault in non-paged area".
>>>
>>> I decided to remove the board and install the driver on the disk that came with the board, then re-install the board. There were
>>> Windows 8 drivers on the disk. Windows still did not like the board being installed. On occasion it would give me the "page fault"
>>> error and restart, but I did notice that COM 1 was showing up and the other ports were also showing in Device Manager but Windows
>>> didn't know what they were. I tried re-installing the driver but it wasn't working. I went online to find updated drivers. The
>>> drivers on the Syba website were actually older than the ones on the disk and I didn't see any for Windows 8. I did find a set of
>>> instructions for Windows 7 that suggested to "Disable Driver Signature Enforcement". I finally found instructions on how to do this
>>> in Windows 8.1 because the instructions for "Disable Driver Signature Enforcement" on Windows 8 are totally different. I am finding
>>> out that Windows 8.1 is different than Window 8 in many ways.
>>>
>>> Rebooting after "Disable Driver Signature Enforcement" helped keep the PC from wanting to restart. I re-installed the drivers as
>>> Administrator but the ports did not show up in Device Manager. So I switched over to my non-Administrator account for no good reason
>>> other than to check the Device Manager; lo and behold, all four ports showed up in Device Manager.
>>>
>>> I went ahead and tested all four ports and they all work for radio control and FSK/PTT. I restarted the computer several times and
>>> have not gotten the "page fault in non-paged area" error and everything seems very stable.
>>>
>>> I don't know if I would recommend this board to anyone other than to someone who has time to play with it to get it to work. I think
>>> it's going to be OK, but if you want to spend a little more money, maybe something like a StarTech would install better. I don't
>>> know.
>>>
>>> I will give it the smoke test in SPDX RTTY this weekend. I'm just not a fan of USB-to-serial adapters for FSK. Especially with the
>>> BARTG 75 coming up on Sunday. Definitely need a legacy COM port for 75 baud on a homebrew transistor FSK interface!
>>>
>>> 73, Don AA5AU
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
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>>
>>>
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