no com port on my laptop

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i have my gs components installed and i can get things going on my desktop computer but not my laptop. i have a 2 week old fc40. my laptop doesn't have com ports. or so it says. they are clear on my desktop. i tried to create a com port but that didn't get recognized by the gs software. i am using windows vista with ie8. would an upgrade to windows 8 make a difference? i spent all night last night trying to get the com port on my laptop. help. thanks.
 
dteca said:
i have my gs components installed and i can get things going on my desktop computer but not my laptop. i have a 2 week old fc40. my laptop doesn't have com ports. or so it says. they are clear on my desktop. i tried to create a com port but that didn't get recognized by the gs software. i am using windows vista with ie8. would an upgrade to windows 8 make a difference? i spent all night last night trying to get the com port on my laptop. help. thanks.


Looking at the specs for PC Ground Station http://www.dji.com/product/pc-ground-station/spec it seems to imply that you need an older RS-232 connection. Most laptops do not have these any more. However, you can create one by purchasing a USB to RS-232 connector (you'll need to know whether you need a male or female connector at the serial end of the cable). Just do a quick search on Amazon.com and take your pick.

Vista is a pretty outdated OS now and it's a little bit more fiddly to set up additional devices. Whilst it's not a necessity to upgrade to Windows 8 or 8.1, support for drivers and external devices is greatly improved and very much more in the plug and play environ.

A quick search found the following http://www.phantompilots.com/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=13442

hopefully that will help you a little.

Bmews
 
The GS has a built in usb-com adapter
Have you installed the proper drivers?
go to device manager and have a look under "com ports"
 
zenith, thanks for your reply. the usb does not seem to act as a com port. i tried all the usb outlets on my laptop. in my frustartion, i installed and uninstalled and re-installed all driver and software on the disk at least twice. and the device manager doesn't show any com ports. i even went to the store and looked on a new window 8.1 laptop and it doesn't show a com port either. i even searched the internet about the problem, found how to add a com port, did that, so i thought. and then the device manager showed a com port. i then started gs and it did not recognize the com port. i did the uninstall re-install thing again. no luck. i spent hours.

BMEWS, thanks for your reply. i like the idea of using the usb to rs-232. evidently dji doesn't ship the usb to rs-232 anymore. the ship a usb cable with one end having a double usb. i looked at youtube for a gs unboxing, knowing i had seen them, and they showed exactly what was in my box. and no rs-232. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOznpDCbQRU so i will look for the usb to rs232 in the store, if not, i have already put one on my wish list at amazon. i will problably just order from amazon. thanks again. i will update you when i have more.
 
If you've got the usb cable you won't need to buy one. It's a case of just setting one of the com ports within Vista.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8Ob8QoF_18[/youtube]

whilst the video refers to another product the process is more or less the same.

You MUST follow the instructions in the user manual (page 8) and ensure that you have followed the order in which the software must be installed. There is most likely the correct drivers already on the supplied CD for the usb connection. Bear in mind that a dual port cable will require a laptop which can power the device. Not all laptop USB ports support powering externally attached devices.

Even in windows 8 you can go into device manager and find the Coms & Ports setting which you can then edit.

Persevere, and use the settings similar to the ones on your desktop machine which you say you've already successfully configured.

Hope this helps

Bmews
 
upon further investigation of my laptop, i have no place to put a rs-232. my laptop has 3 usb, 1 vga, 1 ethernet, 1 esata, and 1 hdmi place for connection. is one of these going to work? i have uninstalled and reinstalled way too many time. i got bored and took the props of my phantom off and set up a gs flight on my desktop. it worked!! i just need a com port!! what can i do? when i add a port in the windows firewall it does not show up in the device manager.
 
dteca said:
upon further investigation of my laptop, i have no place to put a rs-232. my laptop has 3 usb, 1 vga, 1 ethernet, 1 esata, and 1 hdmi place for connection. is one of these going to work? i have uninstalled and reinstalled way too many time. i got bored and took the props of my phantom off and set up a gs flight on my desktop. it worked!! i just need a com port!! what can i do? when i add a port in the windows firewall it does not show up in the device manager.

ok. let's try and do this methodically.

USB to rs232. If you have the USB cable supplied by DJI (it has two usb sockets at one end and a single one at the other) then you have the right cable. You just need TWO USB sockets on your laptop. That's the physical side of it sorted.

You talk about uninstalling and reinstalling. What is it that you're doing? Try and tell us step by step.

I did a search for "how to add com port windows vista" took 5 seconds.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Q5T39yNs4U[/youtube]

if it works on your desktop. Just take 10 minutes to look at the com port settings (if you can't find them, you're looking in the wrong place, because they're there). Use those as the basis for setting the com port on your laptop.

You've obviously managed to get it to work so you know the cable is ok, the phantom is ok and the software is ok. It's just the com port settings you need to resolve on your laptop.

Bmews
 
the uninstall i do is go to control panel, programs and hardware, search for the related program and uninstall. other files i go to download folder, find the origin, and delete.
i have tried the create a com port. in fact i created 2 com ports, com 1 and com 3. i restart the laptop and the com ports are not in the device manager. so i go to the windows firewall where i created the com ports and there they are.
my next thought is to upgrade to windows 8.1. thinking that will give me a fresh windows os.
 
dteca said:
the uninstall i do is go to control panel, programs and hardware, search for the related program and uninstall. other files i go to download folder, find the origin, and delete.
i have tried the create a com port. in fact i created 2 com ports, com 1 and com 3. i restart the laptop and the com ports are not in the device manager. so i go to the windows firewall where i created the com ports and there they are.
my next thought is to upgrade to windows 8.1. thinking that will give me a fresh windows os.

ok so you're uninstalling the GS software. If you're struggling with com ports etc in vista then Win 8 or 8.1 should be easier for you. Only in, that the OS should have an easier time recognising the drivers etc. It should also ensure that you have the correct version of .NET installed too.

Bmews
 
well i upgraded my laptop. wow! what a hassle. anyway a new version of windows 8.1. would you believe i had the same problem???? i downloaded everything i was told to in the video. i even checked out the device manager. i still could not get the software to recognize a com port. then i had a brainstorm. on my desktop i started my phantom life and installed the drivers for the quad itself. i didn't do that on the laptop. i did that and all is great!! now i get to fly with no hands!! i just have to wait for the wind to die down! it is supposed to be in the 100's soon, no wind then. so i didn't have to upgrade. i just had to install the phantom drivers on the laptop. thanks to all for your help.
 
Well the wind finally died down and i ran the gs. it works just like i was hoping. i just have to learn all the in and outs of the software. i am not sure if i willl be able to use my fc40 camera with it. i lost the signal on the camera and then i just kept it off. i am going to work around that anyway. i also have to learn how the phantom takes off. exactly how it gets to the first wp. i thought i was clear and it found a tree. in my mind it shouldn't have hit the tree. oops. practice.
 

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