Vag Com/Vista com ports problem

**shmikes** · 12-06-2008,03:40 PM

Hi everyone,

This is my first post, sorry its such a complicated one!

I have purchased a USB OBD2 cable off ebay to have a play around with the vag com shareware (409-1).

I am using vista and running the program as administrator and in xp compatibility mode.

The cable drivers installed ok but on COM12. Therefore, following the directions on this site I changed this to COM1.

Everytime I try to test the com ports I receive the message "Port already in use", or if I remove the cable I get "Port does not exist".

I have tried changing to ports 1-4, ensuring none of them are in use but still receive the same message.

When pressing the LED's option I get the message "Port status: Inaccessible".

I have tried all this while connected to my car but still with no joy.

I am sure this is a vista problem as on xp it says "Port status: OK" without the cable even being plugged in.

Can anyone help please?

Thanks in advance

Mike

**elPaulio** · 12-06-2008,04:59 PM

Hi Mike,

You say you are connected to the car, is the ignition on?

Paul

**shmikes** · 12-06-2008,05:14 PM

Hi Paul,

Yes the engine was running, I think the problem I have is vag com isnt recognising the interface even though the com ports match.

I can run the same setup on xp and even with the interface unplugged, the test reports the port status is ok. Unfortunately this doesnt happen on my laptop which has vista.

Thanks for your reply

Mike

**brentos2004** · 12-06-2008,05:54 PM

Hi,

I had a similar problem when I installed VAG COM in vista where it installed on to COM6. I changed the port to COM2 which was nt in use and it worked fine. Not sure why its not working on COM1 if it definetly isnt showing as being used in device manager. I cant see what would be hogging all of the COM ports. Have you tried uninstalling VAG COM and all the cable drivers and reinstalled?

**mluton** · 12-06-2008,06:13 PM

What USB to serial drivers did you use ?

**shmikes** · 12-06-2008,07:28 PM

Originally Posted by brentos2004

Hi,

I had a similar problem when I installed VAG COM in vista where it installed on to COM6. I changed the port to COM2 which was nt in use and it worked fine. Not sure why its not working on COM1 if it definetly isnt showing as being used in device manager. I cant see what would be hogging all of the COM ports. Have you tried uninstalling VAG COM and all the cable drivers and reinstalled?

Yes I uninstalled and even tried installing directly to the desktop as I had read somewhere about restrictions in the program files directory.

One thing I should mention actually, when selecting the com port through device manager, even though it shows it as not in use, i still get the message "This port has been opened by another application. Renaming the port may have an unpredictable effect on the other application. Do you wish to continue?". After selecting yes it changes and displays the new COM number. Did you receive this message?

Also, if I test a com port through vag com that is not in use i get "Port does not exist".

Originally Posted by mluton

What USB to serial drivers did you use ?

I'm using the ones supplied on the disc from ebay, is there an alternative?

**mluton** · 12-06-2008,07:30 PM

I used this one for XP, but states its vista compatible:
http://www.ftdichip.com/Drivers/VCP.htm

**brentos2004** · 12-06-2008,08:21 PM

I only got the port does not exist error on COM1 for some reason but worked fine on COM2. I let vista install the driver for the cable itself as this worked alot better than using the driver supplied on the cd. I would definitely try that first and see if that sorts it out.

**shmikes** · 12-06-2008,10:01 PM

Originally Posted by brentos2004

I only got the port does not exist error on COM1 for some reason but worked fine on COM2. I let vista install the driver for the cable itself as this worked alot better than using the driver supplied on the cd. I would definitely try that first and see if that sorts it out.

Spot on brentos!

Had to uninstall the driver through device manager and made sure I selected the option to delete the driver aswell. Then after connecting the cable again, vista downloaded and installed its own set of drivers. I then changed the com port to COM2, and voila, the test in vag com reported port ok!

Thanks a tonne for everyones help, would never have solved this on my own!

I've already managed to find some fault codes! Although not sure if thats such a good thing.

Mike

**brentos2004** · 13-06-2008,05:51 PM

Spot on brentos!

Had to uninstall the driver through device manager and made sure I selected the option to delete the driver aswell. Then after connecting the cable again, vista downloaded and installed its own set of drivers. I then changed the com port to COM2, and voila, the test in vag com reported port ok!

Thanks a tonne for everyones help, would never have solved this on my own!

I've already managed to find some fault codes! Although not sure if thats such a good thing.

Mike

Glad you got it sorted Mike

Brent