Unable to Open Com5 - Port in use or doesn't exist

[Immrec]

Over the past few months (Can't pinpoint the exact date it started) I have noticed that PageGate reports that it is unable to open com5 - Port in use or doesn't exist.

To fix the issue, I've rebooted the server (Win2008 R2 64bit) and all is well. I've checked all connectors and only #6 is using com5, don't use GetSerial or GetTAP, so they're not interfering with #6.

So far I found the following in the log for Connector 6;

28/12/2014 10:44:01 AM ========================================
28/12/2014 10:44:01 AM Start stored message check
28/12/2014 10:44:01 AM Setting communication parameters (115200,n,8,1)
28/12/2014 10:44:01 AM Attempting to reset modem
28/12/2014 10:44:01 AM Sent:AT<CR>
28/12/2014 10:44:03 AM Received:AT<CR><CR><LF>OK<CR><LF>
28/12/2014 10:44:03 AM Modem reset
28/12/2014 10:44:03 AM Sent:AT+CMGF=1<CR>
28/12/2014 10:44:04 AM Received:AT+CMGF=1<CR><CR><LF>OK<CR><LF>
28/12/2014 10:44:04 AM Text mode entered
28/12/2014 10:44:04 AM Sent:AT+CMGL="ALL"<CR>
28/12/2014 10:44:05 AM Received:AT+CMGL="ALL"<CR><CR><LF>OK<CR><LF>
28/12/2014 10:44:06 AM No messages
28/12/2014 10:44:06 AM Attempting to hang up modem
28/12/2014 10:44:06 AM Sent:AT<CR>
28/12/2014 10:44:07 AM Received:AT<CR><CR><LF>OK<CR><LF>
28/12/2014 10:44:07 AM Modem hung up
28/12/2014 10:45:02 AM ========================================
28/12/2014 10:45:02 AM Start stored message check
28/12/2014 10:45:02 AM Setting communication parameters (115200,n,8,1)
28/12/2014 10:45:02 AM Attempting to reset modem
28/12/2014 10:45:03 AM Sent:AT<CR>
28/12/2014 10:45:06 AM Attempting to reset modem
28/12/2014 10:45:06 AM Sent:AT<CR>
28/12/2014 10:45:09 AM Attempting to reset modem
28/12/2014 10:45:09 AM Sent:AT<CR>
28/12/2014 10:45:12 AM Attempting to hang up modem
28/12/2014 10:45:12 AM Sent:AT<CR>
28/12/2014 10:45:16 AM Attempting to hang up modem
28/12/2014 10:45:16 AM Sent:AT<CR>
28/12/2014 10:45:19 AM Attempting to hang up modem
28/12/2014 10:45:19 AM Sent:AT<CR>
28/12/2014 10:46:03 AM ========================================
28/12/2014 10:46:03 AM Start stored message check
28/12/2014 10:46:03 AM Setting communication parameters (115200,n,8,1)
28/12/2014 10:46:06 AM Unable to open COM5 - port in use or doesn't exist
28/12/2014 10:47:01 AM ========================================
28/12/2014 10:47:01 AM Start stored message check
28/12/2014 10:47:01 AM Setting communication parameters (115200,n,8,1)
28/12/2014 10:47:01 AM Unable to open COM5 - port in use or doesn't exist

Fortunately, we have two GSM modems connected & I've set Connector 6 to failover to Connector 1, so all our message are still being sent out, but that means Connector 1 has to process 100% of the messages which is not ideal.

If anyone has some thoughts on tracking down the cause, I would be greatly appreciative.

For the Development team, would it be possible for a future version to include an alert system, that if PG detects a problem (ie unable to open a port or no messages received via SMTP for X minutes) it sends an email alert to Sys Admins alerting to the problem?

thanks in advance
Barry

[Tech Support]

Hm... if the modem is periodically becoming unresponsive, I wonder if the issue is that something else is accessing the modem or if the modem hardware is experiencing a fault and needs to be reset. If you check the Windows Event Viewer Application and System logs around the date/time of each conflict with COM5, do you see any warnings or errors?

Also, the next time this happens, try shutting down Connector 6 so no part of PageGate is trying to access that COM port, then try to use Putty or Hyperterminal to pass a basic AT reset request to the device to see if you can access it.

_________________
Tech Support
support@notepage.com
http://www.notepage.net

[Immrec]

Thanks,

Have checked System & Application logs, all clear, only the stopping & restarting of the modules at midnight.

Will try Hyperterminal next time the port stops responding and see what results I get.