JSI Tip 3947. Error messages caused by incorrect serial port configuration?

Micrsoft Knowledge Base article Q112584 contains:

Error Messages Caused by Incorrect Serial Port Configuration

SYMPTOMS

If you configure a serial port incorrectly in the Ports option of ControlPanel (JSI NOTE: or Device Manager), there are several error messages that may appear in Event Viewerafter you restart the computer. For example, you may receive the followingerror message:

The specific error message that appears depends on which configurationparameter is incorrect. The three main sources of serial errors are InputOutput (I/O) address conflicts, hardware interrupt (IRQ) conflicts, andconfiguring serial ports that do not exist.

CAUSE

Incorrect I/O Address

Suppose you have added a serial port or serial device to your computersince you first installed Windows NT. You can use the Advanced Settingsdialog to configure the port. In the Advanced Settings dialog, you canconfigure a COM port number, a Base I/O Port Address, and an InterruptRequest Line (IRQ). If you assign an I/O address to the new COM port, andthat I/O address is already assigned to another COM port, one of thefollowing error message appears in Event Viewer after you restart thecomputer:

where x and y represent the number of the COM port. This error messageappears even if you create a duplicate entry for the same COM port, thusmaking x and y the same number.

Incorrect IRQ Setting

On ISA and EISA computers, COM1 and COM3 both use IRQ 4, and COM2 and COM4both use IRQ 3. Thus you can configure COM1 - COM4 to their respectiveinterrupts, but if you configure one of these COM ports to an IRQ beingused by any other device, an error message appears. Suppose, for example,you configured COM4 to IRQ 5, and you have a bus mouse on the system alsoconfigured to IRQ 5; the following error message appears in Event Viewerafter you restart the computer:

There will be an entry with this format in Event Viewer for each of theconflicting devices.

After identifying the IRQ conflict, Event Viewer then displays anotherwarning about using the COM port in question:

COM Port Doesn't Exist

An error message appears in Event Viewer if you attempt to configure a COMport that physically does not exist on the system. Suppose you went to thePorts option in Control Panel and added a COM3 port, when in fact youphysically only have COM1 and COM2 on the system. The following errormessage appears in Event Viewer the next time you restart the computer:

This error message means that the system will delete the I/O address entryfor the non-existent port in the Windows NT internal I/O port addresstable. The entry for this non-existent port will still exist in the Portsoption of Control Panel and in the appropriate key of the Registry.

RESOLUTION

To clear these messages from Event Viewer, do one of the following:

Using the Advanced Settings dialog box clears the error messages in manycases, but in two cases you need to delete certain entries in the Registry:

In the first case, the Advanced Settings option will not be available. Inthe second case, no facility exists in the Ports dialog box to delete theentry for the non-existent COM port.

WARNING: Using Registry Editor incorrectly can cause serious, system-wide problems that may require you to reinstall Windows NT to correct them. Microsoft cannot guarantee that any problems resulting from the use of Registry Editor can be solved. Use this tool at you own risk.

To delete the false entry from the Registry, use the Registry Editor(REGEDT32.EXE) to find the following key:

   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSet       ServicesSerialParameters 

The Parameters key lists one or more subkeys listed as Serial10000,Serial10001, and so on. Check the DosDevice value to find which subkeyrepresents the non-existent COM port. Then, highlight the subkey for theerroneous serial port and choose Delete from the Edit menu.