Windows detects USB GPS as Serial Ballpoint - please suggest permanent modification to prevent any serial mouse detection

You're right, this does NOT seem device specific - I'm experiencing a similar problem on a different system!

 

Upon the bootup, my system opens the COM port for 'actual' serial communication with other MPU-based devices.

However the system sometimes pops up a COM port error message, and I see this 'microsoft serial ballpoint' from my device manager - I did tried to disable it, but it comes back.

 

What I found so far is, if I force to transmit '0000' to the COM port while it is booting up, the Windows will detect this 'microsoft serial ballpoint'. Haven't found any way to prevent this though..

I also tried playing with 'EWF' options which did not help.

 

Have you discevered any fixes that works from your experience?

Usually, disabling the Mouse works -  however, it seems a bit quirky - you can not always find the Mouse in device manager to disable it, etc.  Some brands of serial ports have special software to disable this - try Digi.com - seems to work.  We are gradually switching to using Serial to Ethernet converters - kind of an expensive way to solve a problem, but acceptable for the industrial environment we work in.

If you have questions, you can phone me at Pacific Industrial Scale Co. Ltd. in Richmond, BC, Canada - ask for Bill - I'll be away from the office the week of Jan 16....

Au contraire - this is a MICROSOFT problem - not a general USB problem.

I have been dealing with this problem for a long time - NSIL Mike, I hope you will not take these remarks as offensive, since your remarks have some useful insight in them...

 

First, this problem occurs on ordinary, on board serial ports.  If you attach many different models of Weigh Scales which communicate via RS232, the computer MAY determine that this is a mouse.  This has been a problem since Windows 2000, but prior to Vista, Microsoft released a patch called "ComDisable" which cause the Operating System (Windows), not to detect the device as a Mouse.

Secondly, with respect to USB specifications - Microsoft is major player at the USB organization - they would have provided and approved the specs for determining that a device is a mouse.

Third - and this relates to point one - GPS, weigh scales and a number of other serial devices are mistaken by the OS as specific types of mice (Ballpoint mice, early model MS Mice) - NOT ORDINARY MICE!  Also, the weigh scales that we work with do not communicate bi-directionally - they just send data to the PC.

Fourth:  The outputs from serial weigh scales considerably PRE-DATE Microsoft Mouse outputs!

1. No, I don't think this is a general USB problem either.

My only point is that USB enumeration is the likely culprit here... whether that be an OS issue, or device issue.

2. My comments do not apply to 'ordinary on board serial ports' by the way... only USB and not RS232.
3.  They may have participated in the enumeration specs for a generic mouse, but that doesn't relate to the USB issue here, where a functionally different device (and again I am talking only about the GPS devices on USB) is somehow messed up.
4.  Makes my point about the difference between generic and specific USB drivers.  The driver defines the capability of the device, what commands it may reply to, and how it provides data.

I certainly do not take your comments as offensive.

This behavior is so similar to the behavior of Windows with respect to devices attached to  "ordinary serial ports" that I think it must be essentially (or even exactly) the same problem.  I have not heard of this problem on non-Windows computers either

• so unless I've missed this in one of the posts.

As best I can tell from these posts and others I've read, the problem occurs on USB ports that are emulating a serial device, so my thought at this point is that its not really USB enumeration that is the problem is the serial port enumeration that is the problem.  Obviously, this is a conjecture on my part.

Bill,

In my experience (I write weighbridge software) I think everytime that I have seen this...

the scale was set at 4800 baud.

Curious if you could confirm setting a higher baud rate dodges this issue in regards to scales.

I think I have a solution. Download Franson GPSgate client, which makes virtual com ports. Install it. Then plugin your GPS dongle (mine comes from eBay called: GPS usb receiver). It will show these problems mentioned above with the MS serial ballpoint. Just disable this nasty ballpoint under device manager and leave it like that. Have a look under device manager which new COM port was added, because of plugging in the GPS dongle. Remember it. Then to check if all works download freeware hyperterminal or another COM port terminal program, which checks data coming in from serial ports. In hyperterminal I opened COM port 19 (shown for my GPS in device manager) and, voila, lots of NMEA GPS sentences are rolling in :) Try it your self and post the result here!