Could not access port driver. Error code:2

Here is a copy of posts on the plasmacam owners help forum.

I had a new computer with windows 7 built for my table. I had the lava 5v Parallel PCI/LP port installed. When I try to initialize my table I get "Could not start port access driver error code :2". Can someone help me with this?
Thanks
Kerry

Either you are not logged in to Windows with an administrator account or the driver for the LAVA card is not installed.
George

Logged in as administrator.
In device manager, in LPT1, address lpt1, I get the message "Device working properly"
In device manager, in LPT1, in Drivers tab, it shows Lava PCI Parallel.
Autodetect not working.
Kerry

Get the I/O range from the Device Manager and enter it into the software Hexadecimal address. Set the Filter Resource in Port Settings in Device Manager to Always use an interrupt and Enable legacy plug and play.
George

In device manager, the i/o range states "BF00-BF07". I type that in instead of the "378" that is currently in base address (hexidecimal)?
Thanks
Kerry

Well, that didn't work.
Kerry

Any help with this would be greatly appreciated!
Kerry

Had a good long talk with John Derby this evening. Very interesting guy and very friendly. We couldn't find a fix for the problem. Went through all the fields and settings. A friend had another Lava PCI board and I swapped them out just to see if that was the problem. I got a big window with a check mark that said "installation success". Tomorrow I'll try to find an old parallel port printer and try to narrow it down to a plasmacam problem or a windows problem.
Information is power
have fun
Kerry

Took the computer to a professional. He installed an update to windows and connected the machine to a printer with a rs232 port. Printer connected immediatle and printed some stuff off. Brought computer back and connected to machine. If I run the machine in windows 95 compatability mode, it gets by the "serial port driver not found", but will not connect to the machine.
95 and 98 are the only compatability modes that get past "unable to access port driver"

i_r_machinist,

Where are you located? If you are close to me, I can come over and probably get your computer working. I would have to be AT the computer though, since there are far too many variables to troubleshoot over the phone. I am in Franklin, KY. 42134 area. I really don't need much of an excuse to go for a motorcycle ride!

Thanks for the offer Joe, but its a lonnnng way from Franklin, KY, to here in North central Texas! 120 miles southwest of Dallas. From what I have read, it is a crap shoot with 3.11 and windows 7. Some will run and some will not. I found a new hard drive on ebay for $29 with nwindows xp already installed. I"m going to give that a shot. I'll keep documenting. Nothing in windows 7 that I need.
Thanks for the offer
Kerry

Sometimes you have to access the bios on the windows start screen by pressing one of the function keys in order to (F3 on my dell). George from plasma cam's tech support has helped me with this. Give the tech at plasma cam a call and they can walk you through it on the phone (when this happen to to they walked me through and I was cutting within 5 minutes!)

JAG

Update,
My 12 year old dell dimension 4550 with windows 7 will connect to the plasma cutter in a heartbeat. It has a built in rs232 card. I've heard thru back channels that plasmacam version 3.11 is a crap shoot as far as working on version 7. So, I ordered a seat of windows xp pro for 64 bit. Loaded on a new hard drive. Same problems. I'm going to try a different pci card from startech. Lava card gives me a port address of bf00-bf07. When George found out I was not running Design Edge, he kinda checked out.
have fun
i_r_

I can ride my Gold Wing to north Texas. i am headed to CommieFornia for Memorial Day weekend. Can you wait a couple of weeks? I should be leaving here on or about the 15th of May.

This is a reply I got from the guys at Lava.

Unfortunately Microsoft prevents modifying IO resources for all add-in PCI cards, and has done so since Windows 2000.

I've attached an slightly more in depth description of the issue and potential workarounds that can be done, however at the end of the day it sounds like the software you're using will never be able to find the Plasmacam when it is connected to an add in PCI card.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

- Nils

==========================================
Legacy I/O Addressing of Serial and Parallel Ports

As of Windows 2000 Microsoft removed any ability to modify the I/O Resources of Add-In PCI cards in order to increase system stability. There is actually nothing that we can do from our end to fix this issue since its a hard limitation of the Operating System.

Note: This doesn't mean that our cards won't work in newer versions of Windows, it just means that any older Hardware, or Software that assumes to find a Com or LPT Port at a fixed hardware address (i.e. 0x3f8, 0x2f8, etc) may be unable to locate the port in newer versions of Windows.

Potential workarounds to resolve the issue:

1. Contact the original hardware or software manufacturer using the port
– This is not a new issue and some manufacturers have addressed this issue through, free or paid, upgrades and patches.

2. Locate a system with an ISA Bus
- ISA Cards can be manually configured to use a legacy I/O Address by jumpering the card and are not effected by this issue.

3. Locate a system with a Serial or Parallel Port on the motherboard
- Ports on the motherboard are usually located at legacy addresses, and if not Microsoft does allow the modification of these port resources

4. Down grade the PC to an version of Windows prior to Windows 2000 (i.e. Win 95/98)

Joe,
Thanks for the offer, but May 16th we will be in Hico for the Texas State steak cookoff and festival. If you are in the neighborhood it's a great time and great food. It's about an hour southwest of DFW. We will have a booth for the first time.

After pulling up a diagram of the motherboard, I noticed it had an lpt1 port. I had an old lpt to rs232 connector cable and plugged it in. Did a hardware update in device manager and it installed the device at i/o 378. Hooked the table to the computer and set the plasmacam parameters to I/O 378 and hit autodeterct. After a bit, the computer showed, "Unable to connect to machine"

In the motherboard manual it shows the pin mapping for the lpt as the following:

Plasmacam sells a great brand spanking new PC that has everything that you need to connect to the machine perfectly. It has two ports, comes with cables and I believe that it runs windows 7.

If you that already have a PC (even a brand new one) that you are wanting to use, you can easily get the port and cables directly from Axxon Computer Corp (highly recommended by Plasmacam Tech support).

This is the exact item that you need and it WILL work on any windows based operating system (even Window 8)...Basically, what LAVA is saying is not the whole story.

Attachment 280062

PCIe, PCI Express, Universal PCI I/O Adapter Cards (2014)

Axxon is the worlds biggest manufacturer of these things and the have a long history of making their ports work with any Windows operating system that seems to come out.

Good luck,

JAG

I am getting a port access driver error and I know that from previous years that the machine worked but now it doesn't just wonder if it's a cable issue or is it more of a port problem?

First thing I would do would be to call plasmacam's tech team. They helped me out HUGE with something similar to this. They can walk through a few things that will definitely get to the bottom of it.

In my case, some sort of power saving mode on windows that I must of accidentally turned on cause the port to be turned off. Plasmacam's tech tech walked me thru the steps on turning it back on in the BIOS on my PC and I was up and going within 3 minutes.

A good quality port and cable are definitely a good idea. If for any reason it ends up being either one, plasmacams' tech department will tell exactly where to order one or if you need them to then can also quote you on one of their PCs that are made for the plasmacam system.

Definitely call the guys over in plasmacams tech department and you'll be cuttin' in no time.

Good Luck Brother!

JAG