Installing a USB-to-Serial adapter for Gamry Hardware

Computers with Serial ports are become increasingly rare. However, many research instruments still rely on this very simple communication protocol. The USB-to-Serial adapter addresses the problem of the physical connection, but software must still be manually configured to interface with the device by a COM port number.

When installing a new USB-to-Serial adapter one should verify the COM port number that is assigned to it by accessing the Windows Device Manager and checking under Ports (COM & LPT) section. You may find that the COM port for your adapter changes if you plug it into a different USB port. The Gamry Framework software cannot detect this change automatically and the COM port number in the Gamry.ini file must be updated if this happens. Furthermore, the Gamry Framework software cannot accept a COM port number higher than 16. Should this occur, please contact Gamry Technical Support for a procedure to remove non-existing devices from the COM port list. It is advisable to choose a physical USB port for your adapter and leave it in the same port continuously to prevent reassignment of the COM port number.