Important Note RE Vista Drivers -
The VISTA drivers come in a zip (compressed) file. Although the subfolders say Win9X and WinXP, they are the VISTA drivers.
Please ensure that all the folders and subfolders are full expanded and on your desktop as expanded files before runnig the driver setup utility that comes with the drivers. If you attempt to run the setup program without fully expanding the files and folders, the setup utility will fail to see the drivers resulting in the drivers not getting properly installed.
Tech Notes – RE “Cannot Open COM PORT”
FAQ
Q. I keep getting a message, “Cannot Open Com Port X (X=com port number selected for Mandylion Cradle) ” or “Com Port Busy” or “Token Not Responding”. What is Wrong?
A. These messages generally indicate that there is a Com Port conflict on your machine. This situation can be easily remedied by following the steps below. Com Port conflicts are generally caused by a previously installed USB and serial port driver that does not “release” the Com Port when the device they support has been disconnected or is not currently in use. The Policy Master Installation Utility polls all ports during the installation process and attempts to install itself on the lowest numbered port that the system says is available. Unfortunately, physical devices such as the Mandylion token, generally need to be configured to one of the first 5 Com Ports in the System. Above Com 5, most systems only have “virtual” Com Ports with no mapped connection to a physical port (USB or Serial) on the device itself.
Here are the steps to clear this conflict and install the Mandylion Cradle on an operating Com Port. This is a two step process; 1) to “force” the Mandylion driver to be accepted in a lower Com Port position; and 2) making sure the policy master config file has been updated for this change.
Step #1 - “Force” a Driver to be Accepted
In your control panel, select and open the “system” control panel. Once open, select the device manager tab. The following window will appear:
Select and expand the “Ports (COM & LPT)” to show the USB Serial Port Device (the Mandylion Cradle):
Double click on the USB- Serial Port (Com x) device icon and the following properties dialog box will appear:
Select the “Port Settings “ Tab:
Then Select “Advanced” Button:
In the lower left corner of the “advanced window”, the current com port number will be displayed in a “pull down” selection box. Via the “pull down”, change the com port to com port 3. (If problems still persist after reboot, select com port 4 then com port 2 in that order in a process of elimination to find an available port.)
Click Ok. A dialog box will appear warning that you are attempting to override an existing device driver that is “currently” using the com port selected. Click OK once again to override and close out of the Device Manager completely.
Step #2 – Ensuring that the Policy Master Config File is Updated to Reflect the Change.
From the Program Files Folder, Policy Master Subfolder, select and double click on the “Policy Master Config File”. (It is the 1k conf settings file and not the Policy Master. Exe file).
The file’s contents should be opened up in notepad and look similar to the following:
Manually change the Com Port number in the last line: “Port Name=Com3” to the Com Port number you have just selected in Step #1 . Save the file and exit.
Reboot.
Upon Reboot, Launch Policy Master and inspect the Com Port in the Options Menu. It should now show the Com Port you force selected in Step 1.
Q. In my Options Menu of Policy Master, under the serial ports submenu, it indicates that the program is not associated with a Com Port or the Com Port selected is greater than Com Port 5. If I attempt selecting Com Port 2-5, it will not let me.
A. The above situation is a symptom of a Com Port Conflict. It is easily resolved. Follow the 2 Steps in the previous FAQ concerning “ Cannot Open Com Port”.