6.a. Determining the Port Name

To connect to a COM port, you usually have to know the name of the port.

In Windows, the port name will be something like “COM4” and you can determine the port name by selecting the Wixel in the Wixel Configuration Utility and looking at the “Port Name” property displayed below. You can also find out the port name by looking the “Ports (COM & LPT)” list in your Device Manager.

Windows Tip: Besides having names like “COM5” and “COM6”, the virtual COM ports provided by the Wixel also have names like “\\.\GLOBALROOT\Device\USBSER000” and “\\.\GLOBALROOT\Device\USBSER001”. These names are assigned sequentially whenever a device with a virtual COM port is plugged in. If you only have one device with a virtual COM port plugged into your computer, the name “\\.\GLOBALROOT\Device\USBSER000” will usually be assigned to it. These names will work with most programs that allow you to specify arbitrary port names.