Need help to program IC-F4001 with CS-F3000 1.1

[htf]

Hello everyone!

I have been using IC-F4001 for a few years now. I had a local dealer who programmed them at first, but he closed his business a while ago.

2 years ago I ordered a few more IC-F4001 from the US (I am in Canada), along with a OPC-478 cable (rs-232, not usb).
I have been successfully using the programming software CS-F3000 1.1 at that time and I easily cloned them.

I just ordered 4 new transceivers (same ones, IC-F4001) and received them last week. Somehow, it is just not working, I am unable to read or program them. I've been trying anything I could think of, I've read all what I could find on forums. I tested my old transceivers and it is not working either (but it was working in 2014...) I don't get it... What am I doing wrong? Why was it working before and not now?

If anyone could give me a hint, I'd be so grateful!! I am not very familiar with programming, but I generally can reach my aim with a bit of work

Here are the details:

- transceiver model: IC-F4001
- programming software CS-F3000 1.1
- cable: OPC-478 (rs-232, not usb)
- OS: Windows 7

When I try to read the transceiver, I get this error message:
"No answer from transceiver. Check the following:
-The COM port settings.
-Cloning cable connections.
-Transceiver power is on."

-My transceiver is definitely on.
-I don't see what could be wrong with the cloning cable, it looks in perfect condition, it is clean and it has been working in the past.
- As for the COM port, I have tried all the ports which were listed in "device manager"(1-3-4-10-11-12-13-14-15-16-20-21-22). I get the same error message for all of them. (I don't see however that any of them says "icom" in device manager)
-I tried both normal speed and high speed with all these ports, same error message...)

Am I supposed to download a driver? (Icom driver seems to be only for usb OPC-478)?

Thank you in advance for your help! I'd love to be able to use the new transceivers

HTF

 

[LakeMan2]

Most likely a Windows 7 update either updated your driver, or a update made Win 7 incompatible with your old driver or something along those lines.

This commonly happens with cables that use Prolific chips to do the level shifting. The latest Windows 7 driver is not compatible with a lot (most?) Prolific cables out there. You can Google it, but the bottom line is that, in that case, you have to manually roll back to an older driver.

I don't know what chip your cable uses or what driver it needs. Under device manager you should see a section labeled "Ports (COM & LPT)". You COM ports and drivers should be listed there. In my case I have an entry that says "Prolific USB-Serial Comm Port (COM3). I realize you are not using a USB to serial, but you should have a entry there for whatever driver you are using. If you see a Prolific entry, that could be your issue.

If you can't see one, or figure out what driver and COM port you should be using, I suppose you could always re-install the CS-F3000 software and it should re-install everything.

 

[htf]

Thank you for your reply LakeMan2!

I have been uninstalling and reinstalling the programming software. No success, same error message.

Here is a screen capture of my com port list in device manager: https://www.dropbox.com/s/atw4klzbos7qp26/com port.png?dl=0

Not sure if it can be of any help...

I am not seeing any port telling me which is the programming cable...?

I'll try checking with the Windows 7 updates.

Thanks again, I really appreciate.

HTF

 

[LakeMan2]

Looking at your screen capture, I suspect that "Communications Port (COM1)" is possibly your radio driver and port. Your problem is that you also have BT Port on COM1. You generally don't want more than one thing per COM port.

What may have happened is since you last used the programming software, you installed something else that is using all those COM ports and in a sense is blocking the radio software from using, likely, the COM1 port. I don't know what the BT Port is in your case, although I suspect it is related to Bluetooth. Some Bluetooth program or driver may be creating a bunch of virtual COM ports.

There are a couple of things I would try. First I would go to Communications Port (COM1), right click on it, select properties, then the Port Setting tab (you might have to select Advanced on the port setting tab depending on your driver). See if you can select a different, unused COM port (maybe COM6 or COM7) for the "Communications Port" entry. If you can, then go into your radio software and select that same port and see if that works. Or you could go into BT Port (COM1) and see if you can manually change it. Either way the goal is to get Communications Port (COMx) onto a COM port by itself and set the radio software to that same port.

Edit: One way to possibly see what teh COM driver i s or is to right click on it, select properties, then the Driver tab and look at teh "Driver Provider" line. If Communications Port (COM1) says the provider is ICOM, then that makes it easy. It might not if they used a generic driver though.

If that does not work, the second thing I would do is figure out what is causing all those BT Port entries and temporarily disable it. Reboot and see if you can get down to one or two entries under COM & LPT. Whatever is left should be your radio driver and you have got rid of potential COM port conflicts. At that point you could also try to re-install the radio software then incase the BT Port stuff blocked the radio software driver for attaching to a port correctly.

Having said all that, I suspect that getting Communications Port (COM1) on its own COM port (or getting BT Port off COM1) will do the trick.

 

[htf]

Hello LakeMan2!!!!

Thank you SO much for your reply, time and explanations. It has been extremely helpful.

Knowing that it had to do with COM1 port configuration, I decided to start with the easiest for me, which was to bring back the computer to a 2 years ago restore point to test if it would work. and.... Yes!! It did the trick! I was able to read and and write the 4 new transceivers in less time than it took me to write this message )) Joy !!

Again, THANK YOU!