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Octatron
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Joined: 01/04/2015
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 29

Posted: 03:37pm 05 Aug 2026

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I have been programming Micromites and Picomites on my Win10 laptop for years and was doing so last week with no problems. This week it won't connect. For instance using Tera Term I can't select the serial ports and no Coms ports show up! I suspect Microsoft has snook in an update. I might add that the USB ports do work if I plug in a keyboard for instance. I'm a bit puzzled, any ideas?
I also have a Linux laptop and looked into running MMedit on it but it looks complicated and at my limits with Linux.

PhenixRising
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Joined: 07/11/2023
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 2043

Posted: 04:09pm 05 Aug 2026

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This happened to me (ages ago) with only the PicoMite. Tried lots of stuff to no avail except for the easiest thing (typical of me

) which was to connect to a different USB hub port. Everything came to life and I could even revert back to the original port.

Octatron
Newbie

Joined: 01/04/2015
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 29

Posted: 05:46pm 05 Aug 2026

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I tried different USB Ports but to no avail.

EDNEDN
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Joined: 18/02/2023
Location: United States
Posts: 304

Posted: 06:48pm 05 Aug 2026

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Sometimes the USB ports get confused on Windows machines and get turned off.

A hard power cycle is worth trying if you haven't done that yet.

Volhout
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Joined: 05/03/2018
Location: Netherlands
Posts: 6018

Posted: 07:36pm 05 Aug 2026

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Octatron said I have been programming Micromites and Picomites on my Win10 laptop for years and was doing so last week with no problems. This week it won't connect. For instance using Tera Term I can't select the serial ports and no Coms ports show up! I suspect Microsoft has snook in an update. I might add that the USB ports do work if I plug in a keyboard for instance. I'm a bit puzzled, any ideas?
I also have a Linux laptop and looked into running MMedit on it but it looks complicated and at my limits with Linux.

Try powering off the PC (and its built in root hub).
It happened to me after too many re-connects of the same device.
Bug in the usb hub firmware.

Volhout

PicomiteVGA PETSCII ROBOTS

Martin H.

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Joined: 04/06/2022
Location: Germany
Posts: 1494

Posted: 11:01pm 05 Aug 2026

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Hi Octatron
Yes, that sounds like a typical Windows problem.
It often helps to make Windows forget the previous settings:
________________________________________
Disconnect the Picomite USB Cable
then open Windows Device Manager as administrator (devmgmt.msc)
Activate "Show hidden devices"
Delete all unused USB Devices
then Plugin the PicoMite.
________________________________________
Good luck!
Cheers
Martin
Edited 2026-08-06 09:13 by Martin H.

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lizby
Guru

Joined: 17/05/2016
Location: United States
Posts: 3849

Posted: 11:24am 06 Aug 2026

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How do you know which are "unused"?

PicoMite, Armmite F4, SensorKits, MMBasic Hardware, Games, etc. on FOTS

Martin H.

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Joined: 04/06/2022
Location: Germany
Posts: 1494

Posted: 12:48pm 06 Aug 2026

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Hi Lance,

Quote How do you know which are "unused"?

if they only appear when you display ‘hidden devices’, you can usually delete these devices.
The devices labelled ‘BOOT’ indicate the state when the ‘Boot’ button is pressed, i.e. as a USB drive.
The JTAG devices are used for the serial USB connection.

Your list looks as though your Windows has registered every Pico on every possible USB port.
It’s not a Pico problem, but a Windows problem.
This method also works if Windows has got itself in a bit of a mess with the USB drivers for other devices, such as mice or USB sticks.(The fact that they simply go unrecognised)

Don’t worry – when you plug the Pico back in afterwards, the driver will be reinstalled, hopefully with the correct settings.
Good old Microsofts Plug and Pray
Edited 2026-08-06 22:54 by Martin H.

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lizby
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Joined: 17/05/2016
Location: United States
Posts: 3849

Posted: 03:05pm 06 Aug 2026

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Martin H. said It’s not a Pico problem, but a Windows problem.

I'm not having any problems--I just looked for "unused" as you suggested, and was surprised by what I saw. (But I've programmed several dozen PicoMites.)

PicoMite, Armmite F4, SensorKits, MMBasic Hardware, Games, etc. on FOTS

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