Unable to load AXE027 drivers

When the cable was plugged into the PC I did not get a new hardware found window. The Device Manager however does show AXE027 PICAXE USB. I cannot find any executable drivers, all I see are .dll, .sys, .inf, etc.

Welcome to the PICAXE Forum.

It may be the AXE027 is already installed.

For a manual driver install, from Device Manager, select the AXE027, then Update Drivers, select the location of the folder which contains the .dll, .sys and .inf files. Note this should be the top level directory; the one containing the 'amd64' and 'i386' sub-directories.

Also note that the installation is a two-step process. If the second step is not completed then there will be issues in accessing the installed AXE027 cable.

I tried the update driver from Device Manager as you suggested. It reported that the latest driver was installed, no further action was performed. So the second step is not taken, no COM port assigned.

Are there any devices in Device Manager shown as "Not Installed" or similar, or with exclamation marks in yellow triangles alongside them ?

I had a similar problem a couple of weeks back when I upgraded to Windows 10, which required a complete re-install of all my software. Here's the thread.

Found the cable in Device Manager which not have a yellow ! mark, but loaded the driver. It took a long time, but is now listed as COM6. Thanks so much for the help. Only now there is a new problem with hardware not found on COM 6.

There is a fault finding FAQ which can be found here -

http://www.picaxe.com/FAQs/Fault-Finding

The most likely reason for Hardware Not Found is the need for a Hard Reset.

Before doing that, open Terminal to see if the PICAXE is sending "I'm your PICAXE <type>" or similar. Try a 4800 baud rate if M2 or older PICAXE, 9600 baud if an X2. Try them all to see if you get anything shown.

Wiring Error, my bad. Success! Thanks All.

My AXE027 cable shows up with a mouse icon in the control panel. I can no longer communicate with a picaxe chip.

LEH said:

My AXE027 cable shows up with a mouse icon in the control panel. I can no longer communicate with a picaxe chip.

Click to expand...

Windows sometimes misidentifies serial ports, including the AXE027, as a mouse or pointing device. This is most likely to happen if the cable is connected, the PICAXE board is powered on, is sending SERTXD or DEBUG information.

The quick solution is to turn the PICAXE off, unplug the AXE027 USB at the PC end, re-boot, then plug the cable back in.

This article has details on disabling serial port mouse detection on Windows -

http://www.taltech.com/support/entry/windows_2000_nt_serial_mice_and_missing_com_port

Had to reboot twice but cable is now not listed as a mouse. Control panel and picaxe app show the cable properly as com4. But I am still not able to talk to the device, hardware not found.

Check that you have selected COM4 for the download, the cable is connected to the PICAXE board and the PICAXE board is powered on.

It may be that the PICAXE needs a Hard Reset. Turn the PICAXE board off, wait a few seconds, initiate a download, wait for the "Conecting to hardware..." message, then turn the power back on. That should make it accept the download.

Windows now shows cable as USB device on com 4. Still unable to get chip to talk. Tried holding reset button until after starting check for device connected. Was able to program device last week.

LEH said:

Windows now shows cable as USB device on com 4.

Click to expand...

It may be that you need to manually install the AXE027 drivers again. It is not entirely clear what may have happened seeing as it was working last week but it seems Windows may have become somewhat confused.

The best approach would be to program your PICAXE on another PC which allows download with a simple diagnostic program -

Then, once you have the AXE027 installed and seen as COM4, open the Terminal, select the appropriate baud rate, 4800 or 9600 baud, and see if the "I'm alive!" is reported. If so then the AXE027, the PICAXE and communications are working, and downloading should then be possible.

If not then it will require further investigation. If you could post a screenshot of what your Device Manager shows that may help determine what the problem and solution may be.

Sorry now working. Chip was plugged in upside down, now fried.

LEH said:

Tried holding reset button until after starting check for device connected.

Click to expand...

Which PICAXE type are you trying to program ?

Some boards may have a Reset button for older 18-pin PICAXE chips, but newer 18M2 chips do not have a hardware reset function, require power-cycling like other M2 chips to perform the Hard Reset.

LEH said:

Sorry now working. Chip was plugged in upside down, now fried.

Click to expand...

Okay; thanks for letting us know.

@LEH, are you sure the chip is dead, they are very forgiving. If its got its legs in the air, its passed on.
My axe027 showed as a mouse for two years win7, it worked fine. Not sure what it is now, win10

Regards, Bear..