Icom 7300 Com Port and USB Audio CODEC Fix
Hey guys! I'm at Devils Tower and operating Parks on the Air (POTA). My IC-7300 hit a SNAFU, so I wanted to write about it. The com port and USB Audio CODEC went missing in Device Manger. The next time this happens I can look back and see what the fix was. I had this trouble before and didn't write it down. Here's my USB Audio CODEC fix and it fixed my com port too.
Of course this will work with any Icom radio using the USB driver download.
The Problem
I am using Windows 10. So basically the trouble started when I was using Log4OM, WSJT-X and Gridtracker. I minimized those while talking to some Hams on the Cormac CQ 100 program. While chatting, WSJT-X showed an error "USB Audio not connected", "Soundcard input error" or something of that nature. I closed it and the logging program as well as Gridtracker. Later when I went back to open everything no joy. After opening Device manager I saw my Com port was missing as well as the Audio CODEC. That was the problem. It was not recognizing my Com port or Audio CODEC.
I tried everything including reinstalling the USB driver from Icom. Still nothing and in Device Manager the device (Com port and Audio CODEC) was showing up under "USB Serial bus controllers" and it had a warning icon attached to it. It was not working.
Prelude
I uninstalled the faulty device (remember, it had a warning symbol next to it) from Device Manager and then disconnected the USB cable. After which I went to add/remove programs and uninstalled the Silicon Driver Program. Just search for "silicon" in the search field of add/remove programs and you'll find it. I restarted the computer for good luck, hi hi.
Intermission
I was just getting ready to activate Devils Tower for Parks on the Air (POTA) and didn't want to wait. I started with phone (USB) on 20 Meters. So my logging programs would work I had the CI-V cable and I used it for rig control. Handy little cable. I made a bunch of phone contacts on 20 Meters. Yeah buddy!
Radio: IC-7300, Mic: SM-50, Antenna: Hi-Q Mobile 5/80 and 100 watts.
USB Audio CODEC Fix
I tried everything including reinstalling the USB driver from Icom. Still nothing and in Device Manager the device (Com port and Audio CODEC) was showing up under "USB Serial bus controllers" and it had a warning icon attached to it. It was not working.
Eventually I went to the Microsoft website and downloaded the "Windows 10 upgrade 9252" file. It's under the Windows 10 May 2021 update heading. Click the "Update Now" button for the file. When I ran it Windows started a download of the update. It took a while, but eventually finished and told me I needed to restart the computer, which I did. On rebooting it did an upgrade and restarted a couple of times, but after about ten minutes or so, the Windows login screen came up.
Finished
I was able to reinstall the Icom USB driver and then connect the cable to my IC-7300. In device manager, eveything was as it should be. I was back up and running WSJT-X. I made another 20 or so contacts on FT-8 and now I can move onto PSK31.
Thank You
Lesson learned: Write this stuff down. The stroke I had messed with my memory and I am getting older.
Thanks and I hope this helps someone else. If you have had a similar problem, how did you fix it?
Thank you for subscribing to this website. You can also follow me and my travels on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube. See my spots on POTA.
73,
Rich, K0PIR
Sources:
NOTE: Do this fix at your own risk. I don't see how you could lose.
Some photos from Devils Tower. Look for my spots on the POTA website.
God Bless you Rich! And thank you for taking the time to write it up. Will try that a little later and see if it is my trouble as well.
Thanks for instilling HOPE!
73
HOWIE WA2AGA
It’s good to hear from you Howie. Thank you for commenting here and I hope it helps. Take care and best 73!
While I do not use Log4COM or GridTracker, I operate almost only FT8. This morning I saw WY7DT on 6 meters and tried to contact them. I don’t have a beam and I’m sure they did not hear me. Then this message popped up and I wondered if there was any correlation??? I don’t have the skills you have to debug an application but, I wonder if your trouble might have been caused by a difference between the above programs and Windows 10. It seems like that to me but then I would never have thought to take the steps you did. Goog job in getting it all back together so you could get back on the air.
73 Bob Smith WB6ODR
Good to hear from you Robert. I have had problems in the past with Win10 just like others. IDK if there’s any correlation. The driver can get corrupted, but I think normally doing an uninstall and a reinstall would fix it. That’s not the case sometimes. Reinstalling Win10 is an option, but this (May update) fixed it and it didn’t take as long.
Once I reinstalled the May 2021 update, a few hours later it was ready to restart and update again. Still working good for now.
Thanks for commenting here you questions are valuable to many.
73 and good DX!
Thanks for the report Rich. Glad you got it all working again. If this problem occurs again, what would be your first actions? do you think doing the Win 10 update first would have resolved the problem? Thanks Bill, AA4R
Good to hear from you Bill and thanks for commenting here. Great question. I would first try the uninstall and reinstall of the latest Icom driver. If that doesn’t work go back to the May 2021 update. It didn’t take as long as reinstalling Win10.
Your questions here are valuable to many so thank you.
Best 73 and good DX!
Rich, how in the world did you know to look up that Windows update and that it was what would fix the problem? GL and 73, really enjoy your postings, Rod/w7zrc
Hi Rod,
Nice to hear from you and good question. It looked like a Win10 problem and not the driver since I had already cleanly reinstalled the driver. Long story short, instead of reinstalling Win10 I took a short cut, hihi. I got lucky. I’ll remember this for the next time it happens.
Best 73!
Thanks for all the hints on the ICOM radios, and for the descriptions of the parks and places you experience. I enjoy reading them. Stay healthy, 73, Lionel K6CEQ
Hey Lionel,
Good to hear from you and thank you for commenting here. I appreciate the input and happy to hear it. Getting out is something I can do now, so I am going to enjoy it while I can, hi hi.
Best 73,
Rich, K0PIR
Hello thanks for posting this.
jeff mayfield
ke7ace
i also have a weird issue with radio.
when I turn on my 7300 it says device not recognize.
I have done ft8 once everything seemed to work
but my logging program n3fjp doesn’t work
well some features it works
but doesn’t bring in the frequency and band
i will have to check on this update. have a good day
jeff
Hi Jeff,
It’s nice to hear from you and thanks for posting your comment here.
This post was from last year, but the links still work.
GL and very best 73,
Rich, K0PIR