Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!uunet!zephyr.ens.tek.com!gvgpsa!gvgpvd!andyp
From: andyp@gvgpvd.GVG.TEK.COM (Andy Peterman)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac
Subject: Re: "The communications port is busy...???"
Message-ID: <1514@gvgpvd.GVG.TEK.COM>
Date: 19 Mar 90 03:17:31 GMT
References: <1990Mar18.233326.29903@Neon.Stanford.EDU>
Reply-To: andyp@gvgpvd.GVG.TEK.COM (Andy Peterman)
Distribution: usa
Organization: Grass Valley Group, Inc.; PVD
Lines: 28

In article <1990Mar18.233326.29903@Neon.Stanford.EDU> commons@Sunburn.Stanford.EDU (Peter Commons) writes:
>I tried running Versaterm from my Mac SE at home the other day- to connect via
>modem to the campus network and got a "sorry- the communications port is busy"
>error. No matter what I tried, Versaterm refused to try to dial out. The
>same problem occurred when I ran another piece of communications software.
>
>Not knowing what was wrong, I tried all the typical things- restarting the mac,
>then booting off of a floppy... I even reset the PRAM. Nothing worked, though.
>
>What does this mean and how do I clear the communications port? My most typical
>modem port functions are modem communications and MIDI, but recently I got 
>Prodigy. Does anyone know what might have caused this? 


You got bit by the MIDI/Chooser bug.  This problem occurs most often
with the MIDI Manager, although I've seen it occur with older MIDI
programs.

To fix things, start up your MIDI program (or any MIDI Manager program)
and then quit from it.  Then, open and close the Chooser.  You should then
be able to run your other communications programs.

To avoid this happening again, do not open the Chooser while running
MIDI programs. Apple seems to know about this problem and has said that
"...future versions of the Chooser may correct this problem."  Gosh!!

	Andy Peterman