Pololu Simple User Manual
Page 14
If you use Windows XP and experience problems installing or using the serial port drivers, the cause of
your problems might be a bug in older versions of Microsoft’s usb-to-serial driver usbser.sys. Versions
of this driver prior to version 5.1.2600.2930 will not work with the Simple Motor Controller. You
can check what version of this driver you have by looking in the “Details” tab of the “Properties”
window for usbser.sys in C:\Windows\System32\drivers. To get the fixed version of the driver, you
will need to install
If you do not want Service Pack 3, you can try installing Hotfix
KB918365 instead, but some users have had problems with the hotfix that were resolved by upgrading
to Service Pack 3. The Simple Motor Control Center and SmcCmd will work even if the serial port
drivers are not installed properly.
After installing the drivers, if you go to your computer’s Device Manager and expand the “Ports (COM & LPT)” list,
you should see the Command Port for the Simple Motor Controller. In parentheses, you will see the name of the port
(e.g. “COM5” or “COM6”). If you expand the “Pololu USB Devices” list you should see another entry for the Simple
Motor Controller.
Pololu Simple Motor Controller User's Guide
© 2001–2014 Pololu Corporation
3. Getting Started
Page 14 of 101