Serial (Player Only) Device Connection Error in one instance but not another

Support, Troubleshooting, & Help
,
1

I am getting the following intermittent error when trying to connect the same printer

Error:

image
image1431×893 102 KB

Success:

image
image1436×898 117 KB

Port Info:

image
image1679×1048 106 KB

Trigger Details:

image
image1323×758 62.4 KB

Any ideas?

2

Intermittent 500 errors on Serial Connect usually point to the Windows Player not getting a stable COM port for the device. Since the same printer sometimes connects and sometimes fails, it’s likely that the port is either shifting, briefly busy, or already taken when the trigger runs.

A few quick checks that normally narrow this down:

  1. Open the Tulip Player developer console and run a manual Serial Connect to see if the failure happens outside the app.

  2. Confirm the COM port stays the same each time by checking Device Manager or using List serial devices in the Player.

  3. Make sure the Connect step does not fire while the printer is already connected.

  4. Check that no other program on the PC is holding the COM port.

If you can share the console output from a failed attempt, it should show whether the port was missing, busy, or already in use.