What is the ‘Gen Mod’ that Sealevel recommended?

‘Gen Mod’ is an abbreviation of ‘Generic Modification’ and it ensures that the COM port assignments on a USB serial adapter are always the same, regardless of which physical serial adapter is connected to the USB port on the host computer. It is ideal for environments where a single computer is used to communicate with multiple USB serial adapters in different locations, such as using a laptop to connect with USB serial adapters at different testing sites.

Each USB serial adapter has a unique product identifier (i.e., hardware serial number) that allows the computer to recognize the adapter and store configuration settings, including COM port assignments. These settings are remembered even if the USB serial adapter is removed. The unique identifier allows the computer to tell the difference between two different USB serial adapters of the same type. Each USB serial adapter connected to the computer will have different configuration settings and COM port assignments. The ‘Gen Mod’ makes the host computer think that different USB serial adapters are the same single device. Therefore, the configuration settings and COM port assignments will be identical across multiple USB serial adapters.

Why don’t products ship with a generic product identifier by default? The primary caveat with the ‘GEN Mod’ is that you are limited to using one USB serial adapter per computer. Two USB serial adapters of the same type will not be recognized correctly by the computer. Additionally, software configurable USB serial adapters are not compatible with the ‘Gen Mod’ due to their unique driver requirements. Please contact support@sealevel.com if you have additional questions regarding the ‘Gen Mod’.