How to do robust SerialPort programming with .NET / C#?

Question

I\'m writing a Windows Service for communication with a Serial Mag-stripe reader and a relay board (access control system).

I run into problems where the code stops

Answer 1

@thomask

Yes, Hyperterminal does in fact enable fAbortOnError in SetCommState's DCB, which explains for most of the IOExceptions thrown by the SerialPort object. Some PCs / handhelds also have UARTs that have the abort on error flag turned on by default - so it's imperative that a serial port's init routine clears it (which Microsoft neglected to do). I wrote a long article recently to explain this in greater detail (see this if you're interested).