"serial" command not working on Windows Vista 64 bit

Hey all. I've worked with matlab on my XP computer, doing various serial communications things. I recently got a new computer with Vista, and for some reason, the "serial" command does not seem to be working, I get the response:

??? Error using ==> serial.serial at 57 The serial port object is supported on the Solaris, 32-bit Windows and 32-bit Linux platforms only.

It's very odd as http://www.mathworks.com/help/techdoc/ref/serial.html explicitly says that the serial command DOES work with 64bit windows. So what am I doing wrong? My code is simply:

comm = serial('COM8','BaudRate',9600, 'Parity', 'none','DataBits',8,'StopBits',1); fopen(comm);

Thanks!

Answer 1

[Walter Roberson]

Which MATLAB version are you using? The reference to Solaris suggests that you are using an older version, as Solaris has not been supported in several releases. The documentation you reference is for the newest version; it could be that in the MATLAB version you are using, it was not yet supported.

[ZK]

The version I am using is r2008a.

[Walter Roberson]

It appears that R2009a is required for that. See

http://www.mathworks.com/help/releases/R2009a/techdoc/index.html?/help/releases/R2009a/techdoc/rn/brvak9c-1.htm

[ZK]

Is there any way to update my r2008a to allow for it?

[Walter Roberson]

The only supported way would be to upgrade to R2009a or later. Mathworks seldom provides patches to add new functionality to older releases.