The Windows Device Manager has an option to display "Hidden" devices. The default behavior is for this feature to be off. If it is enabled after a new installation of Microsoft Windows, a serial device with a yellow exclamation mark will be displayed under the "Non-Plug and Play Drivers" hardware category.
During installation, Microsoft Windows detects a serial port. The default for the system is to use this port for Remote Access console redirection. While Windows detects the port initially, it does not complete the enumeration and the port appears as a "Non-Present" phantom device. The configuration flags are set to complete the enumeration the next time the device is detected on the system. The port is fully functional as a Remote Access serial connection for headless operation. To enable the port for use with external serial devices, it is first necessary to disable the Remote Access console redirection in the BIOS Setup utility. Once this is done, the port will finish enumeration and will be displayed in the Device Manager under the "Ports (COM & LPT)” hardware category.
Impacted OS: All supported Microsoft Windows editions
Impacted Hardware: All server modules (X8400, X8420, X8440)