COM 1 problems

I am working on a Compaq Armada 7362DMT. The laptop had a com port erorr so i replaced the system baord. The new board from Compaq had the same problem. I called the customer and he said they have another laptop that has the same problem. He said both of the laptops stated to have this problem since they did an upgrade to 98. I ran Check it for DOS and did a com port test. Everything passed execpt the Modem Status part of the test. The message it gives me is the MSR could not be cleared. Do anyone know what could be causing the problem. I orginally thought i got a bad board from Compaq BUT, then the customer told he about the other laptop and the windows upgrade. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks

Rick