Develop Reference

How to pass a Variable to Lambda Expression

I was just starting to use C# last week and tried to create a simple serial monitor program. I want my program to read data from serialport continuously while displaying those data in the Form Application at the same time.
I use the code from here as reference https://github.com/ahelsayd/Serial-Lab
I use the same BeginInvoke() function. However I can not pass the variable that I want to write.
This is the original code
private void rx_data_event(object sender, System.IO.Ports.SerialDataReceivedEventArgs e)
{
if (mySerial.IsOpen)
{
try
{
//=====Only this part is different=======================
int dataLength = mySerial.BytesToRead;
byte[] dataReceived = new byte[dataLength];
int nbytes = mySerial.Read(dataReceived, 0, dataLength);
if (nbytes == 0) return;
//=====Only this part is different=======================
this.BeginInvoke((Action)(() =>
{
data = System.Text.Encoding.Default.GetString(dataReceived);
if (!backgroundWorker1.IsBusy)
{
backgroundWorker1.RunWorkerAsync();
}
}));
}
catch { alert("Can't read form " + mySerial.PortName + " port it might be opennd in another program"); }
}
}
//And then update the UI
private void update_rxtextarea_event(object sender, DoWorkEventArgs e)
{
this.BeginInvoke((Action)(() =>
{
if (rx_textarea.Lines.Count() > 5000)
rx_textarea.ResetText();
rx_textarea.AppendText("[RX]> " + data);
}));
}
This code can read the Serialport and Write into the Form simultaneously. However, it does not receive all data from the serialport. So I modified the code to write the data into a buffer first until all data is received.
The modified code
private void rx_data_event(object sender, System.IO.Ports.SerialDataReceivedEventArgs e)
{
if (mySerial.IsOpen)
{
try
{
//=====Only this part is different=======================
string Data = mySerial.ReadExisting();
serialBuffer.Append(Data);
string bufferString = serialBuffer.ToString();
int index = -1;
do
{
index = bufferString.IndexOf(terminationSequence);
if (index > -1)
{
string message = bufferString.Substring(0, index);
bufferString = bufferString.Remove(0, index + terminationSequence.Length);
}
}
while (index > -1);
serialBuffer = new StringBuilder(bufferString);
byte[] bytes = new byte[30];
if (serialBuffer.Length == 15) {
Console.WriteLine("data:" + serialBuffer);
bytes = Encoding.ASCII.GetBytes(serialBuffer.ToString());
}
//=====Only this part is different=======================
this.BeginInvoke((Action)(() =>
{
data = Encoding.ASCII.GetString(bytes);
if (!backgroundWorker1.IsBusy)
{
backgroundWorker1.RunWorkerAsync();
}
}));
}
catch { alert("Can't read form " + mySerial.PortName + " port it might be opennd in another program"); }
}
}
The problem is in the Form application the value of bytes is always null although when I checked by writing the output value to console window I can see the value of bytes updated.
I am very confused why the variable dataReceived value can be accessed by BeginInvoke while the variable bytes keep having null value. Is there something that I've missed that causing the value not get updated?

So I wasn't able to do it yesterday, but I promised the OP I would write something in an answer related to a comment of mine. From what I understand he/she is trying to update something in a Form based on received data from a serial port. Here's how I do it:
First off you need to declare a delegate and an event (which is basically a list of delegates):
public delegate void Data_Received_EventHandler(object sender, Data_Received_EventArgs e);
public event Data_Received_EventHandler Data_Received;
These are used to substitute the original "data received" event and event args from the serial port.
I usually define the Data_Received_EventArgs type as something based of an array of bytes, for simplicity:
public class Data_Received_EventArgs : EventArgs
{
public byte[] data;
internal Data_Received_EventArgs(int length)
{
data = new byte[length];
}
}
Then, in the original data reception event (let's say your serial port is called serialPort1):
private void serialPort1_DataReceived(object sender, SerialDataReceivedEventArgs e)
{
// check how many bytes you need to read:
int bytesToRead = serialPort1.BytesToRead;
// declare your arguments for the event based on that number of bytes (check the Data_Received_EventArgs constructor):
Data_Received_EventArgs args = new Data_Received_EventArgs(bytesToRead);
// copy the bytes from your serial port into the arguments:
for (int i = 0; i < bytesToRead; i++)
args.data[i] = (byte)serialPort1.ReadByte();
// verify if there are subscribers to the event (list not empty) and fire your event using BeginInvoke:
if (Data_Received != null)
BeginInvoke((MethodInvoker)delegate () { Data_Received(this, args); });
}
What we now have is an event which is guaranteed to execute its handlers on the UI thread.
To use it, you can subscribe to the event like so:
Data_Received += My_Data_Received_Handler;
Your handler should have the same signature as the delegate we declared in the first line of code (should be void and have specified parameters):
private void My_Data_Received_Handler(object sender, Data_Received_EventArgs e)
{
// read bytes from the arguments as you normally would from an array and do whatever e.g.:
some_Label.Text = e.data[0].ToString(); // without worrying about crossthreading
}
I know this is not the answer the OP wanted, but I hope it helps in simplifying what he/she was trying to do in the first place.

Play Real Time from Byte array

Im sending audio from micro to PC using dma(LAN-TCP):
while (1) {
U32 max;
int r,i;
main_TcpNet ();
if(tcpSend & sendBuffer)
{
if(selectBuffer)
{
send_datalog(ADC_RegularConvertedValueTab2,sizeof(ADC_RegularConvertedValueTab2));
sendBuffer = 0;
}
else
{
send_datalog(ADC_RegularConvertedValueTab,sizeof(ADC_RegularConvertedValueTab));
sendBuffer = 0;
}
main_TcpNet ();
}
}
}
I need to play it in real time .this is what Ive done so far using NAudio:
byte[] recBuff = new byte[1400];
public void OnDataReceived(IAsyncResult asyn)
{
try
{
SocketPacket theSockId = (SocketPacket)asyn.AsyncState;
int iRx = theSockId.thisSocket.EndReceive(asyn);
recBuff [count]= theSockId.dataBuffer[0];
count++;
if (count >= 1400)
{
//--------------------------------------------------------------------
for (int i = 0; i < 1400; i += 2)
recieveSound[i / 2] = recBuff[i] + (recBuff[i + 1] * 256); //turn back to 16bit
//--------------------------------------------------------------------
foreach(int data in recieveSound)
sound.Add(data);
//----------------------------------
if (playStauts)
{
if (firstplay)
{
IWaveProvider provider = new RawSourceWaveStream(
new MemoryStream(recBuff), new WaveFormat());
_waveOut.Init(provider);
_waveOut.Play();
//playThread.Start();
//firstplay = false;
}
}
else
{
player.Stop();
}
count = 0; //RESET THE RecBuff
}
//---------------------------------------------------------------
}
catch (ObjectDisposedException)
{
System.Diagnostics.Debugger.Log(0, "1", "\nOnDataReceived: Socket has been closed\n");
}
catch (SocketException se)
{
MessageBox.Show(se.Message);
}
}
private void exitToolStripMenuItem_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
if (m_clientSocket != null)
{
m_clientSocket.Close();
m_clientSocket = null;
}
Close();
}
private void frmMain_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
playThread = new Thread(new ThreadStart(play));
player = new SoundPlayer(filePath);
toolStriplbIP.Text = "Your IP: " + GetIP();
btnDisconnect.Enabled = false;
}
#region Palying Sound
private void btnPlay_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
try
{
//Array.Clear(sound, 0, sound.Count);
buffCount = 0;
offsetSound = 0;
sound.Clear();
Object objData = "7";
byte[] byData = System.Text.Encoding.ASCII.GetBytes(objData.ToString());
if (m_clientSocket != null)
m_clientSocket.Send(byData);
playStauts = true;
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
MessageBox.Show(ex.Message);
}
}
private void btnPause_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
playStauts = false;
}
#endregion
public void play()
{
while(true){
using (SoundPlayer player = new SoundPlayer(filePath))
{
//????????
}
}
}
I just hear like a bijilion Buzzes in sec. But When I save it and then play it I hear the song very clear and loud.
What is wrong? How can I play my byte array when its growing?
does this even work for me?
byte[] bytes = new byte[1400];
IWaveProvider provider = new RawSourceWaveStream(
new MemoryStream(bytes), new WaveFormat());
_waveOut.Init(provider);
_waveOut.Play();

For one thing, you're using the default WaveFormat, which may or may not be correct. Disagreement between source and destination formats will definitely cause you problems.
Once you're sure the WaveFormat is correct, I would suggest using a BufferedWaveProvider as the input to your wave player rather than the MemoryStream, something like this:
WaveFormat Format = new WaveFormat(/* fill in the right parameters here */);
BufferedWaveProvider Provider = new BufferedWaveProvider(Foramt);
Then, whenever you're happy with your recBuff, you just call Provider.AddSamples to drop the data into the BufferedWaveProvider, which will then be picked up by your WaveOut player.
There's some other strangeness going on. Are you receiving only one byte at a time? It looks like that's what your asynchronous handler is doing. This might not be the best thing, since that will result in lots and lots of context switching. If you're receiving more than one byte at a time, then you're only grabbing the first one and ignoring the rest. That will undoubtedly result in "unexpected" sounds during playback.

Serial port data received handled too slowly

I am reading data from an arduino at a baud rate of 115200. The data comes in as a string on its own line in the format: <ID,Name/Data>.
I believe that the problem with my code is that it is not handling the incoming data fast enough and the incoming data is being forced to wait for old data to be processed.
The incoming string is split into the three separate categories (ID, Name, Data) and added to a data table called dtFromGrid which is bound to dataGridView1.
Is there any errors or suggestions for how to improve my code performance? Would a separate thread for the handling function work better than BeginInvoke?
serialPort1.DataReceived += new SerialDataReceivedEventHandler(serialPort1_DataReceived);
private void serialPort1_DataReceived(object sender, System.IO.Ports.SerialDataReceivedEventArgs e)
{
string inData = serialPort1.ReadLine();
if (PauseButton.Text == "Pause" && inData.StartsWith("<"))
{
try
{
this.BeginInvoke(new SetGridDeleg(DoUpdate), new object[] {inData});
}
catch
{
}
}
}
private void DoUpdate(string inData) //inData passed in so that Serial port read only once
{
if (dtFromGrid == null)
{
dtFromGrid = new DataTable();
dtFromGrid.Columns.Add("Time", typeof(String));
dtFromGrid.Columns.Add("ID", typeof(String));
dtFromGrid.Columns.Add("Name", typeof(String));
dtFromGrid.Columns.Add("Data", typeof(String));
}
DataRow dr = dtFromGrid.NewRow();
TimeSpan ts = stopWatch.Elapsed;
dr["Time"] = String.Format("{0:00}:{1:00}:{2:00}.{3:000}",
ts.Hours, ts.Minutes, ts.Seconds,
ts.Milliseconds);
dr["ID"] = inData.Split(new char[] { '<', ',' })[1];
dr["Name"] = inData.Split(new char[] { ',', '/' })[1];
dr["Data"] = inData.Split(new char[] { '/', '>' })[1];
dtFromGrid.Rows.InsertAt(dr, 0);
//Replace old data with new data if ID's are the same to showo list of only newest data per each ID
if (NewestButton.Text == "Chronological")
{
for (int i = 1; i < dataGridView1.Rows.Count; i++)
{
if (dtFromGrid.Rows[i].ItemArray[1].ToString() == dtFromGrid.Rows[0].ItemArray[1].ToString())
{
dtFromGrid.Rows[i].Delete();
break;
}
}
}
//Keep a maximum of 50 rows of data
if (dtFromGrid.Rows.Count == 51)
{
dtFromGrid.Rows[50].Delete();
}
dtFromGrid.AcceptChanges();
dataGridView1.DataSource = dtFromGrid;
//keep focus of dataGridView on top row
dataGridView1.CurrentCell = dataGridView1.Rows[0].Cells[0];
// add newest row to a logfile if the user has set one
if (logFile != "")
{
using (StreamWriter sw = File.AppendText(logFile))
{
DataRow row = dtFromGrid.Rows[0];
object[] array = row.ItemArray;
int col = 0;
for (col = 0; col < array.Length - 1; col++)
{
sw.Write(array[col].ToString() + "\t|\t");
}
sw.Write(array[col].ToString());
sw.WriteLine();
sw.Close();
}
}
}
Update
I am now using a separate thread as suggested but I am having errors with invoking inside of that thread. I get multiple errors at random but the most common is "Index out of range." My invoke code is as follows:
this.Invoke((MethodInvoker) delegate
{
dtFromGrid.AcceptChanges();
dataGridView1.DataSource = dtFromGrid;
dataGridView1.CurrentCell = dataGridView1.Rows[0].Cells[0];
});

You store the data in a queue and offload the work to a secondary thread. This only works if, on the average, you are able to process the data at the rate it is coming in. Otherwise, the size of the queue will keep growing as you fall behind.
First, start with a wrapper around Queue<T> that will allow one thread to write to the queue and another to read from it in a thread safe manner. Also, allows the reader thread to block waiting for data.
public class ThreadedQueue<T>
{
private readonly Queue<T> _queue = new Queue<T>();
private readonly ManualResetEvent _notEmptyEvt = new ManualResetEvent(false);
public WaitHandle WaitHandle { get { return _notEmptyEvt; } }
public void Enqueue(T obj)
{
lock (_queue)
{
_queue.Enqueue(obj);
_notEmptyEvt.Set();
}
}
public T Dequeue()
{
_notEmptyEvt.WaitOne(Timeout.Infinite);
lock (_queue)
{
var result = _queue.Dequeue();
if (_queue.Count == 0)
_notEmptyEvt.Reset();
return result;
}
}
}
In your serial port handler, write the data into the queue:
private void serialPort1_DataReceived(object sender, System.IO.Ports.SerialDataReceivedEventArgs e)
{
string inData = serialPort1.ReadLine();
if (PauseButton.Text == "Pause" && inData.StartsWith("<"))
{
_queue.Enqueue(inData);
}
}
In the secondary thread, read from the queue and do the invoke to the GUI thread:
private void ThreadProc()
{
while (true)
{
string inData = _queue.Dequeue();
this.Invoke(new SetGridDeleg(DoUpdate), new object[] {inData});
}
}
Start up the secondary thread like this:
Thread th = new Thread(ThreadProc);
th.IsBackground = true;
th.Start();
Of course you'll need to create an instance of the queue:
ThreadedQueue<string> _queue = new ThreadedQueue<string>();

I normally design a SerialService class to manage the SerialPort. Below is a simple version of the SerialService class.
The role of the SerialService class is to read the serial buffer as fast as possible. This clears the buffer and prevents any serial port errors. This raw data is then passed to the parser.
The trick for performance is in your parser. YourParser should also be fast in formatting the raw data into the string that you are expecting. Once your data is parse you may use a callback or an event. With a callback or event your parser will continue to parse new arriving data. YourParse is now a testable class.
Once you have your good data from the parser's callback use BeginInvoke to send the data to the main thread where your ui can then display it.
If you are not in the main UI thread and you try to update the UI from another thread you will have the cross theading problem.
Good luck.
class Program
{
private static YourDataParser _parser;
static void Main(string[] args)
{
_parser = new YourDataParser();
var serial = new SerialService("COM1");
serial.DataReceived += serial_DataReceived;
}
static void serial_DataReceived(object sender, DataReceivedEventArgs e)
{
_parser.HandleTheData(e.Data, good =>
{
// here is your good data
// This is not the main thread invoke your UI from here with the good data
// Use BeginInvoke to invoke the main thread
});
}
}
public class YourDataParser
{
private List<byte> _buffer = new List<byte>();
public void HandleTheData(byte[] rawdata, Action<string> goodData)
{
_buffer.AddRange(rawdata);
foreach (var b in _buffer)
{
var thechar = (char) b;
// handle your raw data... like look for the character '<'
// or look for the end of line this would be CR (0x0D) LF (0x0A)
// you can reference the ASCII table for the characters byte values
}
// and return the good data
var data = "your good data after parsing it";
goodData(data);
}
}
public class DataReceivedEventArgs : EventArgs
{
public DataReceivedEventArgs(byte[] data)
{
Data = data;
}
public byte[] Data { get; private set; }
}
class SerialService
{
public event EventHandler<DataReceivedEventArgs> DataReceived;
private SerialPort _port;
public SerialService(string comm)
{
_port = new SerialPort(comm)
{
// YOUR OTHER SETTINGS HERE...
ReceivedBytesThreshold = 1 // I think is better to increase this number if you know the minimum number of bytes that will arrive at the serial port's buffer
};
// Note that the ReceivedBytesThreshold is set to 1.
// That means that the port_DataReceived event will fire with a minimun of 1 byte in the serial buffer
_port.DataReceived += port_DataReceived;
}
void port_DataReceived(object sender, SerialDataReceivedEventArgs e)
{
if (e.EventType != SerialData.Chars) return;
while (_port.IsOpen & _port.BytesToRead != 0)
{
// important to get all the bytes off the buffer
var size = _port.BytesToRead;
var buffer = new byte[size];
var sizeRead = _port.Read(buffer, 0, size);
OnDataReceived(buffer);
}
}
protected virtual void OnDataReceived(byte[] data)
{
var ev = DataReceived;
if (ev != null) ev(this, new DataReceivedEventArgs(data));
}
}

As you said your code is slowing the data reception.
you can solve your problem by queuing your data to a queue list and a background process will be processing this list one by one.
another approach is to create a new thread on the reception of each data batch.
Example (second approach)
private void serialPort1_DataReceived(object sender, System.IO.Ports.SerialDataReceivedEventArgs e)
{
string inData = serialPort1.ReadLine();
System.Threading.Thread T = new System.Threading.Thread(new System.Threading.ParameterizedThreadStart(ProcessData));
T.Start(inData);
}
public void ProcessData(Object data)
{
....
}

Wait for DataReceived to fire without blocking the ui

I need to wait for the user to input data to the serialport reader and then process the data. However, using this code blocks the UI which is not what I want. Any ideas on how to make sure that data is received or a timeout has occured before continuing?
The reason I use
do
{
Thread.Sleep(1);
} while (...)
is because without it the code return indata before the user has time to change it.
I call ReadFromSerial from the main function and process the data there. If anything goes wrong I want it to return an empty string.
public string ReadFromSerial()
{
try
{
System.IO.Ports.SerialPort Serial1 = new System.IO.Ports.SerialPort("COM1", 9600, System.IO.Ports.Parity.None, 8, System.IO.Ports.StopBits.One);
var MessageBufferRequest = new byte[13] { ... };
int BufferLength = 13;
if (!Serial1.IsOpen)
{
Serial1.Open();
}
Serial1.Write(MessageBufferRequest, 0, BufferLength); //Activates the serialport reader
indata = "";
Stopwatch timer = new Stopwatch();
timer.Start();
Serial1.DataReceived += new SerialDataReceivedEventHandler(DataReceivedHandler);
do
{
Thread.Sleep(1);
} while (string.IsNullOrEmpty(indata) && timer.Elapsed.TotalSeconds < 10);
timer.Stop();
if (Serial1.IsOpen)
{
Serial1.Close();
}
return indata;
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
return "";
}
}
private static string indata;
private static void DataReceivedHandler(object sender, SerialDataReceivedEventArgs e)
{
try
{
SerialPort sp = (SerialPort)sender;
if (sp.BytesToRead > 0)
{
indata = sp.ReadExisting();
}
}
catch(InvalidOperationException)
{
;
}
}

This is where multi-threading, tasks, async programming and/or event handlers comes in handy. All of them offer something to help you get around stuff like this, depending on the types of objects you're using.
A good starting point in this case would be to run the whole receive loop as a separate thread, then send the received data back to the main thread in some fashion.
Here's the source of a form that does basically what yours does, but either as a Thread or a Task:
public partial class Form1 : Form
{
public Form1()
{
InitializeComponent();
}
// Button: starts Task version
private void button1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
StartReceiveTask();
}
// Button: starts Thread version
private void button2_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
StartReceiveThread();
}
// Start the Receive loop as a Task
public void StartReceiveTask()
{
System.Threading.Tasks.Task.Run(() => receiveThreadFunc());
}
// Start the Receive loop as a Thread
public void StartReceiveThread()
{
var thd = new System.Threading.Thread(receiveThreadFunc);
thd.Start();
}
// Called when the Receive loop finishes
public void DataReceived(string data)
{
// do something with the data here
}
// The Receive loop, used by both Thread and Task forms.
public void receiveThreadFunc()
{
using (var serial1 = new System.IO.Ports.SerialPort("COM1", 9600, System.IO.Ports.Parity.None, 8, System.IO.Ports.StopBits.One))
{
// open serial port
if (!serial1.IsOpen)
serial1.Open();
// send init command
var initCommand = new byte[13];
serial1.Write(initCommand, 0, initCommand.Length);
// get start time
DateTime start = DateTime.Now;
// buffer for pushing received string data into
StringBuilder indata = new StringBuilder();
// loop until at most 10 seconds have passed
while ((DateTime.Now - start).TotalSeconds < 2)
{
if (serial1.BytesToRead > 0)
{
// allocate a buffer, up to 1K in length, to receive into
int blen = Math.Min(1024, serial1.BytesToRead);
byte[] buffer = new byte[blen];
// read chunks of data until none left
while (serial1.BytesToRead > 0)
{
int rc = serial1.Read(buffer, 0, blen);
// convert data from ASCII format to string and append to input buffer
indata.Append(Encoding.ASCII.GetString(buffer, 0, rc));
}
}
else
System.Threading.Thread.Sleep(25);
// check for EOL
if (indata.Length > 0 && indata.ToString().EndsWith("\r\n"))
break;
}
if (indata.Length > 0)
{
// post data to main thread, via Invoke if necessary:
string data = indata.ToString();
if (this.InvokeRequired)
this.Invoke(new Action(() => { DataReceived(data); }));
else
this.DataReceived(data);
}
}
}
}

I went with solution not to touch what I had already written. Instead I added these methods in my main function.
private void StartReceiveThread()
{
var thd = new System.Threading.Thread(receiveThreadFunc);
thd.Start();
}
private void receiveThreadFunc()
{
string str = Read.ReadFromSerial();
DataReceived(str);
}
private void DataReceived(string data)
{
//Process the data received
}

Why does C# thread die?

This is my 1st C# project so I may be doing something obviously improper in the code below.
I am using .NET, WinForms (I think), and this is a desktop application until I get the bugs out.
UpdateGui() uses Invoke((MethodInvoker)delegate to update various GUI controls based on received serial data and
sends a GetStatus() command out the serial port 4 times a second.
Thread Read() reads the response from serial port whenever it arrives which should be near immediate.
SerialPortFixer is a SerialPort IOException Workaround in C# I found at
http://zachsaw.blogspot.com/2010/07/serialport-ioexception-workaround-in-c.html.
After one or both threads die I'll see something like
The thread 0x1288 has exited with code 0 (0x0).
in the debug code output.
Why do UpdateGui() and/or Read() eventually die?
public partial class UpdateStatus : Form
{
private readonly byte[] Command = new byte[32];
private readonly byte[] Status = new byte[32];
readonly Thread readThread;
private static readonly Mutex commandMutex = new Mutex();
private static readonly Mutex statusMutex = new Mutex();
...
public UpdateStatus()
{
InitializeComponent();
SerialPortFixer.Execute("COM2");
if (serialPort1.IsOpen)
{
serialPort1.Close();
}
try
{
serialPort1.Open();
}
catch (Exception e)
{
labelWarning.Text = LOST_COMMUNICATIONS + e;
labelStatus.Text = LOST_COMMUNICATIONS + e;
labelWarning.Visible = true;
}
readThread = new Thread(Read);
readThread.Start();
new Timer(UpdateGui, null, 0, 250);
}
static void ProcessStatus(byte[] status)
{
Status.State = (State) status[4];
Status.Speed = status[6]; // MSB
Status.Speed *= 256;
Status.Speed += status[5];
var Speed = Status.Speed/GEAR_RATIO;
Status.Speed = (int) Speed;
...
}
public void Read()
{
while (serialPort1 != null)
{
try
{
serialPort1.Read(Status, 0, 1);
if (Status[0] != StartCharacter[0]) continue;
serialPort1.Read(Status, 1, 1);
if (Status[1] != StartCharacter[1]) continue;
serialPort1.Read(Status, 2, 1);
if (Status[2] != (int)Command.GetStatus) continue;
serialPort1.Read(Status, 3, 1);
...
statusMutex.WaitOne();
ProcessStatus(Status);
Status.update = true;
statusMutex.ReleaseMutex();
}
catch (Exception e)
{
Console.WriteLine(#"ERROR! Read() " + e);
}
}
}
public void GetStatus()
{
const int parameterLength = 0; // For GetStatus
statusMutex.WaitOne();
Status.update = false;
statusMutex.ReleaseMutex();
commandMutex.WaitOne();
if (!SendCommand(Command.GetStatus, parameterLength))
{
Console.WriteLine(#"ERROR! SendCommand(GetStatus)");
}
commandMutex.ReleaseMutex();
}
private void UpdateGui(object x)
{
try
{
Invoke((MethodInvoker)delegate
{
Text = DateTime.Now.ToLongTimeString();
statusMutex.WaitOne();
if (Status.update)
{
if (Status.Speed > progressBarSpeed.Maximum)
{
Status.Speed = progressBarSpeed.Maximum;
}
progressBarSpeed.Value = Status.Speed;
labelSpeed.Text = Status.Speed + RPM;
...
}
else
{
labelWarning.Text = LOST_COMMUNICATIONS;
labelStatus.Text = LOST_COMMUNICATIONS;
labelWarning.Visible = true;
}
statusMutex.ReleaseMutex();
GetStatus();
});
}
catch (Exception e)
{
Console.WriteLine(#"ERROR! UpdateGui() " + e);
}
}
}

A thread will terminate when there's no more code to execute, or more specifically when the method you specify when you create thread returns.
Maybe serialport1 becomes null?
As for the update timer, there is a special purpose windows forms timer that runs periodically that doesn't require you to use Invoke. It's the right tool for the job