Using debugger with real serial port

Has anybody had trouble getting the simulator to use a real serial port instead of the builtin serial terminal?

Here is my configuration thats loaded on debug:
MODE COM1 19200, 0, 8, 1
ASSIGN WIN <NUL >NUL
ASSIGN COM1 <SIN >SOUT

My simulated program can output serial data through the PC serial port all day long without problems, however when my application reads a byte the simulation hangs.

My code runs fine on the real hardware, and it runs fine in the simulator using the builtin serial terminal window, it only hangs when reading a byte, with the assignment to COM1:

Ive tested my cables, so i know thats not an issue here. Ive tried the above conf with out assigning NUL to WIN as well, no luck.

Any thoughs or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.