Try/catch does not catch SerialPort.Open() exception

[José Jorge]

Mono bug #15514 (https://bugzilla.xamarin.com/show_bug.cgi?id=15514) affects mono version (3.2.8) in Ubuntu/Xubuntu 14.04, it should be updated to version 3.10 or have the patch mentioned at https://bugzilla.xamarin.com/show_bug.cgi?id=15514#c3 applied.

$ lsb_release -rd
Description: Ubuntu 14.04.1 LTS
Release: 14.04

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 14.04
Package: mono-runtime 3.2.8+dfsg-4ubuntu1
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.13.0-39.66-generic 3.13.11.8
Uname: Linux 3.13.0-39-generic x86_64
ApportVersion: 2.14.1-0ubuntu3.5
Architecture: amd64
CurrentDesktop: XFCE
Date: Wed Nov 19 00:44:09 2014
EcryptfsInUse: Yes
InstallationDate: Installed on 2014-11-09 (9 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Xubuntu 14.04.1 LTS "Trusty Tahr" - Release amd64 (20140723)
SourcePackage: mono
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)

[RansomStark (ransomstark)]

I feel your pain! Considering Mono is now on 4.x it's a shame the current Ubuntu package is so old.
I rely on the Mono repo to stay current:

sudo apt-key adv --keyserver hkp://keyserver.ubuntu.com:80 --recv-keys 3FA7E0328081BFF6A14DA29AA6A19B38D3D831EF
echo "deb http://download.mono-project.com/repo/debian wheezy main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mono-xamarin.list

Only run if Ubuntu>13.10
echo "deb http://download.mono-project.com/repo/debian wheezy-apache24-compat main" | sudo tee -a /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mono-xamarin.list

Finally

sudo apt-get update

Source: http://www.mono-project.com/docs/getting-started/install/linux/#debian-ubuntu-and-derivatives