Where's my serial port?

[rmo555]

I have two label printers that use serial ports - but my new Vista HP
Pavilion doesn't have any. Is there some connecting cord I can
purchase to get the job done?

 

[Questor]

--->

I have two label printers that use serial ports - but my new Vista HP
Pavilion doesn't have any. Is there some connecting cord I can
purchase to get the job done?

Here are some solutions:

http://www.moxa.com/land/USB_to_Ser...7d5b8e98e32b&gclid=CJ-e0rmaxZ0CFRHxDAodYn_trw

http://www.bestlinknetware.com/store-detail.asp?categoryID=15&subcategoryID=15

http://www.easysync-ltd.com/

Google is your friend.

Questor

 

[rmo555]

Here is an explanation and a picture of a serial port. Look at your
machine whether you have one of those. Usually they are present. 'Serial
port - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia'
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serial_port)

Thanks - but I KNOW what a serial port looks like - and I don't have
one on my notebook.

 

[rmo555]

--->

Here are some solutions:

http://www.moxa.com/land/USB_to_Ser...7d5b8e98e32b&gclid=CJ-e0rmaxZ0CFRHxDAodYn_trw

http://www.bestlinknetware.com/store-detail.asp?categoryID=15&subcategoryID=15

http://www.easysync-ltd.com/

Google is your friend.

Questor

Thanks for the information.

 

[Tom Lake]

Here is an explanation and a picture of a serial port. Look at your
machine whether you have one of those. Usually they are present.

Very few new machines come with a serial port these days. Some
have a header on the motherboard but no cable to the outside
of the case. You have to buy a header-to-DB-9 cable.

Tom Lake

 

[Gordon]

Very few new machines come with a serial port these days. Some
have a header on the motherboard but no cable to the outside
of the case. You have to buy a header-to-DB-9 cable.

In fact most laptops and netbooks these days DO come with a serial port -
for connecting projectors.

 

[SC Tom]

In fact most laptops and netbooks these days DO come with a serial port -
for connecting projectors.

Of the last 6 notebooks I've had (personal and business), only one of them
had a serial port. Of the 8 or 9 projectors I've worked with, none used a
serial port to connect to a notebook; they all used either a VGA port or
composite video.

SC Tom

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

In fact most laptops and netbooks these days DO come with a serial port -
for connecting projectors.

No, that's not a serial port. It's a video port, for connecting a
projector or external monitor.

 

[rmo555]

Very few new machines come with a serial port these days. Some
have a header on the motherboard but no cable to the outside
of the case. You have to buy a header-to-DB-9 cable.

Tom Lake

Thanks. So if I buy this cable, where, on my notebook, do I plug it
in?

 

[Questor]

--->

Thanks. So if I buy this cable, where, on my notebook, do I plug it
in?

I don't think you really want the answer: on the notebook motherboard.

This would mean you have to open the case and search for a header that
may (or may not) be there. I think Tom was thinking desktop. I peeked
into my desktop and did indeed find a header marked COM1. It was a
10-pin DIP header (two rows of 5 pins).

I doubt very much if you would find one on your notebook motherboard
even if you opened it up.

I'd still go with a USB to COM cable.

Questor

 

[rmo555]

--->

I don't think you really want the answer: on the notebook motherboard.

This would mean you have to open the case and search for a header that
may (or may not) be there. I think Tom was thinking desktop. I peeked
into my desktop and did indeed find a header marked COM1. It was a
10-pin DIP header (two rows of 5 pins).

I doubt very much if you would find one on your notebook motherboard
even if you opened it up.

I'd still go with a USB to COM cable.

Questor

Thanks. I understand USB - but what kind of port does a COM cable plug
into? It sounds like a stupid question but I never ran into this
before. I have these two label makers that I don't want to replace
with newer ones just because of the Serial port they require.

 

[SC Tom]

Thanks. I understand USB - but what kind of port does a COM cable plug
into? It sounds like a stupid question but I never ran into this
before. I have these two label makers that I don't want to replace
with newer ones just because of the Serial port they require.

A COM cable is a serial cable. The converter allows you to plug your serial
cable(s) from the printer(s) to a USB port on your notebook. There are
drivers that allow Windows to see them as serial ports, thus allowing you
printers to work. We had to do a similar conversion on our UPS station at
work with a serial label printer (until UPS finally sent us a USB label
printer).

SC Tom

 

[rmo555]

A COM cable is a serial cable. The converter allows you to plug your serial
cable(s) from the printer(s) to a USB port on your notebook. There are
drivers that allow Windows to see them as serial ports, thus allowing you
printers to work. We had to do a similar conversion on our UPS station at
work with a serial label printer (until UPS finally sent us a USB label
printer).

SC Tom

Is a COM port also referred to as RS232? I looked these adapters up on
Google and I want to be sure I have the right item.

 

[Questor]

--->

Is a COM port also referred to as RS232? I looked these adapters up on
Google and I want to be sure I have the right item.

Yes

Questor

 

[Spike9458]

--->







Yes

Questor- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Another alternative is using a router such as the D-Link DSL-704p.
It's a wired router, but if you have a wireless router, it can be
uplinked from there. A benefit to this type of arrangement is that you
can leave your printer(s) in one place. They also have the DSL-704up,
which has a USB port instead of rs-232.

--Jim

 

[Chuck]

This works when the printer drivers are compatable. Some are not, so with
label printers, is a maybe it will work. The same thing can be true of USB
to serial converters. Not all are equal, and not all printer drivers will
work properly with a USB to serial converter.

Actually, serial ports have been going downhill for years. As far back as
1989, laptops started dropping various handshaking and control options.
We got into this when we tried to convert "special purpose" military
programs to run on a full mil spec laptop, and found that the Mfr had
removed support for various obscure serial handshaking and port control
methods. Unfortunately, we needed them to control the serial port on a
"Black Box" used on a very popular fighter.
(Pins on the serial chip were not connected, (no place to connect them to,
and the needed BIOS support for them was missing.)

"Another alternative is using a router "

--->







Yes

Questor- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Another alternative is using a router such as the D-Link DSL-704p.
It's a wired router, but if you have a wireless router, it can be
uplinked from there. A benefit to this type of arrangement is that you
can leave your printer(s) in one place. They also have the DSL-704up,
which has a USB port instead of rs-232.

--Jim