adding serial port

[Guest]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

Hi,

Does anyone know the cheapest way to add a serial port to a laptop
without one and have it recognised as COM1?

The laptop has ....

PCMCIA
parallel port
Firewire
Infra red

... I've seen some PCMCIA cards, but they are tremendously expensive.

Many thanks in advance
Mr WZ Boson

 

[Andrew]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

Mr WZ Boson <WZ_Boson@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
: Hi,

: Does anyone know the cheapest way to add a serial port to a laptop
: without one and have it recognised as COM1?

You can get a USB to Serial adaptor (surely your laptop has USB if it
has no serial port?). These work well for some applications but not
for others - really depends how the drivers for the serial device are
written.

What kind of laptop (make/model) do you have?

Andrew
--
----> Portland, Oregon, USA <----
*******************************************************************
----> http/www.bizave.com <---- Photo Albums and Portland Info
----> To Email me remove "MYSHOES" from email address
*******************************************************************

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

"Mr WZ Boson" <WZ_Boson@yahoo.co.uk> wrote in message
news:c1d9a813.0406261200.bc788b5@posting.google.com...
> Hi,
>
> Does anyone know the cheapest way to add a serial port to a laptop
> without one and have it recognised as COM1?
>
> The laptop has ....
>
> PCMCIA
> parallel port
> Firewire
> Infra red
>
> .. I've seen some PCMCIA cards, but they are tremendously expensive.
>
> Many thanks in advance
> Mr WZ Boson
Ahhh... The rub is having it be com 1. The IR port would probably be com 2
if there is a modem. The built in modem would be com 1. You might try
disabling them in the BIOS and then uninstall the drivers. Then you can
install either a USB to serial or a PC card serial and hope that it will be
installed as Com 1. (But don't hold your breath.) Good luck.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

"Richard Johnson" <richj@remove.this.tairedd.com> wrote in message news:<10dsiqk9o069lb5@corp.supernews.com>...
> "Mr WZ Boson" <WZ_Boson@yahoo.co.uk> wrote in message
> news:c1d9a813.0406261200.bc788b5@posting.google.com...
> > Hi,
> >
> > Does anyone know the cheapest way to add a serial port to a laptop
> > without one and have it recognised as COM1?
> >
> > The laptop has ....
> >
> > PCMCIA
> > parallel port
> > Firewire
> > Infra red
> >
> > .. I've seen some PCMCIA cards, but they are tremendously expensive.
> >
> > Many thanks in advance
> > Mr WZ Boson
> Ahhh... The rub is having it be com 1. The IR port would probably be com 2
> if there is a modem. The built in modem would be com 1. You might try
> disabling them in the BIOS and then uninstall the drivers. Then you can
> install either a USB to serial or a PC card serial and hope that it will be
> installed as Com 1. (But don't hold your breath.) Good luck.

I was a bit misleading on the COM requirement (sorry) - in fact any
COM port would be fine. The laptop is a Toshiba Satellite.

I took the plunge and bought a USB/Serial adapter - made by Newlink -
from Maplins for £25.

I plugged it in and away it went! Now looks like COM4.

I wanted it in order to drive an Icom PCR1000 receiver from the laptop
- & it works OK with both Icom's software and TalkPCR.

Thanks for the info. folks