Finally got our Cyclades 8-port serial terminal server (TS800) working at work. I think, unfortunately, it was all a simple matter of having the ports numbered in the opposite direction on the front as on the back. I'd noticed this on my ethernet switch a month ago..
8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
+---------------+
| |
| |
+---------------+
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
That seems so dumb.. I never think of rotating the thing 180° -- I figured that the lights on the front would directly correspond to the ports on the back.
Sheesh, this box should have been working months ago..
Anyway, I figured it out because we finally got some RJ45<->DB9 and RJ45<->DB25 adapters, though I have to wire them up myself. Discovered that the cables that work are not normal null-modem/crossover cables. They're similar, but they don't use the `standard' cabling. I'm not sure why it works. At any rate, I built an adapter that is wired like the cable that works, and another wired like how Cyclades says things should work. I hope at least one of them works, but if they both work, I'm not sure what to do..
I wish serial crossover was like ethernet crossover, where you don't have to splice any wires together..
Looks like Dell shipped my order yesterday (probably around midnight or something), four days earlier than they estimated. I guess they have some leeway in their estimates. Of course, the annoying thing is that it'll probably get to Minneapolis on Friday or Saturday, meaning that it can't get delivered until Monday.
Sarah and Josh went up north to visit her family. They'll be back Thursday, but that probably won't make me feel any better.
Need to find out when the CSci advisor is available... Crappy grades..
Posted by mike at January 8, 2002 07:32 AM | Hardware , Josh , Laptop , Old Advogato Diary , Sarah , School , Work | TrackBack