serial ports

[Janina Sajka]

Keith Barrett writes:
> I am needing to replace my old debian box which has sadly died (r.i.p)
> So, I have been looking for a motherboard with a serial port.  This
> is not proving to be easy at the moment.
> 
> I have been offered a plug-in serial card but I am doubtful about this.
> 
> Anyone know whether this is likely to work with speakup and a serial synth?
> 
> Not got in to specific cards as yet because if it is going to be
> problematic, not worth looking in that direction.
> 
> Also, if anyone has found a source of motherboards with serial
> ports, would like to know.
> 
> Many Thanks
> 
> Keith Barrett
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Speakup mailing list
> Speakup at braille.uwo.ca
> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup

Keith:

Avoid the plugin cards and avoid the USB to serial converters. Instead,
look for a mobo with a serial header, recognizing that the specs may
refer to it as a com port header. You can buy the ribbon cable and
backplane mounting bracket for a few bucks from a supply store.

The reason for going this way is that the header is going to give you a
serial port at the address and IRQ you want, e.g.:

/dev/ttyS0, UART: 16550A, Port: 0x03f8, IRQ: 4


The plugin and USB devices will give you something that looks and feels
like the DB9 serial port you know and love, but that acts very
differently internally, and therefore not interfacing with Speakup in
the kernel.

So, while serial ports have disappeared from our backplanes, all is not
lost. In my recent search for Intel LGA 1155 mobos, I was pleased to see
lots had "com port headers."

PS: I'm still working on getting mine up and running, but I may actually
be in the position of needing a new Litetalk (or Tripletalk).

Janina

-- 

Janina Sajka,	Phone:	+1.443.300.2200
			sip:janina at asterisk.rednote.net
		Email:	janina at rednote.net

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