On 16 Feb 2002, at 14:40, Tom McCoy wrote:

> I have more than one peripheral that needs to plug into a 9pin port
> connection; and only one connect- ion available.  What exactly am I
> searching for, and where might I find it?
> Tom McCoy
> Fontana, CA

  Odds are very good that what you're referring to is an
"asynchronous serial port", also often called a COM port.  ("COM" has
at least three other possible meanings in dealing with computers....)

  The good news is that it is also very likely that your computer
already has a second such port, but it may be equipped with an older
25-pin connector standard, and that 25-pin-to-9-pin converters are a
common item, seeling for about $3.  (Note that 9-pin-to-25-pin
converters also exist -- they're the same devices, but with the
pins/sockets reversed....)

  Then things start to get complicated:

  You may have to go into the CMOS configuration setup to enable such
a second port.  This can get tricky because each COM port needs its
own address, and if you have an internal modem it is probably using
one of these.  (There are only two IRQ numbers, 3 and 4, reserved for
COM ports, and some devices cannot share these, so if you need more
than two, things could get awkward.

  There are also available "switch boxes" which allow two, three or
four devices to be plugged in and only one to actually be used at a
time.  Unfortunately, only the device selected when the PC boots may
get its driver loaded....

  Some of your peripherals may support, or be available using, other
port types such as PS/2 and USB.  These are options you may need to
consider in order to use every device you want.

David Gillett

         PCBUILD maintains hundreds of useful files for download
                     visit our download web page at:
                  http://freepctech.com/downloads.shtml