aterentiev

Hi all,

I have a problem with Dell X51v and an original Dell serial cable (not Bluetooth cable :) )

I connected the cable to Dell and used a serial port checker (a small box with LEDs). I thought I get at least Tx, RTS and DTR active. But I don't have any of wires active!!!

First question: Does X51v have a built-in serial port? (In registry there is one)
Second: Does X51v compartible to this cable? I can't indentify it, it labeled as follows: "AWM 2990 E106016 VW-I 80°C 30V 28AWG LOW VOLTAGE COMPUTER CABLE SHIN AN". But I think it does not help....
An third: How could I activate it?

Thanks in advance
AT

Bill_Todd

Quote:

First question: Does X51v have a built-in serial port?

Yes it does, but it needs a ttl/rs232 level converter to connect to a PC or other device - Does your lead have a box part way down the cable?

Have a look at this

aterentiev

Thank you, Bill_Todd

That's great! Everywhere I can read "yes, it does", but about level shifter is new for me. :realmad:

No, the cable does not have the box. If Dell does not build in the MAX232 in the connectors, I don't have the level shifter there... This afternoon I will check the levels on the SUB-D9.

aterentiev

It's me one more time....

I contacted Dell hardware support a few days ago. They told me the X51x does not have any serial ports!!! What did they mean?

Who could explain it to me?

BobSchaefer

Well, I can only speak for my X51 mid, but it definately DOES have a serial port built into the bottom connector. Now, I'm using a cable from serialIO and not from Dell, which also has the level shifter built in.

If you're unsure of things, you can always look at getting the SerialIO cable and returning the Dell cable. As to testing, I'm not sure what to say, I do software development, so have access to Visual Studio 2003 and 2005 with Compact Framework, so I wrote my own code to play with.