Dead Serial port???

[griff]

I have an IBM Thinkpad/Palm IIIx combination that have stopped talking to each other. The error message for hotsync says " can't open Com1" if I try to sync from the laptop, and if I try from the Palm I get a "can't find the other computer" message.

I've checked device manager and other on-board tools, including Norton Utilities, and they all say the com port is there, working properly and no device conflicts.

Is there an easy way of "pinging" the port to find out if it really works? Do I need a loopback connector? Where would I find one of those?

Any and all help is greatly appreciated.

Griff

[PostCode]

Your best bet is to test the serial port with a loop back connector. I highly suggest you check out Tuff-TEST here: http://www.tufftest.com/tt01-lite.htm You can order the product, the pro version and it comes with the loop back devices. in the manual, online version, it has instructions for making your own loopback devices. Hope this helps.

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Eric's BIOS Post Codes (http://www.webenet.net/~ntuser)

[griff]

Thanks Eric, I'll try the lite version, and see what happens. Much appreciated.

[griff]

I bought the tufftest pro, and ran what diagnostics I could without the loopback plugs. I get an "S260" error code on the internal tests, which means..."transmitter shift register empty"...does that mean the serial port is cooked? As always, any and all help is appreciated.

Griff

[PostCode]

Normally yes. However, is the serial port intagrated, i.e., is it an ATX motherboard or is it an AT, which has the ribbon cable running off the motherboard. If this is the case, try replacing the ribbon cable with a like. Then rerun the tests. It's hard to tell for sure though. With a loopback test, you would recieve passed on all lines except the ones not working, in which case you would recieve the S260 error code. I have encountered a few like this and simply replaced the riboon cable. Solved the problem. However, if it's integrated, ATX, then you only option is to disable the onboard port and install another port using an add-on card. Hope this helps.

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Eric's BIOS Post Codes (http://www.webenet.net/~ntuser)