bio_zwbb@jhunix.HCF.JHU.EDU (Dr. William B. Busa) (10/20/89)
I have more serial devices than I have serial ports on my computer. Sparing you the gory details, let's just say that I *cannot* just buy a serial board and plug it into an unused slot. What I really need is a smart T-switch: on one side it would plug into my computer's serial port, on the other side two or more serial devices would plug into *it*. Based on, say, an escape code from the computer, the switch would connect one of the devices to the computer's serial port. Does such a thing exist? Let me point out that I do *not* want the reverse of this setup -- i.e., a "printer sharer", which connects two computers to one serial device. Go ahead, make my day -- tell me where I can find such a beast!: -- Dr. William Busa, Dept. of Biology, The Johns Hopkins University, Charles & 34th Sts., Baltimore, MD 21218 (301) 338-8207 bio_zwbb@jhun;ix.hcf.jhu.edu uunet!mimsy!jhunix!bio_zwbb
barton@holston.UUCP (Barton A. Fisk) (10/21/89)
In article <3014@jhunix.HCF.JHU.EDU>, bio_zwbb@jhunix.HCF.JHU.EDU (Dr. William B. Busa) writes: > > I have more serial devices than I have serial ports on my > computer. Sparing you the gory details, let's just say that I *cannot* > just buy a serial board and plug it into an unused slot. What I really > need is a smart T-switch: on one side it would plug into my computer's > serial port, on the other side two or more serial devices would plug into > *it*. Based on, say, an escape code from the computer, the switch would Sounds to me like all you need is a serial expansion board, such as the one made by Arnet which (depending on the operating sys) will recognize up to 16 ports per UART i/o address. Under certain operating systems (DOS) you will need to order the drivers that allow you to simply specify COM4-COM7 or 11 (depending on whether it is a 4 or 8 port model) respectively in your software. However, some operating sytems (sco xenix for example) include support for several different brands of serial expansion board. So, find out what your operating system will support then what your application will support and do a little homework. I'm not affiliated with Arnet, just a satisfied user. -- Barton A. Fisk | UUCP: {attctc,texbell,vector}!warble!holston!barton PO Box 1781 | (PSEUDO) DOMAIN: barton@holston.UUCP Lake Charles, La. 70602 | ---------------------------------------- 318-439-5984 | "Let him who is without sin cast the first stone"-JC