RE: Onboard serial ports

["Mitchell D. Lynn" <mlynn@kc.rr.com>]

The problem I have with shops building the equip is being certain I am
making myself understood and that I am getting what I paid for and exactly
what I paid for. I'd rather buy the components and build it myself. 

 

-----Original Message-----
From: Speakup [mailto:speakup-bounces@linux-speakup.org] On Behalf Of John
G. Heim
Sent: Thursday, May 16, 2013 10:21 AM
To: Speakup is a screen review system for Linux.
Subject: Re: Onboard serial ports

Right but if you  buy your own motherboard, then you have to put it together
yourself. A lot of people aren't up to that.  And if you buy a machine or
even have one built for you in a shop, their mobos might not have an exposed
serial port or even the header block. The shop is probably buying the
cheapest mobos they can and they might not have a serial port header block.

Personally, I don't buy a server class mobo when I build. I buy a
workstation mobo with the header block and use an adapter to bring it out to
the case. It doesn't cost any extra to do that any more because I just
salvage the adapter from an old machine when I build a new one.

Another thing I'd recommend is going to a used computer store and buying a
slightly older high-end machine. The Dell workstations we buy for the
University of Wisconsin all still come with serial ports exposed on the
back. You can get a dual-core machine at the University's used computer
store for $100 and it'll run linux/orca just fine.

Before I started shopping at the University's used computer store,  I used
to shop at this place where I'd leave them a note with specifications on the
machine I wanted and they'd call me when a machine matching my specs came
in. They were always happy to do that.

On 05/16/13 04:17, Tony Baechler wrote:
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> Well, I guess I'm just lucky.  I found a motherboard with a serial 
> port right off the bat on Amazon last August.  I just searched for 
> server motherboard with serial port and it came right up.  I didn't 
> look at any pdf files.  Sure enough, it has a normal, regular serial 
> port which worked fine when I did my Debian install.  I really don't 
> get why there seems to be so much trouble finding such a thing.  As I
said, maybe I'm just lucky.
>   I've found that the dedicated computer sites are useless.  I had 
> much better luck with Amazon.  I wouldn't bother with the shops, but I'm
lazy.
>
> On 5/15/2013 6:38 PM, Mitchell D. Lynn wrote:
>> The shops I visited had systems built with those boards, and we 
>> checked CMOS to see if they were listed there as well as in manuals. 
>> They also looked at the board, and nothing indicated there were 
>> serial connections at all. It's something I will keep in mind in the
future.
>> Usually buy my stuff online; looks like I will again have to face 
>> those odious PDF files.
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--
---
John G. Heim, 608-263-4189, jheim@math.wisc.edu
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