Suggestions to replace on board serial port (DB9)?

[videobruce]

I need to get a different serial port card for two different pieces of test equipment. The on board port I have is buggy.

I did a quick search and found this (also in 4 other places);
http://tldp.org/HOWTO/Serial-HOWTO-19.html

It mostly talks about speed, which really isn't a issue here. I'm mostly interested in compatibility. The test equipment designs are around 10 years old thought one is still being sold. I was told to watch what I buy, to stay away from 'cheaper' chips.

The on board I have now is what is on a Foxconn nVidea N570 chipset MB that uses the stock M$ driver. One device I'm having a issue with corrupted files either being sent or being received. I can't tell. I also don't know if it is the serial port on the PC end or the device end.

Anyway, any suggestions? I see PCI cards as low as $9, while I also see ones for over $100 which I find hard to believe.

What is the difference between these 16C550 that are the cheapos and the more expensive 16550, 16650 & 16950 for over $30 other than the buffer size?

I am using XP Pro w/sp2.

 

[Arcanedeath]

You may just want to try a USB to serial Device and see how that works, I've had good luck w/ Iogear (worked fine w/ an old palm PDA sync cradle & a smart card reader/programer)

 

[herm0016]

in general i have found the usb ones suck for testing equipment. pci card adapters should work well. as long as they are up to spec i suspect the cheap ones will work fine.

 

[videobruce]

I have no intention of using another protocol through an adapter with the issues this protocol has. That is adding fuel to the fire.

Two cards I was looking at have the same chipset (Syba & Rosewill):
MCS9835CV and they show it as a 16C550 compatable UART.

The current MB uses a nVidea nForce 570 chipset. I have no idea of what the actual chip for the serial port is.

 

[JDMnAR1]

I have had good luck with SIIG products in the past, and they offer a PCIe solution now if that is an option for you.

 

[Modelworks]

Another thing to consider is what does the device your using need in a serial port ?
Is it expecting 12v, 10v, 5v on the port ?
USB only provides 5 volt logic levels while the old pc standard was 10V.
Does the device do anything with the port that is not strictly to specs ?
Some devices like to use DTR and RI in ways they were not designed which some usb options and even addon cards have problems with.