Gateway RQ5 Docking Station - Serial Port (RS232) doesn't work
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From: BillW50 on 10 Jan 2010 14:05 I got a docking station for my Gateway M465e because the power input doesn't function (I purchased it used betting that I could fix it). And I figure the easy fix would be getting a docking station. And then get power through it. A gamble I guess, but it worked. <grin> I really don't think the docking station has its own charging circuit or anything. And if this is correct, it should be either the jack is bad or a run somewhere on the motherboard to get that to work again, you think? I also don't like to leave batteries in my laptops. Only when they are in use or charging. Sadly, the trigger to lock the laptop in the docking station presses on the battery. Without it, no lock. So I cut a piece of wood in my work shop the same size and shape of the battery. And slid it in and that works wonderfully. ;-) Oddly enough, I can't get the serial port of the docking station to work with my Palm IIIc. I tried with Windows XP Pro and Windows 7 RC and no go. The Device Manager shows all is well. Used a serial to USB adapter and it works that way. Although it would be nice if the serial port worked too. I don't see any drivers you need to make it work. There isn't any, is there? I have no idea if the parallel port works, but everything else does. Also supposedly you can remove the laptop from the docking port while it is running. Yes that works, although the release gives a huge kick. My event log shows bad sectors on the hard drive whenever I do that. So I don't think that is a good idea to do. I was also surprised to learn that if you remove power from the docking station, the laptop battery powers both. As the docking station requires a lot more power than just the laptop alone (120 watts vs 65 watts). And I didn't see a big drain on the battery in this state. Interesting, no? -- Bill Gateway MX6124 ('06 era) 2 of 3 - Windows XP SP3
From: TJ on 10 Jan 2010 17:57 Have you tried to slow down the RS232 (COM) port speed?
From: BillW50 on 10 Jan 2010 19:31 In news:4b4a5b54_2(a)filemon1.isp.telecable.es, TJ typed on Sun, 10 Jan 2010 23:57:25 +0100: > Have you tried to slow down the RS232 (COM) port speed? Yeah... er... maybe. I'll double check that again. Usually it is set to 115k2. Changed the Palm, HotSync, and COM to all 9600. I also tried my other Palm IIIxe, which only likes real serial ports (not the RS232 to USB adapter). No go there either. I'll try spare cables next I guess. Many thanks! -- Bill Gateway M465e ('06 era) - Windows XP SP3
From: Sjouke Burry on 10 Jan 2010 23:42 BillW50 wrote: > I got a docking station for my Gateway M465e because the power input > doesn't function (I purchased it used betting that I could fix it). And > I figure the easy fix would be getting a docking station. And then get > power through it. A gamble I guess, but it worked. <grin> > > I really don't think the docking station has its own charging circuit or > anything. And if this is correct, it should be either the jack is bad or > a run somewhere on the motherboard to get that to work again, you think? > > I also don't like to leave batteries in my laptops. Only when they are > in use or charging. Sadly, the trigger to lock the laptop in the docking > station presses on the battery. Without it, no lock. So I cut a piece of > wood in my work shop the same size and shape of the battery. And slid it > in and that works wonderfully. ;-) > > Oddly enough, I can't get the serial port of the docking station to work > with my Palm IIIc. I tried with Windows XP Pro and Windows 7 RC and no > go. The Device Manager shows all is well. Used a serial to USB adapter > and it works that way. Although it would be nice if the serial port > worked too. I don't see any drivers you need to make it work. There > isn't any, is there? I have no idea if the parallel port works, but > everything else does. > > Also supposedly you can remove the laptop from the docking port while it > is running. Yes that works, although the release gives a huge kick. My > event log shows bad sectors on the hard drive whenever I do that. So I > don't think that is a good idea to do. > > I was also surprised to learn that if you remove power from the docking > station, the laptop battery powers both. As the docking station requires > a lot more power than just the laptop alone (120 watts vs 65 watts). And > I didn't see a big drain on the battery in this state. Interesting, no? > The port might be disabled in the bios?? Or in a non-standard bios state? That is certainly possible for the parallel port, I am not sure about your serial port.
From: nick on 11 Jan 2010 08:00
BillW50 wrote: > Oddly enough, I can't get the serial port of the docking station to work > with my Palm IIIc. I tried with Windows XP Pro and Windows 7 RC and no > go. The Device Manager shows all is well. Used a serial to USB adapter > and it works that way. Although it would be nice if the serial port > worked too. I don't see any drivers you need to make it work. There > isn't any, is there? I have no idea if the parallel port works, but > everything else does. > Bill, assuming the COM port is enabled in the BIOS the next thing I would try is a loopback test on the port. Make yourself a loopback adapter with a D9F connector and use hyperterminal or something to send and receive data. Nick |