Solved: Who has a laptop with a DB9 Serial Port?

lhoyle · ‎07-23-2010

I am about to be in my window (no pun intended) to get a new laptop from my employer.

I have been stung by the failure of my Belkin USB-to-Serial adapter to send Ctrl-Break to Cisco routers for password recovery twice in the last year. I would like to order a laptop with a fully-functional serial port. I have looked through the Lenovo (employer's preferred brand) and did not find any models that have a serial port.

I would be interested to hear from peers who have a laptop with a serial port and what brand and model it is. I could really care less about the rest of the laptop. I use my home PC for multimedia and gaming.

TIA,

Lee

michael.leblanc · ‎07-28-2010

Lee:

Are you saying that you have never been able to send a break signal using your Belkin USB-to-Serial adapter, or that intermittently you are unable to do so. If intermittently, were you using the same terminal software at the time of failure, as you were at the time of success?

The key stroke combination required to send a Break Signal depends on the terminal emulator in use.

The following document provides a list of key stroke combinations for common applications, and describes "how to simulate a break signal".

Standard Break Key Sequence Combinations During Password Recovery

http://www.cisco.com/application/pdf/paws/12818/61.pdf

If using PuTTY, you would right-click on the title bar, click Special Command, and then click Break.

Best Regards,

Mike

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tprendergast · ‎08-04-2010

Things like this work well...use the PCMCIA bus to drive your serial port. The usb drivers for the dongles are often pretty poor.

http://www.psism.com/pca-ser1s.htm

http://www.usbgear.com/USB-SERIAL-ADAPTER-1x-Serial-PCMCIA.html (look at the card adapters)

Hope that helps...

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Phillip Remaker · ‎08-09-2010

Some of the HP "business laptops" have a serial port, but they are becoming quite rare. Check to see if your USB adapters support break, a lot of them do.

Even all of the people at Cisco use USB-only laptops at this point!

This is one of the models that has been successfully used inside Cisco: http://www.cymaxstores.com/CODi-USB-to-Serial-Adapter-Cable-A01026.htm

The community at http://www.conserver.com/ spends a lot of time discussing these kinds of issues.

View solution in original post

michael.leblanc · ‎07-28-2010

Lee:

Are you saying that you have never been able to send a break signal using your Belkin USB-to-Serial adapter, or that intermittently you are unable to do so. If intermittently, were you using the same terminal software at the time of failure, as you were at the time of success?

The key stroke combination required to send a Break Signal depends on the terminal emulator in use.

The following document provides a list of key stroke combinations for common applications, and describes "how to simulate a break signal".

Standard Break Key Sequence Combinations During Password Recovery

http://www.cisco.com/application/pdf/paws/12818/61.pdf

If using PuTTY, you would right-click on the title bar, click Special Command, and then click Break.

Best Regards,

Mike

tprendergast · ‎08-04-2010

Things like this work well...use the PCMCIA bus to drive your serial port. The usb drivers for the dongles are often pretty poor.

http://www.psism.com/pca-ser1s.htm

http://www.usbgear.com/USB-SERIAL-ADAPTER-1x-Serial-PCMCIA.html (look at the card adapters)

Hope that helps...

Phillip Remaker · ‎08-09-2010

Some of the HP "business laptops" have a serial port, but they are becoming quite rare. Check to see if your USB adapters support break, a lot of them do.

Even all of the people at Cisco use USB-only laptops at this point!

This is one of the models that has been successfully used inside Cisco: http://www.cymaxstores.com/CODi-USB-to-Serial-Adapter-Cable-A01026.htm

The community at http://www.conserver.com/ spends a lot of time discussing these kinds of issues.

lhoyle · ‎08-10-2010

Thanks to all the replies. I have updated the driver on my Belkin,

and I will continue to look at the alternatives mentioned in the replies.

Thank you again!

Lee