Dell Optiplex Second Serial port

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt (More info?)

"John Fox" <johan@devos-Christiaens-dot-be.no-spam.invalid> wrote in message
news:41921196$1_4@alt.athenanews.com...
>I have a Dell optiplex GX270, a I would like to use the second serial
> port that is present on de motherboard. Does anyone have the pinout of
> this 12-pin connector?
> I assume that 9 of them are used to connect to the 9-subD, and one pin
> is not present. So there are two pins left, which I expect to be used
> for availibility detection (enable).
> But I'd like to be more certain before trying.
>
> Who can help?

That doesn't sound like a serial port - perhaps a joystick port??

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt (More info?)

Well,
it is definitely a serial port. The connector is also mentionned in
the documentation, but no pins are described....

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt (More info?)

"John Fox" <johan@devos-Christiaens-dot-be.no-spam.invalid> wrote in message
news:419870e3$1_2@alt.athenanews.com...
> Well,
> it is definitely a serial port. The connector is also mentionned in
> the documentation, but no pins are described....

A recount here reveals that joysticks are 15 pin connectors and I';m sure
you know what a VGA connector looks like, so that leaves me stumped! Serial
ports are either 9 pin or 25 pin affairs. I have never encountered a 12pin
serial port or cable. Do they mention anything about convertor adapters to
connect to standard RS232 serial cables?

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt (More info?)

Well,
the connector on the main board is one for inserting a flatcable
connector., male
It looks like this:
------------
| oooo o |
| oooooo |
-----__----

Where o = a pin.
So pin 1 to 9 are present, pin 10 is empty, and pin 11 and 12 are also
present.

As I mentionned in first, I think the 2 extra pins (11 & 12) are
use to detect the presence of the adapter cable, so it can be visible
in the bios setup.
I know DELL sells such an adaptor cable (option when buying a PC)

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt (More info?)

John Fox wrote:

> Well,
> the connector on the main board is one for inserting a flatcable
> connector., male
> It looks like this:
> ------------
> | oooo o |
> | oooooo |
> -----__----
>
> Where o = a pin.
> So pin 1 to 9 are present, pin 10 is empty, and pin 11 and 12 are also
> present.
>
> As I mentionned in first, I think the 2 extra pins (11 & 12) are
> use to detect the presence of the adapter cable, so it can be visible
> in the bios setup.
> I know DELL sells such an adaptor cable (option when buying a PC)
>

Have you tried searching their support site for information on it?

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt (More info?)

Well,

I searched the DELL site, but they seem to do very mysterious about
it. No pinning info is found...

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt (More info?)

John Fox wrote:

> Well,
>
> I searched the DELL site, but they seem to do very mysterious about
> it. No pinning info is found...
>

Email Dell support.