A Note Improperly configured serial hardware and / or software is the #1 reason people have trouble getting their Slink-e to function properly. Please read this section carefully so that you can avoid these problems. Hardware The RS-232 serial port is used to interface the Slink-e to your PC. The Slink-e has a 9-pin DB-9 female connector for this purpose. Your PC should have either a 9-pin DB-9 male or 25-pin DB-25 male serial port to attach the Slink-e to. The Slink-e comes with a 10-foot DB-9 cable to connect it to your PC.
Custom Serial Cables
If you would like to have you Slink-e positioned remotely from your computer you may use you own cable of up to 100 feet in length. If you are using your own cable, you must be sure that it is wired "straight through" (e.g. pin 1 to pin 1, pin 2 to pin 2, etc.). Only the following four pins need be connected in the cable if the additional 3 pins shown are shorted together on the PC side:
| PC (DB-9) |
Slink-e (DB-9) |
| 2 | 2 |
| 3 | 3 |
| 5 | 5 |
| 8 | 8 |
| 1,4,6 shorted together on PC side | |
MAC Serial Cables
The Macintosh uses a RS-422 serial port which requires some special wiring to interface to the Slink-e RS-232 port.
| MAC (DIN-8) |
Slink-e (DB-9) |
| 3 | 3 |
| 5 | 2 |
| 4 | 5 |
| 8 | 5 |
| 2 | 8 |
Software
All Slink-e software automatically sets the appropriate serial port baud rate, parity, stop bit, and handshaking settings so that you don’t have to. However, it is your job to insure that the serial port is properly configured in hardware and in the operating system. The port should appear in the list of ports available from the control panels in Windows 95, 98, and NT. Make sure that no other software (e.g. FAX programs, Pilot HotSync) is attempting to use this port, otherwise the Slink-e software will be unable to access the Slink-e.