Custom specialized PC 2

[jazzdrive3]

I'm looking for a place that sells decent computers with a minimum of 4 rs232/COM ports on the motherboard for use in a retail environment. None of the mainstream dealers offer this option.

Does anyone here know who does? Or even a motherboard manufacturer that does?

Thanks for your help.

 

[Scotsdude]

4 ports on the board? you;ll be lucky. Why not just buy a PCI card? You can pick them up relatively cheaply, and they work just as well.

------------------------------------------------------
Matt
He's not the messiah, he's a very naughty boy

 

[gbaughma]

I am not aware of a single board that has 4 com ports on the mobo... especially if they're "legacy" ports, since the legacy ports shared interrupts.



Just my 2¢
-There once was a man from Peru
Who wanted to write a Haiku
but...

--Greg

http://parallel.tzo.com

 

[jazzdrive3]

That's an option, but not an ideal one. We need to be able to get the PC in and immediately put our image on the hard-drive and then ship it out again. Time is key here, and keeping things as simple as possible.

Even if the computer isn't custom, it would work. Is there a prepackaged solution somewhere?

Right now we are using Digipos Blad Servers, which provide 4 com ports and 4 USB ports, but we're looking for alternatives so we don't have vendor lock in.

Thanks.

 

[Sympology]

Anything like this any good to you?

http://www.cooldrives.com/four-port-serial-adapter-box-usb-serial-port-quad-rs-232.html

Only the truly stupid believe they know everything.
Stu.. 2004

 

[jazzdrive3]

We are currently using a USB to rs232 hub already. But we need a certain number of ports directly on the motherboard because some of our hardware does not work across the USB conversion.

Thanks for the suggestion though.

 

[kmcferrin]

I hate to say it, but any way you slice it you're probably going to be stuck with a vendor lock-in situation. Once upon a time (the early 1990's) you could buy a system with 4 serial ports on them, but they were almost always 2 ports on the board and two more connected via ribbon cable. They were also AT form factor instead of ATX. I haven't seen a board with 4 serial ports in over a decade. If a board like that exists today, it is going to be a custom built solution for a niche market, which almost always means vendor lock-in.

As mentioned above, if you can get away with using an add-in PCI card with multiple serial ports on it, that's probably the way to go.

What exactly are you replacing? Is it a server that controls several POS terminals that connect via serial cables? If so you might be able to get something from Digi (or someone similar) that provides the functionality that you need (i.e., the ability to connect a large number of RS232 devices to a single server). I once worked at a company where all of the laboratory instruments required a serial connection. We used a terminal server/port concentrator like that connected to our AIX box via ethernet. Then we ran CAT5 from the concentrator to the wall jacks in the lab. On the other end all we had to do was use RS232 to RJ45 adapters and we could plug the devices in and they worked.

 

[jlockley]

Before you go to a general vendor, speak with the people who do your POS system. The Aloha guys are extremely competent in hardware for their systems.

Add in PCI is always good and a good argument for getting a board with enough slots.

Whenever I go to Tiger for parts, I am shocked and awed by the competence of their support and sales people. It would be worth a call to them.

Http://WWW.tigerdirect.com

.

A local group I have found to be honest and reliable for building custom computers is Central Computer Systems at

http://www.centralcomputer.com

. They have a large inventory on hand and will give you good information about what can't be done. Know their stuff well.

I also like a San Francisco firm, now Computer Cafe, once San Francisco Computer

http://sf-computer.com/

on Geary. The web site is useless. It's one of those places everyone knows and goes to for a board or a cable, unless they have changed, although Tim, who does much of the repair work told me (I think..not great English) that they were doing only custom systems.

They seem to specialize in POS systems. Their margins are minimal, but they do a land office businees (or SO they do a land office business) It's worth a call.

There must be a dozen more places like these locally, but these are my two standards. They build and ship.

 

[gbaughma]

But we need a certain number of ports directly on the motherboard because some of our hardware does not work across the USB conversion.

Ack. Then they are probably using hard-coded system calls for the com ports.

Shoddy programming, IMHO. I would ask them when they plan to resolve that little problem.



Just my 2¢
-There once was a man from Peru
Who wanted to write a Haiku
but...

--Greg

http://parallel.tzo.com

 

[Frank4d]

Check out C584/9 (4 channel) and C588/9 (8 channel) here:

http://www.adlinktech.com/PD/web/PD_detail.php?cKind=&pid=249&seq=&id=&sid=

I have used several of them at work.