serial pci

[blade rider]

hi, i bought a pci so i can connect my cable box and d/l the latest f/w, but i cant seem to find the box, i know how what to do etc with the box but just checking i have done the right thing in connecting my pci,
first it isn't a card it just has a "plug" on it, i was told by the bloke in the shop that it connnects into were the usb plug goes but the plugs are different and it dont fit there, however i found a "COMB" or "COM8" on the motherboard and it fit perfectly, i connected it but when i try to d/l the fix to my box it says "no available com port" i have read everything on the cable forum and cant get anywhere, hopefully someone on here can help?
thanx in advance

[dandnsmith]

Originally Posted by blade rider

it isn't a card it just has a "plug" on it, i was told by the bloke in the shop that it connnects into were the usb plug goes but the plugs are different and it dont fit there, however i found a "COMB" or "COM8" on the motherboard and it fit perfectly, i connected it

So, is the device entirely within the PC case?, and where is the socket to which you connect your serial cable?

Originally Posted by blade rider

but when i try to d/l the fix to my box it says "no available com port"

After connecting it, what shows in device manager? If the OS has seen it, there should be something there, and it may be marked as having a problem - you may also be able to see which (if any) serial port is there.

It occurs to me that it's just possible that there is a BIOS setting which needs adjusting to take account of the new hardware.

[blade rider]

yeah the device is in the case plugged into the motherboard were it says "comb" or "com8" and the socket is in one of the card slots, at the back, it has the same metal bar thing across that the cards normally have.
as for it finding/seeing it nothing comes up in device manager, i'll have a better butchers l8r, cheers for the help

[smoggy]

you could also try
in control panel click on Add Hardware and see if your computer detects your new hardware.

[blade rider]

Originally Posted by smoggy

you could also try
in control panel click on Add Hardware and see if your computer detects your new hardware.

yeah it just don't find it, never mind i gave up on the card and have got a usb converter, hopefully that'll do it, cheers for the help guys

[dandnsmith]

Best of luck with the serial-usb converter.
A lot of them seem not to work (I know of one real masochist - got one, it worked, so got another, it didn't, so got 2 more, neither of which worked).

[blade rider]

sorted now, got one that had the vista drivers with it off ebay from abcproducts, top notch and quick delivery, didn't find at first but then i plugged it into both pulled the power of the box put back in and it found it straight away