---

@Don Ware wrote:

Hi,  my company is using Otiplex machines to connect to a device of our design.  The interface is RS232 via DB9 connector.  Running WinXp Pro.  Our own software is running on the PC.

 

Only when connected to the optiplex machines, I get (as yet unknown) serial errors.  If I cannot our device to other Dell PC's  (Dimension 2400) there is no problem.

 

Running at 9600 BAUD,  N82.

 

I'm pretty much convinced there is some incompatibility between my device the and optiplex.

 

I am curious if there are any known issues with the RS232 port on Optiplex PC's ?

 

From there I would attempt to chane my device to avoid the problem.

 

Thanks, Don Ware

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There is no such thing as one size fits all "known" issues over the Entire OPtiplex Line.

You did not provide
OS Version including service pack1 etc?
Serial Number/Service Tag?
What software is being used? To do what?
How do you know its not working?

There are Issues with RS-232 and cables and cable length and DOS ISA IRQ vs emulated IRQ etc.
That applys to All pc's but its not a Dell problem its an MSDOS Software timing problem.
Old Dos programs use the cpu timer tick to time data and it comes out wrong.

Symptoms include Runtime Error 200
runtime error '800a01fb'
An exception occurred: 'GetEnhWMF'
DOS Error 21h is a generic error when it cannot find an associated DLL, EXE, or other file that the application needs while loading.
If your application is linking to a DLL file that has a long filename (that is not in the 8.3 DOS file format), then Win32s would display the DOS Error 21h message.
run-time errors such as "Out of Memory," "Error R6005," or MS-DOS "EXEC failure"
This problem occurs with Windows XP and Windows 2000 Professional.

Microsoft's answer to this if you bite the bullet and PAY THEM for support
is that you must re-write your software into VISUAL BASIC.NET application.

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=823179

 

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@Don Ware wrote:

Assuming this would be a worthless endeavor, I did not want to spend too much time filling in all this information. I did enter a service tag # somewhere but it never got here.  It is 7H26J81.

 

Considering your attitude, I'll figure it out myself.

 

 

 

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So you've had a new GX620 for a few weeks. If it doesnt work with your application I would suggest going
backwards and getting an Optiplex 170L Tower which is closer in specification to the Dimension system mentioned above. You can return within 30 days. The GX620 is the Latest INTEL Chipset and does not have ANY ISA ports. That means Serial ports are non DOS MODE supported at the hardware level.

Since there is this alleged "attitude" as you have stated we are done.

System Summary

Service Tag: 7H26J81
System Type: OptiPlex GX620
Ship Date: 9/17/2005
Dell IBU: Americas

Quantity Parts # Part Description

1 FC754 PROCESSOR, 80547, PENTIUM 4 PRESCOTT DT, Pentium 4 Prescott DT, 2.8GHZ, 1 MEGB, 533FSB, SOCKET T, E0, MALE
1 149DF INFORMATION, PREPARATION MATERIAL, DEVIATION, PRECISION WORKSTATION, INCREASE, #2
1 M8811 POWER SUPPLY, POWER FACTOR CORRECTION, DELTA PRODUCTS, LEAD FREE, 220W
1 5120P CORD, POWER, 125V, 6FT, SPT2, UNSHIELDED
1 X2026 ASSEMBLY, CABLE, VGA/DVI, DONGLE, TRINITY
1 C8649 KIT, MOUSE, UNIVERSAL SERIAL BUS, 2BTN, LEAD FREE, OPTICAL, PRIMAX ELECTRONICS LTD
1 N6250 KEYBOARD, 104, UNITED STATES, UNIVERSAL SERIAL BUS, MULTI-MEDIA, LITEON, LEAD FREE
2 C6842 DUAL IN-LINE MEMORY MODULE, 256, 533M, 32X64, 8, 240, 1RX8
1 H9029 ASSEMBLY, COMPACT DISK READ WRITE/DIGITAL VIDEO DISK DRIVE COMBO, 24X, TOSHIBA SAMSUNG STORAGE TECHNOLOGY, D MODULES, UNDERWRITERS LABORATORY
1 DC164 KIT, DOCUMENTATON ON FLOPPY DISK, SOFTWARE, POWERDVD, 5.5, RELATIONSHIP LINE OF BUSINESS
1 JC407 HARD DRIVE, 40G, NATIVE COMMAND QUEUEING, 7.2K, 2M, LEAD FREE, SGT-PUM
1 WD766 KIT, SOFTWARE, OVERPACK, WXPPSP2B, COMPACT DISKETTE W/DOCUMENTATION, ENGLAND/ENGLISH