Premmia PS Series
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Using the Serial Ports{xe "Serial ports"}{xe "COM
ports"}{xe "Mouse"}{xe "External modem"}
You can connect most serial devices such as mice and modems to the serial ports on the
back panel. Serial devices must be connected and disconnected when the computer is turned
off in order to work correctly. If you connect the device with the computer turned on, you
may damage both the computer and the device.
Once the device is connected and turned on, you'll probably need to run a Setup program,
refer to the device's manual for details.
However, the serial port standard is an old, slow one, and you should use the USB port
instead – USB devices are faster, can be connected without turning off the computer and
support plug and play so you don't have to reload drivers each time you connect or
disconnect a device.
Windows refers to serial devices as COM1, COM2, COM3, etc, and assigns these according
to the addresses and interrupts of the serial devices. There are two serial ports on the back
of your computer (see page 13): COMA and COMB; the addresses and interrupts of these
ports are set in Setup (see page 66). By default, COMA is set to COM1 and COMB to
COM2.
Using the Tape Drive{xe "Tape drive"}
If you bought your computer with the tape drive installed, it will be below the optical drive.
The drive stores data and programs on tape; the capacity of the tape is 10GB standard, and
up to 20GB with compression.
Using the USB Ports{xe "USB"}{xe "Universal Serial
Bus" \t "
See
USB"}{xe "Hubs"}
The Universal Serial Bus (USB) ports give you an easy way to connect accessories.
Previously, you had to connect external devices in several different ways - parallel, serial,
PS/2, game port - the computer and external device had to be turned off while doing this,
and you spent a long time getting everything to work together. With USB, you can connect
up to 127 devices to your computer, using cables between each device up to 16 feet (5m)
long, each using the same type of connector. The first time you connect a device, you may
have to load some software, but after that, the device is configured automatically.
