33
CHAPTER 3: Installation and Preconfiguration
6. Plug each (remaining) CPU Cable’s video-, keyboard-, and (on IBM type
cables) mouse-port connectors into the corresponding ports on each CPU (or
into the video adapter on a non-VGA Mac). For various reasons, the CPU
should be OFF when you do this. (The Affinity also needs to be configured
before you turn ON the CPUs; see
Section 3.6
.) Avoid plugging CPUs into the
Affinity if they are already ON; if you accidentally do so with an IBM type CPU,
see
Section 4.3
to make sure the Affinity is set for the proper keyboard mode.
CAUTION!
Do
not
attach docking stations for older models of the ThinkPad
®
or
other portable computers to the ServSwitch Affinity. The Affinity
currently supports only “stream mode” (continuous) mouse data, but
older ThinkPad models have to see “prompt mode” (burst-on-request)
mouse data. Some newer docking stations and some newer ThinkPad
models might work with the Affinity, but determining whether a particular
unit will do so will probably require trial and error.
3.3.6 C
ONNECTING
D
EVICES
’ S
ERIAL
P
ORTS
(O
PTIONAL
)
If you want to, you can connect the RS-232 port of a device such as a router, a hub,
or a PC, UNIX
®
, or Sun
®
computer to your ServSwitch Affinity. You can then
manage the device from any user station attached to your Affinity system, as
described in
Chapter 8
. To make this kind of serial connection, run a special serial
cable (see below) from one of the CPU ports on the Affinity to the serial port on
the device.
We offer four types of cables for connecting devices’ RS-232 serial ports to the
ServSwitch Affinity. (Note that, even though the Affinity’s CPU ports are DB25
male connectors, they are not pinned the same way as the serial ports on a PC,
printer, or modem even when they function as serial ports.) The cables are:
Product code
Device-end connector
Device type
EHN290
DB9 female
PC or compatible DTE
EHN291
DB25 female
PC, terminal, or compatible DTE
EHN292
DB9 male
Modem or compatible DCE
EHN293
DB25 male
Modem or compatible DCE
If you need some other type of cable or adapter to reach some other type of
serial port or device—for example, the serial ports on some Cisco routers or the
8-pin DIN serial ports on legacy Sun computers—call Black Box Tech Support. We
might be able to give you a quote.
Once you’ve run your cable and configured that CPU port as a serial port with
the desired data rate (see
Section 4.3
), you can access the attached device as you
would during any terminal-emulation session.