Problems with IBM service (Dead Serial Port in McMurdo)

["Alexander J. Annala" <a.annala@ucl.ac.uk>]

>Date: Thu, 14 Nov 1996 11:09:20 +1300
>From: Chris Liljenstolpe <cds@mcmvxb.mcmurdo.gov>
>To: thinkpad@cs.utk.edu
>Subject: Problems with IBM service
>Message-Id: <3.0b35.32.19961114105004.00749070@mcmvxb.mcmurdo.gov>
>
>2) About a week before I left for Antarctica (where I am now) I discovered
>that my serial port was not working.  I could not use it for a direct
>connection to another machine, and I could not use it to talk to my digital
>camera.  It did pass an EasyStart diagnostic (without a cable attached).

An alternative solution given you were pressed for time might have
been to buy a PCMCIA card with one or more extra serial ports.  
Depending on which model thinkpad you have this might actually be
an advantage (e.g. my TP750CS appears to have an 8250 [slow speed
serial port]) because the PCMCIA card could emulate a 16550 serial
port (capable of much higher speed).