Original Reader Request on the issue:

" Mike,
Could you please post this problem for me to see if anyone else has experienced it?

I just bought a UMAX S900L. I have discovered that I cannot use my PowerPort Juggler with it. Also, I cannot get a manual switch box to work. The switchbox and the PowerPort Juggler work fine on my 7500. Both ports respond the same way. My modem and my Epson printer work fine when directly connected to the serial ports.

Do you have any ideas? Have you ever heard of this problem before?
Thanks much!!
Thomas "

Reader Responses (most recent first):

" I don't have a UMAX or Powerport, but I do remember something about using a serial port switchbox.

Namely, that you need a special "straight-thru" cable connecting the computer to the switchbox, and then a standard mac serial cable for the switchbox to serial device.

I don't know why this is necessary, but I needed to do this to get things to work. Also a lot of switchboxes cannot be used with Laser printers. I don't know the reason why here either.

I ordered the "straight-thru" cable from MacZone. It's listed next to their switchboxes in the mail-order catalog.

Hope this might help,
Joe Borzellino "

" I can't vouch for the Port Juggler (I had one and it was such a disaster that I stopped using it over a year ago), but your reader also commented he couldn't get a basic switchbox to work. I don't know what error he is getting, but I have used a A/B/C/D switchbox on my S900 for over a year with absolutely no problems. He might want to check and make ABSOLUTELY certain the cable connecting the Port Juggler/switchbox to the S900 is a straight-thru. I accidentally substituted a non-straight-thru cable one time and lost access to everything on the switchbox.
Yours,
Geoff Peterson
"

" Hi: I had Port Juggler on a UMAX S900 G3/275 and it worked fine until I disconnected everything to rearrange my workspace and managed to bend the pins of the Port Juggler's connector while trying to reattach it to the port in the back. When I get the time, I'm going to try straightening out the pins and see if I can get it work. But until my cyberklutziness intervened, it was working fine.
Bob Simpson "