Alzarius
11-11-1999, 08:23 PM
I just decided to take apart a modem serial connector lying around. You know, the part with the cable from the motherboard to the external cable connector... Now, here's the mystery. Why the heck does this big printer port looking serial cable/connector only make use of about the same number of pins/wires that the serial mouse connector uses? There are a whole slew of connectors that aren't connected to anything, but the pins are still there. Am I missing something here or does this seem a bit odd that something like this was designed in the first place. Does the modem cable actually use all of the connectors or are they just there for show? If those are dummy pins... Why? What's the point? After looking over some other cables, I can't imagine what the extra pins are there for in the first place. Com 1 and Com 2 board connectors have the same number of pins, yet as soon as you hit the plug connector, you get lots more pins. Seemingly useless...They don't appeared to be interconnected either, which I might be able to understand. They are just unconnected to anything. Does anyone know the story here?