-=> JIM HOLSONBACK wrote to CHARLES ANGELICH <=-

 CA> If the machine had an internal modem orginally I can imagine
 CA> how they decided the serial ports did not need a true 16550A. I
 CA> would go with an internal modem myself even though it is nice
 CA> to have an external around for testing etc. of other systems.

 JH> Possible.  Wayne's 486 was a Packard Bell, and I worked with one of
 JH> those which had some sort of a modem-on-a-daughterboard 14.4 modem.

 Correct.

 JH> PITA it was,

 Correct.

 JH> as removing the card and jumpering the board to disable
 JH> still wouldn't free up that COM port so that a modem card could use it.

Not correct at least WRT  PB450 series motherboards.
I jumpered pin 1 and 11 IIRC, opposite end opposing pins from
pin 1 where the daughterboard modem plugged in than disabled "modem"
in CMOS and was able to recover COM 1  IRQ 4 for use with another
modem. I am now in possession of two P.B. daughterboard
modems, one 2400 and one 9600, make me an offer ;-)

 JH> But all of our advice on this is pretty much moot now, since Wayne is
 JH> so tickled with the Celeron 433 and Pentium machines he now has.  My
 JH> guess is that he'll never make it back to working with the Packard Bell
 JH> 486 mainboards.

 Oh you never know, I'm a strange sort and just might setup
 the 486 Linux after attempting surgery to replace the 8250 UART
 with an 16550AF but that would only happen if I
 get these machines to my liking and feel the need
 for an odd sort of challenge.
 OTOH I suspect you're right.

 CA> Judging by server stats from my music webpage almost 50% of all
 CA> who frequent that webpage are on DSL connects which is another
 CA> excuse for neglecting to put in 16550As? Serial ports are
 CA> dropping in significance lately.

 JH> Yep, with so many peripherals going to USB now, and with mouse on a
 JH> PS/2 port, and I suspect a very small % of users wanting an external
 JH> modem, it may not be long before onboard serial ports are eliminated,
 JH> and those who want them would have to put in an expansion card, as we
 JH> did for so many years.  Heck, they could do away with parallel port
 JH> too, and use USB for the printer.  Seems to me the way the industry is
 JH> going, with USB moving to standard printer interface, and parallel port
 JH> maybe moving to an "option" which might be eliminated before much
 JH> longer.

ARRRGh :-(
Ever see the worlds smallest fully functional web server?
Dang thing was the size of a 9 volt rectangular smoke detector
type battery. There was a link to that site on www.memepool.com
once. 
 
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