> Hello Jeff,
 
> Just be careful of the cable wiring.  The Amiga was
> unusual in that some pins supplied power for external peripherals.  I
> have seen Amigas that were destroyed when they were plugged into the
> wrong cable.  Always make sure your Amiga is switched off before you plug
> or unplug cables or devices into the serial or parallel port.
 
Wow that's both good advice for Amiga folks as well as just interesting to
know in general.  I just went to check out Amiga pinouts to see just what
all the serial port could handle, and apparently different models had
varying capabilities, everything from audio in, audio out, the various
power voltages you mention, interrupts, and even the system clock.  That's
actually pretty awesome from a tinkerer's perspective.  Might have been a
headache for people to use standard cables with, though, until they made
sure it was ignoring those other pins instead of passing them through.

--- D'Bridge 2.99