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Whole document tree 5. Possible ProblemsIf you have problems, you may find that this is due to conflicts between your BocaBoard and systems with dual IDE controllers. According to Kevin Traas:
5.1. Additional Information and Service CommentsIf you want to use your new Boca card with any standard DB-25 RS232 connector, you will have to get a special breakout box, which costs about $80. The card itself comes with a breakout box that plugs into the card through a truly formidable cable. It then supplies phone-like cables for the ports. The special $80 box has phone-like cables that plug into the breakout box included with the Boca card; you can then plug your modems or terminals into standard RS-232 connectors on the box. Unless you actually have a system that accepts the phone-like connectors, you should add the price of the box to the cost of the card when comparing it to other alternatives. I got my Boca 2016 card through a special wholesale deal that I don't think many people will be able to reproduce. It was available quickly. However, the breakout box for RS-232 took about two weeks to ship. You should be aware of your need for this box before you acquire the card. The 2016 board was $235 and the additional box was $79.95. I've heard that this breakout box is no longer available, and that now people just have special cables made. I'm not sure how you would go about doing this, though. Only one port of my first Boca 2016 worked. I called Boca, expecting to hear a long string of questions and advice. When they said, "Linux? What's that?" I feared the worst. However, upon hearing my actual problem, they cheerfully told me that the card was defective and I should send it back; full 5-year factory warranty, 30-days exchange. I was struck by how cheery the lady was. It was as though they were expecting the worst, and very kindly making the most of it! I had my hardware guy exchange the card. Unfortunately, the cards were back-ordered and they took about two more weeks to give me my new card. I have to say that I was quite annoyed at this, since I was anxiously chomping at the bit to get this thing up and running. Some people have problems with ports past the first eight. I have tested my card up to port 11 and all the ports appear to be working. Boca Research quality control may be lacking; I would recommend that people with troubles with the card call Boca and deal with them directly. I suspect that if I'd exchanged the card directly through the factory I would have had better service than through my dealer. The factory people were all quite nice and eager to please. Right now, I have only four phone lines. I bought the 16-port card for two reasons: because it has modem control (unlike the smaller ones), and in anticipation of future expansion. Some additional information on this subject from Kevin Traas of Baan Business Systems™:
I believe the adapter mentioned in this document is no longer being manufacturered, leaving cables such as your own the only remaining way of connecting the device. |