SYBA PCI to Serial 4-port Host Controller Card Model SD-PCI-4S

Pros: Works as advertised.

Cons: None.

Pros: PCI interface loads down system and will NOT pass POST.
Board re

Cons: Piece of junk!
Came from RMA address!

Other Thoughts: I used to rave about newegg and their service.
Not so much anymore

Pros: Uses the same drivers as N82E16815124037. You can hook up 4 serial ports right out of the box with the add-on serial port bracket. Drivers updated easily on Windows Update site.

Cons: Chipset type should be shown more prominently on the card, or on a sticker on the back. some people may install the card first without looking at which chip they have, making it harder to figure out which driver to use on the CD (no auto-installer).

Other Thoughts: I deployed this in a Windows XP 32-bit and used Windows Update to find appropriate drivers without issue. I noticed the card has the ability to hold 6 serial ports if the last two had been soldered on with accompanying chipset. If Newegg doesn't stock it I hope they will consider it in the future.

Be sure to write down the letters/numbers from the largest chip on the serial card, it will correspond with which driver to select on the cd.

Pros: Installed great, looks great, the price is great

Cons: I had to go online to update the drivers. The software did not work at all. Not to much of a big deal.

Other Thoughts: After updated the software myself, everything works great!

Manufacturer Response:

Dear Customer,

Thank you for choosing our products. You can find the driver on the Driver CD:\NetMOS\NM9845S or you can download from the link listed below.

All our products come with at least 3 years warranty. Please don't hesitate to contact us at support-us@syba.com for replacement or if you have any question.

Regards,
Syba Customer Service 915

External Link(s):

Drivers|

Pros: Believe it or not, this card really is plug-and-play in linux (kernel 2.6.18). I powered down the computer, inserted the card, powered back up and then ran "lspci" and the PCI card was recognized right off the bat. After "sudo chmod a+rw /dev/ttySX" (where X=1,2,3), I was able to use the first three expansion serial ports. Since linux has only 4 serial ports, and the computer came with one, I had to activate the fifth (/dev/ttyS4). This procedure is described in the manual that comes with the product.

Cons: none yet, though I've only had it for a couple of days. I was able to talk to an RS232 device at 19200 baud.

Other Thoughts: this product is so inexpensive and seems to be exactly what I needed.

Pros: I have been using these cards for several years in industrial environments without any issues whatsoever. Those that can't get this card to work in their systems have other issues, possibly with the motherboard/computer they are installing it in, or they just don't know how to read a manual.

The directory on the CD containing the drivers you need to use for this card (for Windows XP) are located in the "D:\NetMOS\nm9845S\WinXP" directory. (D: is my CD/DVD drive, your drive letter may differ).

You might also want to consider reading the DriverInfo.txt file located in the NetMOS directory. It outlines the where the drivers are located for the various NetMOS cards and supported operating systems.

Cons: None.

Pros: Seems to work fine. Used it at 115200bps setting (max on WindO/I-NV2) and no problems. Nice having several ports. Seems to connect to touchscreens and PLCs with no problem.

Cons: I did have some problems at first. Windows could find the card and had the correct name for it. The driver did install for the controller but left the ports as unknown hardware. I think it was an "error 20". Tried several drivers and settings but nothing fixed the ports. Moved card to different PCI slot and everything worked fine right away.

Other Thoughts: Nice to have several ports so I can leave the different PLC programing cables plugged in and not have to climb behind the computer to swap them.

Pros: Works under XP x64 with drivers downloaded from website. 4 ports, cheap. The internal port header pins are spaced 0.400" apart, allowing for a standard 0.100" IDC to mate with both (PATA, Floppy, etc).

Cons: Initially installed on lower PCI port of an Asus P5E, Windows recognized it, but "Could not start device. (Code 10)", even after reboot. Swapping slots fixed it.

Max bit rate seems to be 115200, not the 1 Mbps (921600) claimed.

Card has two notches in the PCI connector signifying "universal" 3.3/5V, but the website claims it requires 5V...? Internal pinout not documented on included manual, website, or CD. Included CD is just a confusing mess of drivers with little/no documentation (just go to Syba's website).

Other Thoughts: Whipped up a little null-modem cable out of an old floppy disk IDC cable that fits on nice. Not sure of the pinout; it seemed somewhat strange, but it works. Just performed a blind copy of the connectors on the back of the "bonus slot" with a null-modem connecting them, and a multimeter.

Pros: 4 serial ports, cheap, easy to use, drivers work!

Cons: had to dig around a little bit on the cd for the right driver
4 serial ports take up 2 backplane slots if your case doesn't have additional areas to put COM ports. This is just a heads up; not necessarily a flaw of the product.

Other Thoughts: I was impressed that this 'generic' device worked so well almost immediately out of the box on a Windows 2008 x64 server. Good job Syba!

Pros: I had read some of the reviews and was concerned about making the purchase.
When the package arrived (fast shipping 5 stars for newegg)
shut computer down installed card, started computer put in cd/new device found selected search cd, searching about 2 min "done" now it does not get any easer than that.

Cons: none so far

Other Thoughts: Be carefull when you read reviews, This is a great product at a great price for my use (controlling and connecting to hal-2000 and jds stargate home control units as they require serial ports this gives me a total of 6 external ports.