Control of RS232 device from PowerPC?

[massen]

I would like to use LabView running on a PowerPC G4 to control a RS232 device (9pin) and have been unable to find out how to do this. What I would like to know is what (if) additional hardware I need to be able to connect such a 9 pin RS232 device to my Mac and if there are any special drivers needed in LabView (I presume not). May the USB port be used or is there a specific RS232 PCI card available (I've found none).

Regards,
Niels Madsen

[Chris_Rake]

I'm not a Mac expert, but I believe that the 9 pin serial Mac connector that is on some Macs can be easily converted to a DB-9 with an off-the-shelf cable. LabVIEW also contains NI-VISA and traditional serial vi's that allow communication with the native serial port. If your Mac does not have native serial ports, then you will have to purchase an off-the-shelf USB to RS232 convertor for the Mac. The HW should come with a driver that will map the serial port to a local port which can then be accessed by LabVIEW/VISA. As far as PCI cards go, NI-Serial (PCI) is not supported under Mac, and I'm not sure what other PCI options might be out there.

"Would you like to take a survey?"

What type of interface to RS-232 would be most useful for your application:
PCI, USB, or Ethernet?