This appendix contains information on using various types of serial cables with the Challenge S server. It contains the following sections:
The serial cable shipped with the Challenge S server can be used to connect a printer or character (ASCII) terminal. You can also use a three-wire standard Macintosh (Plus, SE, or II computer) to Imagewriter™ I cable. (Note that the Imagewriter II cable does not work). The cable connector pin assignments for this cable are shown in Table B-1.
Table B-1. Cable Connector Pin Assignments for Printer/Character (ASCII) Terminal Serial Cable
Signal Description | Pin Number | Pin Number |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | N/C |
| 2 | N/C |
Transmit Data (TXD) | 3 | 3 |
Signal Ground (GND) | 4 | 7 |
Receive Data (RXD) | 5 | 2 |
| 6 | N/C |
| 7 | N/C |
Signal Ground (GND) | 8 | 7 |
Use a full-handshake serial cable, which includes request-to-send (RTS) and clear-to-send (CTS) connections, for a modem with RTS/CTS flow control. You can use this cable for all serial devices except terminals and serial printers (any application that doesn't need RTS flow control). For example, you can use this cable for a three-wire application. This cable can be used with a null modem adapter for serial printers and dumb terminals. You can purchase the full-handshake serial cable from Silicon Graphics or your local service provider.
 | Note: You cannot use a standard Macintosh serial cable. The Macintosh cable does not have the correct pinout for full flow control. |
The cable connector pin assignments for this cable are shown in Table B-2.
Table B-2. Cable Connector Pin Assignments for a Modem Cable
Signal Description | Pin Number | Pin Number |
|---|---|---|
Data Terminal Ready (DTR) | 1 | 20 |
Clear to Send (CTS) | 2 | 5 |
Transmit Data (TXD) | 3 | 2 |
Signal Ground (GND) | 4 | 7 |
Receive Data (RXD) | 5 | 3 |
Request to Send (RTS) | 6 | 4 |
Data Carrier Detect (DCD) | 7 | 8 |
Signal Ground (GND) | 8 | 7 |
To use the devices below, you'll need a serial adapter cable supplied by Silicon Graphics.
dial and button box
dials box
digitizer tablet
Spaceball®
optical mouse
The Silicon Graphics adapter cable is used to convert the serial cable that came with the device to a Silicon Graphics DIN-8 serial cable connector. This cable then connects to the serial connector on the back of the Indy chassis. The cable connector pinout assignments are shown in Table B-3.
Table B-3. Pinout Assignments for the Silicon Graphics Adapter Cable
Signal Description | Pin Number | Pin Number |
|---|---|---|
Data Terminal Ready (DTR) | 1 | 9 |
Clear to Send (CTS) | 2 | 5 |
Transmit Data (TXD) | 3 | 2 |
Signal Ground (GND) | 4 | 7 |
Receive Data (RXD) | 5 | 3 |
Request to Send (RTS) | 6 | 4 |
Data Carrier Detect (DCD) | 7 | 8 |
Signal Ground (GND) | 8 | 7 |
| N/C | 6 |
| N/C | 1 |
To use a serial device designed for personal computers using a DB-9 connector, you'll need a PC adapter cable. To obtain the cable, contact your local service provider. This adapter cable is used to convert from the PC's DB-9 pinout to the Indy workstation's DIN-8 pinout.
The cable connector pinout assignments for the PC adapter cable are shown in Table B-4.
Table B-4. Cable Connector Pin Assignments for the PC Adapter Cable
Signal description | Pin Number | Pin Number |
|---|---|---|
Data Terminal Ready (DTR) | 1 | 4 |
Clear to Send (CTS) | 2 | 8 |
Transmit Data (TXD) | 3 | 3 |
Signal Ground (GND) | 4 | 5 |
Receive Data (RXD) | 5 | 2 |
Request to Send (RTS) | 6 | 7 |
Data Carrier Detect (DCD) | 7 | 1 |
Data Set Ready (DSR) | 8 | 6 |
| N/C | 9 |
You can use the DIN-8 to DIN-8, null modem, RS-232 serial cable described in this section to connect a Challenge S server to any one of the following Silicon Graphics workstations:
Indy
Indigo2
Personal IRIS 4D/30
Personal IRIS 4D/35
Table B-5 describes the pin-to-pin connection of this cable.
Table B-5. DIN-8 to DB9 Server-to-Workstation Serial Cable
DIN-8 | Signal | DIN-8 | Signal |
|---|---|---|---|
Pin 1 | Data Terminal Ready (DTR) | Pin 7 | DCD |
Pin 2 | Clear to Send (CTS) | Pin 6 | RTS |
Pin 3 | Transmit Data (TXD) | Pin 5 | RXD |
Pin 4 | Signal Ground (GND) | Pin 4 | GND |
Pin 5 | Receive Data (RXD) | Pin 3 | TXD |
Pin 6 | Request to Send (RTS) | Pin 2 | CTS |
Pin 7 | Data Carrier Detect (DCD) | Pin 1 | DTR |
Pin 8 | Signal Ground (GND) | Pin 8 | GND |
You can use the DIN-8 to DB9, null modem, RS-232 serial cable described in this section to connect a Challenge S server to any one of the following Silicon Graphics workstations:
Onyx
Personal IRIS
POWER Series™
Table B-6 describes the pin-to-pin connection of this cable:
Table B-6. DIN-8 to DB9 Server-to-Workstation Serial Cable
DIN-8 | Signal | DB9 | Signal |
|---|---|---|---|
Pin 1 | Data Terminal Ready (DTR) | Pin 8 | DCD |
Pin 2 | Clear to Send (CTS) | Pin 4 | RTS |
Pin 3 | Transmit Data (TXD) | Pin 3 | RXD |
Pin 4 | Signal Ground (GND) | Pin 7 | GND |
Pin 5 | Receive Data (RXD) | Pin 2 | TXD |
Pin 6 | Request to Send (RTS) | Pin 5 | CTS |
Pin 7 | Data Carrier Detect (DCD) | Pin 9 | DTR |
Pin 8 | Signal Ground (GND) | Pin 7 | GND |