Making Loopback plugs |
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You can purchase high quality molded loop back plugs from PassMark or, for the serial and parallel versions, you can make your own. A loop back plug is a small connector that plugs into the serial, parallel or USB port on your computer in order to loop the data output line into the data input line. In the case of the serial and parallel plugs, it also sets a few control lines to trick the computer into thinking that an external device is connected to the port. In the case of the USB plug, an intelligent USB controller chip is required to loop the data.
You'll find below the instructions for making your own serial and parallel loop back plugs. These plugs are designed to be plugged into the small 9 pin serial port and 25 pin parallel port on your computer. In conjunction with software such as BurnInTest they allow the testing of the port.
Warning: These are the pinouts of the plug that we have made and successfully tested with our own software on our own PC's. You use this information at your own risk! It's easy to make a mistake and we take no responsibility for the potentially serious consequences. |