sundance-communications.com/forum Forums TDM Business Telephone Systems Toshiba Telephones & Systems Resolved: Uadmin 2.1 over LAN

This is something we've been trying to do for a while. Last week we had to do some maintenance on a CTX28, and I decided to try out some new info.

It worked. First, I want to thank B&B Electronics, a manufacturer in Illinois, for making their serial connectivity expertise freely available. The golden link is here:

web page

Using the info on this link, and the relevant info from the CTX28 I&M guide, I proceeded to test.

The parts:

Windows XP SP2 fully patched and updated, optimized for performance. Strictly a business laptop, runs only security and communications programs apart from the work software. All "pretty" parts of the interface have been stripped. All unneeded Windows parts have either been uninstalled or disabled.

Toshiba Uadmin 2.1

A 6-conductor x-pinned utp cable as per Toshiba's specs (usoc rj25-wired rj12 plug)

A db9 female/rj12 adapter with loose leads which I wired per Toshiba's specs (about $1.50 online)

A Comtrol DeviceMaster RTS-1 Serial-To-Ethernet device server ($120-$200, but I've picked up mine on Ebay for $9.99)

NS-Link 4.03, device driver and manual for the above, free, downloaded from Comtrol\'s website .
PortVision Plus 3.02, and monitoring utilities free from the same website.

A simple RS-232 tester, about $8 online.

A program called Comm-Extender from Adontec . This costs $295, but you can download it for a 30-day trial period. The trial-period product is fully functional.

1. First I made sure VM administration worked with the direct connection.
2. Then I connected the Comtrol device on the customer's LAN. Installed the device's drivers & monitoring software on the laptop (has to be done properly and carefully, it's a multistep process - btw the device should indicate that driver/firmware NS-Link version 5.17 is loaded after installation).
3. Left the Comtrol device at defaults - it created a "virtual" COM4 serial port on my laptop.
4. From the PortVision application, I made sure the COM4 port was set according to Toshiba's specs (Can also be done through the serial server's Web screen) and rebooted the laptop.
5. Tested the operation of the COM4 serial port.
6. Installed COMM-Extender and edited the config script to redirect all communications to/from COM1 to the Windows "virtual" port COM4 (VERY clear and simple instructions in the Comm-Extender manual)
7. Launched Comm-Extender, and tested COM1: it was redirected to COM4, which was redirected to the Serial-To-Ethernet server.
8. This is where the info from B&B Electronics came in play:
Attached the RS232 Tester to both ends (Serial server & GVMU cable) in succession and saw how the 2 ends expected to communicate. Then I attached the tester in-line with the connection to see how the 2 ends did actually communicate.

With the tester attached, it worked as a charm.

Technically, the RS232 tester acted as a "null modem" to the connection. Otherwise, no connection would be possible between the serial server and GVMU. You can pick up a null modem adapter online for $2.00 or so.

Assuming you don't mind the cost, or the hassle of the initial setup, you can use Uadmin over the LAN.
Next project (when I get to it): Remote admin through the internet.

I have to update some of the info - in case anyone wants to try this.

First, I'm pretty sure that other serial-to-ethernet devices can work with this setup, not just Comtrol's RTS-1. It is just what I had available.

It seems though, that Adontec's Comm-Extender is pretty much a must-have for this. We tried several other COM port redirectors, and none of them worked. It seems only Comm-Extender can deal with programs that access the hardware directly, as Uadmin does. If anyone knows otherwise, please let everybody know.

Also, we realized that the connection between the Comtrol RTS-1 serial port (DB9 male) and the GVMU serial port does NOT require a null modem adapter or null modem cable. Instead it needs a DB9-to-DB25 adapter on both ends. It seems that serial signals - even on the same signal lines (!) - are different between a 25-pin jack and a 9-pin jack, at least in this case. We don't know whether this is a peculiarity of the Comtrol device or the GVMU.

some great info there sph.....