modem, serial port & laptop

[adyas at twowaytv.co.uk]

>>I've had the same problem with a Thinkpad 600.  In my case it happens 
>>when the serial port has been disabled.  The only way I've found to 
>>enable it is via the Windows software that came with the machine.
>>
> Thanks Alex, you were spot on. I can enable it in the BIOS; haven't
> tested the modem yet but dmesg looked a lot more hopeful so I'm
> quietly confident :)
> 
> I suppose there must be a reason for being able to enable/disable the
> serial port but I'm not too sure what it is.

I have an idea the infra red system shares the serial port's IRQ, so you 
disable the serial port if you want to use IR.

My BIOS (battery?) is on it's way out, settings keep reverting back to 
their defaults when the machine is turned off, so I keep having to boot 
into windows to turn the darn thing back on.  Then again my attention 
has recently been diverted to a brand new iBook, so it's not high on my 
priority list :)

Alex..