Oh no!! No serial port after new motherboard. Only usb's.

[WildWestDesigns]

Do I change the new motherboard out to get another expansion slot...if that's possible....

You could do that. Win 98 doesn't tie itself to hardware like XP and later did. I would still be concerned if they have easily gotten drivers for the expansion slot that would work with 98. It may be easier then I'm thinking.

or get a new pc with more slots and go through setting everything up again

You may or may not be able to do that using the old cutter with a newer machine. I've seem to have read mixed results on that.

If you do get new and the plug doesn't work, and you have the install disc to Win 98, you could always see about running Win 98 in a VM and then passing that serial port into Win 98 to run.

Running Win 98 shouldn't require much effort compared to newer VMs as Win 98 mainly supported up to 512 MB of ram (unless you had the upgrade that allowed for 1 GB), but I do think SE was 1 GB, but I could be remembering wrong.

. Is it time to get a different plotter.....what would be an appropriate upgrade? I've read here that getting a good used Gerber HS15 is the way to go for a small shop?? Would it also be tied to the serial connector issue? I've
been running Win 98 because the 4b would not work with anything newer.
Appreciate any advice.

If you don't stick with upgrading to another legacy hardware, you shouldn't have a problem. But if your going from a 20 yr old machine to a 15 yr old machine, there could be other similar concerns with that as well. I would try to get as new as one could get. Certainly something within the Vista/7 era.

 

[JRgraphics]

Can you give us the model number on the motherboard? Even the new ones have ports along the edge that are legacy ports (com, serial + others). It may take a cable to get it to the back of the computer, but it is worth a look.

 

[Chuck Peterson]

I don't know if this helps but for what it's worth:
a couple years ago I had the Plotter Doctor in Los Angeles build me a computer to run my 4b, Edge and Omega 2.6. It uses windows XP. I do remember some issue with serial ports having to be the right kind. Obviously I'm not too qualified in this area but he got me all straightened out.

 

[SignBurst PCs]

Can you give us the model number on the motherboard? Even the new ones have ports along the edge that are legacy ports (com, serial + others). It may take a cable to get it to the back of the computer, but it is worth a look.

This is often true and is your best bet. If not, the Serial / USB adapters are definitely worth a shot.

Either way, I would be happy to help if you want to give me a buzz.