Speaker Power Source

[Mikey0426]

Hello,

I used to have a Dell XPS Desktop, which came with 5.1 surround speaker system.  I recently upgraded to an HP Pavilion desktop.  I have no problem plugging the speakers into the new sound card, but there is also a serial jack coming from the speaker system, which I believe is the power source.  Unfortunately, my new computer does not have a serial port, and without it, I can not power on my speakers.  Is there any thing I can do about this?

Thanks,
Mike

[Salmon Trout]

A serial "jack"? Can you describe it a bit more?

[Mikey0426]

Yes, here is how the speaker system is configured.  The four peripheral speakers all plug into the subwoofer, which outputs 3.5" green, black, and yellow audio jacks which I plugged right into the sound card.  There is also a standard AC adapter from the subwoofer.  The center channel, which is where the volume control/on-off switch is located, has only a 9-pin serial output that used to also plug directly into the computer.  Without that output, I can not turn on the entire speaker system.  Is this a proprietary setup from Dell so I can't use their system w/ another computer?  Is there some way to get around this?

Thanks a lot.

[Salmon Trout]

Are you sure it's a serial plug?

This is a 9 pin serial connector



This is a 9 pin DIN plug which is often used with surround sound equipment

[Mikey0426]

Yes, it would fit perfectly in the serial connector you illustrated....

[Quantos]

It wouldn't happen to be a game port would it?