Null modem no output via PuTTY - FIXED

[Vorkbaard]

/edit
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Nailed it! I tried Hyperterminal and that gave identical results. Then I tried
PuTTY on Windows XP and now it works with PuTTY.
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Hi, this should be really ease, I must be overlooking something simple.

I set up PfSense 2.0.1-RELEASE on a Neoware thin client, enabled System > Advanced > Serial Terminal. Connected a null modem cable to my Windows 7 laptop. Started PuTTY with these settings:

Serial line COM1 (that's also what my device manager says)
speed 9600
serial
data bits 8
stop bits 1
parity none
flow control tried XON/XOFF and None

The vga output keeps working and I get no output whatsoever in the PuTTY window. I tried hitting Enter and other keys in it, rebooting PfSense, rebooting my laptop, setting Echo to Force instead of Auto in PuTTY.

I tried the full version and the embedded version of PfSense. Tried two laptops.

Nothing that mentions serial terminal, null modem or something of the sort in the logfiles.

What am I doing wrong?

Also, any tips on how I can test this cable between two Windows 7 machines would be helpful. I found tips for Windows XP and Vista but nothing on how to do that in Windows 7. I used this cable before and it looks ok but it would help to be sure.

Thanks!

/next day edit
Ok, I got hold of another nullmodem cable. I'm now getting random junk out of it. The router beeps its online jingle but no menu appears.