Serial Connection to a 500 Series Interactive Whiteboard

Use this procedure if your SMART Board 500 series interactive whiteboard came with a SMART serial/power cable.

You also received the SMART Keyboard adapter, which you'll connect between this cable and your computer's keyboard port.

  1. Insert the SMART Board software CD into your CD drive.

The SMART Board software setup program should start automatically. If it doesn’t, select Start > Run and enter x:\autorun.exe (where x: is your CD-ROM drive). Follow the on-screen instructions to install SMART Board software.

If you choose a standard installation, SMART Board software will start whenever you start your computer. If you choose a custom installation, you’ll be asked if you want to put the SMART Board icon in your Startup folder. We recommend you say yes so that SMART Board software starts whenever you start your computer.

  1. Without removing the SMART Board software CD, shut down your computer.

  2. Connect the short DB9 end of the supplied serial cable to the 9-pin serial port underneath the interactive whiteboard.


  1. Connect the other end of the serial cable (long DB9 connector) to a COM (serial) port on your computer.

  2. Unplug your keyboard connector from the computer and reconnect it to the supplied SMART Keyboard adapter. Insert the male end of the keyboard adapter into the keyboard port on your computer. Finally, insert the keyboard adapter’s power plug into the power plug socket on the back of the long DB9 connector.

NOTE: If you’re connecting to a laptop computer, you’ll need to connect an external power supply rather than a keyboard adapter to the long DB9 connector.

  1. Turn on your computer.

The Ready Light on the pen tray should turn red. This indicates that the pen tray is receiving power from the keyboard port on your computer.

When Windows starts, a Found New Hardware plug-and-play wizard will lead you through the process of locating the SMART Board driver.

  1. Make sure that Windows searches your hard drive for the SMART Board driver. The driver was copied to your hard drive as part of the installation.

Once you’ve completed the wizard, the Ready Light on your pen tray should turn from red to green. This indicates that your board is now touch sensitive.

  1. If you added the SMART Board icon to your Startup menu during the software installation, it automatically opens when you restart your computer. However, you can also open SMART Board software at any time by selecting Start > Programs > SMART Board Software > SMART Board Tools.

  2. Orient the computer image on the interactive whiteboard to ensure that SMART Board software accurately tracks your touch.

  3. If you’re running Windows ME or NT 4.0, or the Ready Light simply remains red rather than turning green, you’ll need to manually configure the serial (COM) port to which your interactive whiteboard is connected.

If you have problems with the connections, read the Technical Bulletins on the SMART adapters. Also, read the Adjust a Projected Image topic.