MERGE ISDN 2000AF Simulator

I recently bought a Merge 2000 AF ISDN Simulator.  I am not sure, but
I think the company closed. As a result, I would be very indebted for
any help or suggestions that you might provide. I tried using a
rollover cable to the back of the unit, and even tried a straight
through to DB9 Serial adapter. However, the Comport is still not
recognized on my cabling! Should I try a crossover to DB9 since I
don't have any other actual Keypad as noted in the PDF? Also do you
know how to get the very latest firmware?

I had tried running it through Xp within Vmware on a Linux host. Soon,
I discovered that a USB-Serial adapter won't be recognized, and the XP
virtual machine didn't recognize any Serial device within Linux.
However, the usb-serial adapters are fine for my switches and routers
on rollovers, and I have had no issues within hyperterminal sessions.

I even formatted my Dell 600M laptop and installed Windows 2003Server,
which is for some odd reason the only Windows OS media cd that the
computer would run  besides Linux. It wouldn't pick up XP anymore! So,
now I am sitting on my small Windows partition, and the Merge device
only goes to Demo, not picking up the Com port. Changing the port
number had no effect.

I think if I could reach a com port, and had the very latest firmware,
I could solve a lot of problems.  I am not worried about doing labs,
or even configuring other settings right now. Instead, I am merely
baffled and exasperated why it won't work on my computer. Also, I
think another brand name, probably for less on Ebay would have been a
better choice.

Thank you very much for your time and cooperation.

Sincerely,
David M. Schwartz