problem with A31p IBM laptop and AKM cable
 

Anyone know what I would need to do to get an IBM laptop A31p to work with an AKM cable? When I connect to it through hypertext on com1 It returns characters, just not the ones I typed. Looks like a bunch of spaces and symbols. Tried the TTS aldltester, didn't work as well. The cable checks out ok on my desktop and a very old laptop here at work, so I'm pretty sure its ibm related.

the computer is fully loaded with an internal moded, wireless, bluetooth infra red kitchen sink and so forth, I've disabled all of these components with no luck.

Didn't know if IBM has some wierd proprietary serial port settings that I don't know about, or if there is some other component that I cant find which interferes with it.