thast not my card.. its a pic i found on the internet..
its not the right pic either
i have a UN1082 not UN1085
its visually very similar but the jumpers are significantly different

chrisNova777 wrote:

this is the io controller i have.. perhaps the serial ports are damaged somehow.

You should be able to test them in a 16 bit isa lot leaving the vlb portion ovehanging. But you mention an isa multi-i/o controller has the same issue so I dought it is the vbl card.

just to wrap this thread up.. as mentioned before the problem was the serial cable from the pins on the board to the bracket were not a proper match for the card and used a different (more modern?)
i had ordered these parts from ebay to ensure that it worked properly not knowing that they coudl be wired different inside.. i only discovered this by accident! thankful that i did otherwise id still be unable to use the machine! 🤣
anyway i will mark this thread solved;)