> It's not clear from what I've been able to
find that the adapters
> between the serial port and SD cards are passive [...].  Do you have
> reason to think the adapter is a passive device? 
      Yep, I have.  I built one. 
Sounds like a pretty convincing reason. :)
Ah!  Excellent.  Thank you very much; I think that page answers my
remaining questions here.
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