COM Port Problem on Thinkpad600E w/NT4.0

I have a Thinkpad 600E running NT 4.0. I use a port replicator on my desktop. I can’t get my Palm cradle or my digital camera to communicate with the PC. I have enabled COM Port 1 through Thinkpad Configuration. I do not have the Palm HotSynch in my start-up group. Any ideas what I am doing wrong? My system runs AUTOCHK every time a boot which indicates a problem somewhere but I don’t know what it is. Please help.