How can I tell if there is active equipment on CM ports.

You might be able to tell by looking at the active serial signals under the Serial statistics > Serial Ports menu from the Digi CM web interface.

Via the CM web ui under: System stat->Serial ports it shows signal status and data in (Rx) and data out (Tx)

I don’t have these options, only thing I see is serial port, clustering, system administration.

The “System statistics->Serial ports” pg has been there since day 1 of the CM. On left side below “System adm”. Sure this is a CM ? We can verify by serial number. Firmware rev would also help?