Win4Lin User's Guide

About Personal Session Configurations
-- Devices View

Use the Personal Win4Lin Session Configuration window to view, modify, or create an environment in which DOS and Windows sessions are to run.

For more information about the general subject of DOS or Windows environment configurations and managing them, see About Personal Win4Lin Session Configurations.

Devices View

Use this view of the Personal Win4Lin Session Configuration window to select which optional devices to make available to your Win4Lin session.

These optional devices are categorized into three areas:

NOTE:
When adding access to new hardware devices a Windows session, Windows might not detect that the device is available now. If this is the case, use the Windows "Add New Hardware" tool to configure Windows to use a "new" device.

COM Ports

You choose which, if any, COM port attachments by selecting from the COM1 popup list and the COM2 popup list.

To prevent access to a COM port, select "None".

If the only selection possible is "None" then no COM ports have been set up to be available for Win4Lin sessions. This normally happens when on a system that Win4Lin does not provide COM port access to.

The standard definitions (other than "None") come in two styles. One type uses a Linux serial driver to provide access to the COM port. Typically these are identified in the list with names that include the Linux device name.

The other type provides access directly to the port, bypassing Linux. (Hence this is referred to as "direct attach"). Typically these are identified in that they do NOT have a name that refers to a Linux device name.

Note:
Some systems that allow access to COM ports only allow one of the two types. If only one type shows up in the selection list, then you are using such a system. If you have a choice between the two types, try them both to see which works best for you.

Note:

See ``Using serial ports'' in the Win4Lin User's Guide for a description of COM port attachment methods.

Only one "process" (A Win4Lin session or Linux program) can use a device attached to a COM port at one time. Therefore, it is recommended that you do not make the attachment of a COM port device the default for your standard "dos" or "win"

If you attempt to attach a COM port that is in use by another program, you normally will get a warning message, depending on how the attachment is defined. You may use the the System-Wide Win4Lin Administration "View/Create/Modify Device Definition" facility to view the "Failure Action" setting that determines how a blocked access to the COM port will be handled.

DOS Printer

You can perform printing functions in two ways: You select from the LPT popup lists to determine where (if anywhere) output to the DOS LPT ports are to be redirected to the Linux printing system. To print directly to a parallel port, you select that via "Other Devices" which is covered later.

NOTE: "Dos Printer" is used only for printing via Linux from DOS sessions, not Windows.

When Win4Lin is first installed there are two selections:

When "Default printer" is selected then printer output sent to that LPT is redirected to the Linux system "default" printer.

If you have alternate printer definition configured for use with Win4Lin, then these will show up for selection in the lists. To view the printer definitions and configure alternate printer definitions, you use the "View/Create/Modify Device Definition" facility in the Win4Lin Setup System-Wide Win4Lin Administration GUI. See ``Printer administration'' in the Win4Lin User's Guide.)

Timeout

When printing is done via a LPT port that has the output to it redirected in the Linux printing system, Win4Lin has to know where the "end" of the printout is, because to print via Linux, the data has to be bundled up and send in one shot to the Linux printer. Win4Lin has ways to try to detect when this happens, but none are 100% reliable. To help deal with this problem is the timeout setting. The timeout is the number of seconds Win4Lin should wait without receiving any print data before sending the print job off to the Linux printing system.

Click the Timeout up and down arrows associated with the selected LPT port to set the printer timeout.

Other Devices

You use the "Other Devices" list to select devices other than COM ports to attach to your Win4Lin session. The parallel ports are the prime example of such devices. When Win4Lin is installed some standard device definitions (parallel port and game port definitions) are created that appear in this list. This does not mean that these devices actually exist.

The system administrator might want to remove definitions for devices that do not actually exist or that should not be made available to Win4Lin sessions. The system administrator can potentially also provide access to other devices by making a device definition that shows up in this list.

The list you select from is a "check box" list. Click on the button to select or de-select a particular device.

To find out the exact definition of all the devices that are available, click the "Detail" button. A window appears which lists all available devices. To view the definition for for a particular device, click it.

To add, modify or remove device definitions from the "Other Devices" list, use the "View/Create/Modify Device Definition" facility in the Win4Lin Setup System-Wide Win4Lin Administration GUI. The definitions are maintained in the "Custom" view. (You have to be logged in as root to make modifications to the definitions.)