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Text File  |  1993-03-26  |  21KB  |  263 lines
  1.                                                                                 
  2. PRINT SELECTION FOR APAR - II06069 92/07/14                                     
  3. APAR= II06069  SER=                            DD DOC                           
  4. INFO APAR WITH TIPS FOR USING COM PORTS ON AT BUS SYSTEMS                       
  5. ( OS2INFOAPAR OS2OTHER  OS/2 2.0 R200 562107701 )                               
  6. STAT= INTRAN       FESN5NFO000-000  CTID= II0000 ISEV= 4                        
  7. SB92/06/05  RC          CL          PD           SEV= 4                         
  8.                        PE=                       TYPE= I                        
  9. RCOMP= INFOPCLIB    PC LIB INFO ITE RREL= R001                                  
  10. FCOMP=                              PFREL= F     TREL= T                        
  11. ACTION=             SEC/INT=                     DUP/                           
  12. USPTF=              PDPTF=                       DUPS 0                         
  13. DW92/06/05  RT          SC          FT                                          
  14. RE          PT          UP          LP                                          
  15. PV          AP          EN          FL                                          
  16. LC92/06/22  RU92/06/05                                                          
  17.                              CUST INST LVL/SU=                                  
  18. FAILING MODULE=              FAILING LVL/SU=                                    
  19. SYSROUTE OF:          RET APAR=             PS=                                 
  20. COMP OPER ENV=                                                                  
  21.                                                                                 
  22.                                                                                 
  23. SYSRES=      SYSIN=      SYSOUT=      CPU=             RE-IPL=                  
  24. OPTYPE=                 SPECIAL ACTIVITY=          REGRESSION=                  
  25. PRE-SCREEN NO.=          RSCP= RS000                                            
  26. ERROR DESCRIPTION:                                                              
  27. .                                                                               
  28. ****************************************************************                
  29. THESE ARE INFORMATION TIPS FOR COM PORT USAGE ON AT BUS SYSTEMS                 
  30. ****************************************************************                
  31. .                                                                               
  32. Keywords: com  comm communication communications                                
  33.           async com1 com2 com3 com4 com1: com2:                                 
  34.           com3: com4: problem problems hang hangs                               
  35.           port ports infoapar info apar os2 com comm                            
  36.                                                                                 
  37. LOCAL FIX:                                                                      
  38.                                                                                 
  39.                                                                                 
  40. CONTENTS:                                                                       
  41.                                                                                 
  42. Installation of COM Ports.                                                      
  43. Trouble Shooting                                                                
  44. Interrupts on AT bus machines                                                   
  45.                                                                                 
  46.                                                                                 
  47.                                                                                 
  48. Installation of COM PORTS                                                       
  49. =========================                                                       
  50.                                                                                 
  51. The original ISA machine (the IBM PC-AT) allowed for the                        
  52. definition of up to four serial communications ports.                           
  53. However, there has never been any hardware architectural                        
  54. standard that defined the I/O port addresses or Interrupt                       
  55. Request (IRQ) lines associated with communication ports #3 or                   
  56. #4.                                                                             
  57. Over the years a convention was established which places the                    
  58. port addresses for COM3 and COM4 at 03E8 and 02E8                               
  59. respectively.  This is a generally accepted convention and is                   
  60. not a standard.                                                                 
  61.                                                                                 
  62. This is done by the filling in the optional parameters on the                   
  63. DEVICE statement for the communications device driver                           
  64. (COM.SYS).  Using an editor, extend the DEVICE = statement as                   
  65. indicated below:                                                                
  66.                                                                                 
  67. DEVICE=X: OS2 COM.SYS (n,a,i) (n,a,i)                                           
  68.                                                                                 
  69. where X = the drive where OS/2 is installed                                     
  70.                                                                                 
  71. n = the Com port that you are attempting to access                              
  72.                                                                                 
  73. a = communications port I/O address (03E8, 02E8 for example)                    
  74.                                                                                 
  75. i = IRQ level                                                                   
  76.                                                                                 
  77. For example, to specify that COM3 is at address 03E8 on IRQ5                    
  78. and that COM4 is at address 02E8 on IRQ10 we would use the                      
  79. following statement (assuming that OS/2 is installed on the                     
  80. C:  drive):                                                                     
  81.                                                                                 
  82. DEVICE=C: OS2 COM.SYS (3,3E8,5) (4,2E8,10)                                      
  83.                                                                                 
  84. Note that this syntax is actually quite general.  If we                         
  85. wanted to set some non-standard parameters for COM1 and COM2                    
  86. we could have done this as well and all within the same                         
  87. statement.                                                                      
  88.                                                                                 
  89. The I/O address and IRQ level should be noted in the                            
  90. documentation that came with your adapter.  Either or both                      
  91. might be fixed values or be settable to a range of values via                   
  92. jumpers or switches.  In some cases you may find that the                       
  93. values are fixed or that the range of settings available to                     
  94. you is insufficient to avoid the sharing conflict.                              
  95.                                                                                 
  96.                                                                                 
  97. TROUBLE SHOOTING:                                                               
  98. ================                                                                
  99.                                                                                 
  100. SYMPTOM:  The COM port is not recognized or does not work at all                
  101. ----------------------------------------------------------------                
  102.                                                                                 
  103. A. IF it is an AT, ISA, or EISA machine If trying to use COM                    
  104.    3 or COM 4:                                                                  
  105.                                                                                 
  106.    A.1.  Parameters in DEVICE=C: OS2 COM.SYS in CONFIG.SYS                      
  107.          are required                                                           
  108.                                                                                 
  109.    A.2.  IRQ for COM port in OS/2 must be different for each                    
  110.          COM port.  DOS does not handle multiple interrupts                     
  111.          at the same time but OS/2 does.                                        
  112.                                                                                 
  113.    A.3.  IRQ 5 is recommended for COM3.  If IRQ 5 is taken,                     
  114.          IRQ 9 or 10 is recommended.                                            
  115.                                                                                 
  116.    A.4.  Reboot the system                                                      
  117.                                                                                 
  118.    A.5.  If error message during boot :  COM3 not installed                     
  119.          because of Interrupt is aleady in use.                                 
  120.          => Check if there is any IRQ conflict with other                       
  121.             device driver or hardware.                                          
  122.                                                                                 
  123.                                                                                 
  124. B. If system (AT bus or MCA) boots without error but any                        
  125.  of the com port still not working at all                                       
  126.  Issue a Mode command to the problem com port                                   
  127.  => If it indicates com port not installed check                                
  128.     IRQ conflicts (see A.5)                                                     
  129.  => Check Mode command parameters to be correct (See MODE_CMD).                 
  130.                                                                                 
  131.                                                                                 
  132.                                                                                 
  133. SYMPTOM:  Application appears to hang                                           
  134. -------------------------------------                                           
  135.                                                                                 
  136. C. When the application is started:                                             
  137.                                                                                 
  138.    C.1.  IF an OS/2 application                                                 
  139.          => Ensure your COM port works in standalone DOS.                       
  140.          => Using MODE command, turn off IDSR, ODSR, and OCTS                   
  141.      (See MODE_CMD)                                                             
  142.          => (See SUGGESTIONS)                                                   
  143.                                                                                 
  144.    C.2.  Using a DOS application                                                
  145.          => (Start from Letter A.1 Above and work down)                         
  146.          => If still have problem, remove VCOM.SYS.                             
  147.                                                                                 
  148. D. After it has been running for some time:                                     
  149.                                                                                 
  150.    D.1 Using an OS/2 application and experiencing a lot of                      
  151.        data loss                                                                
  152.        => Lower the baud rate                                                   
  153.        => (See SUGGESTIONS)                                                     
  154.                                                                                 
  155.    D.2 Using a DOS application:                                                 
  156.                                                                                 
  157.        D.2.1 A BBS communication package.                                       
  158.              => Set COM_HOLD DOS Setting to ON                                  
  159.              => If using a FOSSIL Driver, then                                  
  160.                If X00.SYS  Rem VCOM.SYS in config.sys, else                     
  161.    If another FOSSIL Driver. Rem VCOM.SYS won't work                            
  162.              => If using less than 12MB of memory                               
  163.              => See (SUGGESTIONS)                                               
  164.                                                                                 
  165.        D.2.2 A FAX application which uses a COM port.                           
  166.              => Known limitation need to operate at < 9600                      
  167.                 bps                                                             
  168.              => Use OS/2 application for high speed fax.                        
  169.                 (Currently FAXPM and BitFax)                                    
  170.                                                                                 
  171.        D.2.3 An application which uses QBASIC or BASIC CTTY                     
  172.              => Install COMDD.SYS in C: OS2 MDOS directory                      
  173.                                                                                 
  174.        D.2.4 Some other ASYNC application.                                      
  175.              => Check with Chapter 5 of Readme.  Example:                       
  176.                 -CrossTalk for Windows needs that BUFFER=OFF.                   
  177.                 -Mirror III is similar to CrossTalk. BUFFER                     
  178.                  can be controlled with MODE command.                           
  179.                 -LapLink PRO, IDSR, ODSR, and OCTS of all COM                   
  180.                  ports must be OFF.  (See MODE_CMD)                             
  181.                 -LapLink III, remark out VCOM.SYS.                              
  182.                                                                                 
  183.        D.2.5 In Auto Answer mode and a call comes in:                           
  184.               => Known problem APAR PJ04200.                                    
  185.               => Remark out VCOM.SYS in Config.sys                              
  186.                                                                                 
  187.                                                                                 
  188.                                                                                 
  189. SYMPTOM:  OS/2 does not detect FIFO                                             
  190. -----------------------------------                                             
  191.                                                                                 
  192.    E.1 COM.SYS detects FIFO and utilizes it, however                            
  193.        VCOM.SYS only emulate as 16450 or 8250 chip and hides                    
  194.        FIFO from DOS app.  No performance problem is caused                     
  195.        by this.                                                                 
  196.                                                                                 
  197.    E.2 If BUFFER = N/A (not available) is concerned, MODE is                    
  198.         broken.                                                                 
  199.                                                                                 
  200.                                                                                 
  201.                                                                                 
  202. SYMPTOM:  The line is dropped randomly or fils to download file                 
  203. ---------------------------------------------------------------                 
  204.                                                                                 
  205.    F.1 While switching sessions                                                 
  206.  =>change PRIORITY_DISK_IO in config.sys from YES to NO,                        
  207.    reboot. Go to F.2 below if problem continues                                 
  208.    F.2 Without switching sessions.                                              
  209.  => Increase idle sensitivity to 100                                            
  210.         => If problem happenning during noticeable disk activity                
  211.     add additional memory to reduce swapping.                                   
  212.  => Try increasing DISKCACHE in config.sys (e.g. from                           
  213.     1024 to 2048)                                                               
  214.                                                                                 
  215.                                                                                 
  216.                                                                                 
  217. SYMPTOM:  Slow through-put, poor performance                                    
  218. --------------------------------------------                                    
  219.                                                                                 
  220.    G.1 Using an OS/2 application                                                
  221.        => (See SUGGESTIONS)                                                     
  222.        => Using MODE command, turn off IDSR, ODSR, and OCTS.                    
  223.    (See MODE_CMD)                                                               
  224.                                                                                 
  225.                                                                                 
  226.    G.2 Using a DOS application                                                  
  227.        => Increase IDLE_SENSITIVITY to 100                                      
  228.        => (See SUGGESTIONS)                                                     
  229.        Note:  Since interrupt must be simuated in VDM                           
  230.               session, the throughput decreases.                                
  231.                                                                                 
  232.                                                                                 
  233. MODE_CMD: Use MODE from an OS/2 Command line or DOS                             
  234.   command line and set IDSR, ODSR, and OCTS equal to OFF.                       
  235.   eg: MODE COM3:9600,N,8,1,OCTS=OFF,ODSR=OFF,IDSR=OFF                           
  236.   sets COM3 to 9600, no parity, 8 Data Bits, 1 Stop bit,                        
  237.   OCTS, ODSR and IDSR to OFF.                                                   
  238.                                                                                 
  239.   If OCTS and/or ODSR are set to ON, the com port will                          
  240.   not transmit data unless CTS and/or DSR signal lines                          
  241.   are enabled. If set to OFF, the com port will transmit                        
  242.   regardless of the state of signal lines CTS and/or DSR.                       
  243.                                                                                 
  244.   If IDSR is set to ON, the com port will discard the                           
  245.   incoming data unless DSR signal line is enabled.                              
  246.   If set to OFF, the port will receive data regarless                           
  247.   of the state of DSR.                                                          
  248.                                                                                 
  249.   If any problems transmitting or receiving, set                                
  250.   OCTS=OFF, ODSR=OFF, IDSR=OFF to ensure that the                               
  251.   hardware connected to the com port is not preventing                          
  252.   the port from transmitting or receiving.                                      
  253.                                                                                 
  254.                                                                                 
  255. SUGGESTIONS: => Increase IDLE_SENSITIVITY in DOS Settings                       
  256.   => Adjust the disk cache in CONFIG.SYS                                        
  257.   => Change PRIORITY_DISK_IO from YES to NO in                                  
  258.      Config.sys                                                                 
  259.   => To reduce swapping add more memory                                         
  260.                                                                                 
  261.                                                                                 
  262.                                                                                 
  263.