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Text File | 1994-03-19 | 25KB | 652 lines

│ ││ BNU DOOM Serial driver version 1.2.5 │││ DOOM Network interface is copyright 1994 by Id Software Inc. ││ BNU SIO Driver is copyright 1994 by David L Nugent │ & Unique Computing P/L BNU for DOOM is a drop-in replacement for Id Software's SERSETUP.EXE provided with DOOM 1.2. This version, however, provides a full and complete interrupt driven serial driver implementation and therefore does not suffer many of the shortcomings in Id's original driver which was much too simplistic to provide the services necessary for running on today's typical modem configurations or at faster speeds than 9600 baud. This work is a derivative and blending of Id's published source for SERSETUP and my own BNU FOSSIL driver plus some useful enhancements to the original dialer. This driver provides full support for the 8250 family of UARTs, including the 8250, 16450, 16550 (original, used in older PS/2's), 16550A(FN), 16551-4 (CMOS and packaged versions of the 16550) Intel 82510 and the TYPE3. It provides hardware flow control, the ability to run at *any* baud rate supported by the UART, configurable inbound/outbound buffer sizes. Before you ask, BNU is an acronym for Basic Networking Utility, referring to its use in the FidoNet community as the base level of communications. FOSSIL in this context means "Fido Opus SEAdog Standard Interface Layer", which is a phrase used to describe the set of common interrupt functions developed as a common layer for many FidoNet applications. SIO (which you'll see in SERSETUP's banner) means "serial input/output". This driver does not use FOSSIL services, so you need not install one nor need to even know what one is. INSTALLATION This driver is almost a drop-in replacement for Id's original. First, rename Id's version to "SERSETUP.OLD" and copy in SERSETUP.EXE from this archive into your DOOM directory. If you have used your modem to call other DOOM players and have an init string that works, then all the rules have just changed - you will almost certainly have to change your initialisation string from the one you used with Id's SERSETUP. Specifically, you'll need to: - Enable V42bis (if available) - Enable error correction (optional) - ENABLE HARDWARE FLOW CONTROL (ALSO REFERRED TO AS RTS/CTS HANDLING) The latter is the most important if you intend to use an error corrected link, the others optional. Error correction and compression are transparent to the data stream. BNU automatically provides CTS/RTS signal handling to take care of the "spurts" of data it receives as a result of the protocol used between the modems. If you only have MNP5 compression, try it since it may work fine - disable it if play becomes too jerky. Compression is likely to slow down the game and make it less responsive, but implementations vary so trying it won't hurt. - You need 9600 baud or greater! Don't consider attempting to run DOOM at any lesser speed - it just doesn't work. You'll get a connect, but movement is so slow that it is entirely unplayable. At 4800 baud it's like molasses at 50 fathoms! At 2400, it's like attempting to play DOOM inside a Jupiter Mining Corps' stasis booth - i.e. pretty much a waste of time. Try it on a direct connect if you like, it is amusing, but don't donate money to your PTT provider trying it out if you only have 2400 baud modems or less. At 7200 you might get a slow moving game going, but 9600 is really where it becomes playable. In fact, if you have a 16450 and/or a slower 386, you may find that 9600 provides the most playable game (it is, after all, the speed for which the networking interface was developed by Id). - If you use error correction and/or compression, use a baud rate greater than the actual connect speed. For V32 modems, use 19200 (more probably won't be an advantage and makes your system work harder - sometimes causing jerky play). V32b modems should use 38400 or 19200. This driver *may* work with the HST protocols (but probably not brilliantly) and will certainly do just fine with ZYXEL 16.8K and 19.2K. VFC and V34 modems will probably need the port set at 38400 or 57600 (incidentally, if anyone has parallel port specs for use with these modems, or knows where these can be obtained, please let me know at the Email address noted at the end of this document). MODEM.CFG has some additional (optional) lines which you can use: Line 1: Modem init string (+) Line 2: Modem hang up string (+) Line 3: Default baud rate (if not specified, 9600 is used) Line 4: Receive buffer size (defaults to 2048 bytes) Line 5: Transmit buffer size (defaults to receive buffer size) + Also present in Id's SERSETUP Anything after the fifth line is ignored. Note that to make your existing MODEM.CFG compatible with this driver, it is advisable to either complete the above values or add empty lines for the additional fields as numbers starting on the additional lines may cause spurious options to be set. As far as possible, this rework of SERSETUP is compatible with DOOM's SETUP.EXE. In fact, with the addition of configurable port settings via the environment (see below 'nonstandard settings') this version should be more compatible than the original, allowing SETUP to be used with non-standard port configurations. SERIAL CONNECTIONS SERSETUP's dialer has been reworked into something that may work a little more intelligently than the original. Specifically, it supports these types of connections: - Direct connection (no modem) Run SERSETUP with none of the following present on the command line: -modem, -voice, -dial, -answer In the absence of these options, direct connect is the default. - Dialup and answer via modem (answer mode, dial mode) One end uses "-dial <number>" (where <number> is replaced by the telephone number to dial), and the other and uses "-answer". The dialing end's modem will call out to the other, and the answering end attempts to pick up the phone line and establish carrier when it sees "RING". - Connection via an existing modem <-> modem connection This is similar to the direct connect. However, if you use the -modem switch, you may optionally hang up the telephone line on completion of the game. - Switching voice -> data prior and data -> voice after play This avoids making unnecessary calls by allowing easy switching between voice and data. As with dialup, this requires an originating (dialing) end and an answering end, the difference between them being that some parts of establishing the connection aren't present. The originating system is told to 'pick up' the line immediately and the answering end told to issue connection tones without waiting for RING. At the originating end, use "-voice D" on the command line to force originate mode. Your modem may offer other parameters which do the same thing, perhaps a little better. In that case, use "-voice <command>" where '<command>' is the recommended string to place the modem into originate mode. At the answering end, use "-answer -noinit", which skips the modem initialisation and sends the command "ATA" (answer call) to the modem immediately without waiting for RING. All responses now have time-outs, and redial is automatic should the number called result in "BUSY" or "NO CARRIER". SERSETUP also understands response strings such as "VOICE" and "NO DIAL TONE", failing the call should they be detected and exiting cleanly. Note that hanging up after a call is now optional. The default (by hitting ENTER at the prompt presented at the time) is to hang up. NONSTANDARD SETTINGS DOOM 1.2's SETUP.EXE did not allow any but the standard port (1-4) selections. This means that those use run their modem on other serial ports, or ports configured slightly differently than standard had to either change these to the standard settings or use SERSETUP from the command line. The original SERSETUP did attempt to provide a way to use non-standard configurations; however, the code to support this was buggy - almost definitely never tested. SERSETUP allows for this by allowing you to 'redefine' serial ports using an environment variable. SET COM1=3F8,4 Redefines COM1 to the default settings (there is no reason to do this except as an example). SET COM3=2E8,5 Redefines COM3 to port 0x2E8 on IRQ 5. COM1 through COM4 are supported. After setting the environment variable, simply use -com? (where ? is the port number) on the command line and SERSETUP will obtain it's settings from your DOS environment. This means also that selecting the corresponding port from DOOM 1.2's SETUP will work. COMMAND LINE REFERENCE This is the complete list of command line switches that SERSETUP supports. These options may be given on the command line or specified in the "SERSETUP" environment variable. The latter way of setting options is very useful if you want to specify options other than those supported by Id's SETUP.EXE, or simply to set permanant options from your AUTOEXEC.BAT or other batch files where SERSETUP is always used connect in a particular configuration. Where the command line is in comflict with the environment variable, the command line takes precedence. -com1, -com2, -com3, -com4 Selects the communications port in a standard configuration applicable to your machine. (+) -port 0x???? Overrides the port address. This must be in the format "0x????" where ???? is the port address in hexadecimal. For example, the standard COM1 and COM2 port addresses are 0x3F8 and 0x2F8 respectively. (+, but had a bug) -irq n Sets the IRQ number - this is the CPU interrupt request line. Refer to your serial cards documentation if you have an unusual port configuration. Very often cards provide jumpers which you can use to select the IRQ generated by ports on the card. (+) -vector 0xn Sets the interrupt vector used to gate information between DOOM and the serial driver to n, where n is a hexadecimal number. Unless this is given, SERSETUP automatically searches for an unused vector in the range 0x60 - 0x66. -answer Sets up SERSETUP in 'answer' mode. This initialises the modem and waits for a call. (+) -dial n Causes SERSETUP to init the connected modem and dial out to the other player. 'n' is the phone number to dial (+). Note that the -dial switch requires a number to call. If, for whatever reason, you wish to dial an 'empty' number (it issue ATDT to the modem), then use -dial "" (empty quotes as a placeholder. -modem Assumes that a modem is in use. This automatically enables hardware flow control (if you still need it disabled, disable it using -noflow) and if carrier is detected on termination of DOOM it also asks if you wish to hang up. -voice n Causes SERSETUP to skip initialisation and issue ATn (where 'n' is supplied) to the modem immediately and wait for carrier. -noinit Skips modem initialisation altogether. When used with "-answer", SERSETUP will also skip waiting for a RING before issuing ATA to answer the line. This is useful when switching from voice to data to start playing DOOM. -baud n, -speed n These are both the same thing. Sets the DTE communications rate (the baud rate used between your computer and the modem or your computer and another computer to which it is connected). This is NOT NECESSARILY THE SAME SPEED AS THE CONNECTION SPEED BETWEEN YOUR MODEM AND YOUR FELLOW DOOMER's MODEM! -rx n Sets the receive buffer size. -tx n Sets the transmit buffer size. The default I/O buffer size is around 2K (2048 bytes) in both directions. This is adequate at 9600. You may need to increase this at higher connection speeds and allow for smoother play, particularly if error correction or compression are in use. -rt n Sets 16550/16550A/82510/TYPE3 receive trigger to 'n'. Valid values for the 16550x and TYPE3 are 1, 2, 4, 8 and 15. The 82510 supports 1 through 4. A zero value sets the receive trigger to 1 unless -rf 0 is used, in which case the FIFOs are disabled (but why would anyone want to do that??!? :-)) NOTE: the switch is RT (for Receive Trigger), not RF. -tf n Sets the transmitter FIFO usage 16550/16550A/82510/TYPE3. This should almost always be 15 or 16, irrespective of the -rt setting. If you have a Western Digital or Silicon Logic 16550A then use "-tf 15". Setting both this parameter and -rt to 0 will disable the UART's built-in FIFO. This value can be set to any value from 0 through 16 on 16550A or TYPE 3, 0 to 8 on a 16550, 0 to 4 on an Intel 82510. NOTE: the switch is TF (for Transmit FIFO). -noflow Disables hardware flow control, which is by default ON if you use any of the modem switches (-modem, -dial or -answer) and OFF otherwise. If you have problems with your modem due to a nonstandard or faulty cable, or your modem does not support CTS/RTS (in which case, since it must support 9600 or above baud rates to play DOOM it is probably disabled - so enable it!), then -noflow can be used to force hardware flow control NOT to be used. -flow Enables flow control. Since this version of SERSERTUP disables hardware flow control by default on non-modem connections, this switch is provided to enable it. Some NULL MODEM cables do have the CTS and RTS lines crossed, which makes it both possible and desirable to use hardware flow control between the two machines. More information about NULL MODEM cables which are compatible with this driver and which allow use of hardware flow control may be found in a separate section below. -chat Enables the chat function; this causes a system-to-system chat function to be invoked both prior establishing the protocol between the DOOM network engines and after the game exits. This allows two gamers to remain on-line and discuss subsequent games and the previous game without having to hang up or switching the line to voice. This facility is provided as a way of saving calls. If you have an ANSI driver installed, the chat function will detect this and add some colour to the exchange; text typed in from the console will be in yellow, and cyan from the remote. The chat shell is terminated pressing ESC at either end. The following options are really for 'hackers' only. They were implemented for experimentation and their use may have unpredictable or unexpected results. -debug Useful for debugging only. For hackers, this echoes some additional information to the screen and dumps all packets received and sent into a file "sersetup.deb" in the current directory. This will probably slow down gameplay considerably so it is not recommended. Debug information dumped into the file is in one of the following formats: T<len>[<data>]<NL> Transmitted packet R<len>[<data>]<NL> Received packet $<NL> Transmit buffer dumped (full) #<NL> Receive buffer dumped (overflow) <len> is the packet data length modulus 256 <data> is the actual packet data, no conversion <NL> is a newline. -extra Sets the 'extratics' field in the communications header to 1. This causes DOOM to "send a backup tick in every packet". On some systems, using this reduces jerkiness in modem play. All parameters specified on SERSETUP's command line are passed on to DOOM unmodified. Note that where a value has been both specified in SERSETUP and on the command line and the two are in conflict, the command line will take preference. -port and -irq switches specified on the command line override any -com? switch or any COM? environment setting (the default being COM1 if no -com? switch is given). RUNNING DOOM The BNU version of SERSETUP is command line compatible with the original SERSETUP command line, this one can also be run from DOOM's setup program. This is probably both easiest and best unless you need to fine tune things a little by overriding FIFO settings. Since the default speed and buffer sizes can be more permanently configured in MODEM.CFG, you can simply insert these in there and use SETUP. PLAYING SPEED Baud rates used on remote (modem) connections is adequately covered above. Game speed will be affected mostly by the ability of the modems being used to transfer and pump data at sufficient speed. Some of the following, however, may apply to modem connections, but remember that on modem connects, the limitation is the modem devices and the effective transfer rate between them, not the 'baud rate' is a direct machine-to-machine null modem connection. WITH DIRECT CONNECTS - FASTER ISN'T NECESSARILY BETTER. 19200 is fairly good, 38400 equally as good as DOOM across IPX using 8 bit ethernet, but above that you may have to contend with performance problems due to overhead in servicing interrupts. Since DOOM runs under DPMI, it has to context switch (switch into V86 or real mode from native 386 protected mode) every time the serial port triggers an interrupt, and faster speeds usually means that interrupts come more frequently and closer together (I hope to address at least some of this with a DPMI mode serial interrupt handler in a future release of SERSETUP which will provide enhanced performance when running DOOM under a DPMI host). If your baud rate is set to 38400 or greater and you are using 16550AFN uarts (these speed would probably not be usable without them!), the BNU SIO driver automatically adjusts usage of the UART FIFO's to accommodate to 8x8 instead of the default at lower speeds of 16x14. If you know what this means and you wish to try using more of the UART FIFOs at the risk of some overhead which may slow play down, use -tf 16 -rt 14 on the command line to override the FIFO size. You'd probably have to be using a 486DX260 or thereabouts to see an improvement though - more than likely the effect will be the opposite. The best results in the author's opinion for direct connections are running at 38400 or 57600 baud using the default 8x8 FIFO. This is very smooth, at least on a DOS 386DX40 connected to a 486DX33 OS/2 system and provides even better playability than using the IPX driver. It is not recommended that you use speeds in excess of 19200 with 16450 UARTs. You may find that play is best at 9600 since the number of errors due to missing characters will be significantly reduced. 19200 should provide a reasonably playable game on most 386's able to run DOOM smoothly. I/O buffer sizes also have an effect on playing smoothness at high speeds (ie. above 9600). The size of the serial I/O buffers will effect how often communicated data is "thrown away" and replaced with fresh data either before being sent or after being received (if the receiving system is getting behind the data stream). Smaller buffers will cause data to be thrown away more frequently - this may actually improve play, whereas large buffers may slow things down a lot, depending on how well the computers are keeping up with the data stream. In general, the slower the machine, the smaller the receive buffers you should use. Conversely, the slower the OTHER machine is, the smaller transmit buffer you should use. The actual size is relative to the baud rate (direct connections) or modem speeds (remote connections) being used. If in doubt, experiment. WARNING: Making transmit or receive buffers less than 512 bytes is not recommended. The default (2048) is about right for most uses. CABLING Connecting two systems together directly to play DOOM requires at least a 3 wire connection, the connection of which are: Pins DB9 DB25 --- ---- 3 2 TX <-> RX 2 3 RX <-> TX 5 7 GND <-> GND Wiring for DB25 <-> DB25 2-3, 3-2, 7-7 DB9 <-> DB9 2-3, 3-2, 5-5 DB25 <-> DB9 2-2, 3-3, 7-5 DB9 <-> DB25 2-2, 3-3, 5-7 This is about as basic a "NULL MODEM" connection that you can get. Unfortunately, any additional lines wired for handshaking and signalling is less than standard. Best results for hardware flow control from PC to PC are: Pins DB9 DB25 --- ---- 3 2 TX -> RX 2 3 RX <- TX 5 7 GND <-> GND 7 4 RTS -> CTS 8 5 CTS <- RTS Wiring for DB25 <-> DB25 2-3, 3-2, 7-7, 4-5, 5-4 DB9 <-> DB9 2-3, 3-2, 5-5, 7-8, 8-7 DB25 <-> DB9 2-2, 3-3, 7-5, 4-8, 5-7 DB9 <-> DB25 2-2, 3-3, 5-7, 7-5, 8-4 Some additional wires may optionally be connected, but are not used by SERSETUP. For external modems, you should use the cable recommended for use with the modem. These will usually be "straight through" cables. COMMAND LINE EXAMPLES Obviously, the easiest way to use SERSETUP is to run it indirectly from DOOM's SETUP program. However, for direct connections and for voice <-> data switching, you may find it more convenient to run it directly. Scenario 1: Direct connect, simple (3 wire) null modem cable, assuming 19200 baud, and standard COM2 on both machines. #1: sersetup -baud 19200 -com2 #2: sersetup -baud 19200 -com2 Scenario 2: Direct connect, full null modem cable with hardware handshaking support, 38400 baud: #1: sersetup -baud 38400 -com2 -flow #2: sersetup -baud 38400 -com2 -flow Scenario 3: Connect via phone line using V32+ modems (including hardware flow control and error correction), assuming that MODEM.CFG has been set accordingly with init strings etc. #1: sersetup -com1 -dial 1234567890 Alternative 1: #2: sersetup -com2 -answer Alternative 2: #2: set SERSETUP=-com2 #2: sersetup -answer Scenario 4: Similar to scenario 2, except that system 2 uses an internal modem configured as COM3 (2E8) on IRQ 5. #1: sersetup -com1 -dial 1234567890 Alternative 1: #2: sersetup -com3 -irq 5 -answer Alternative 2: #2: sersetup -port 0x2e8 -irq 5 -answer Alternative 3: #2: set COM3=2E8,5 #2: sersetup -com3 -answer Alternative 4: #2: set SERSETUP=-port 0x2e8 -irq 5 #2 sersetup -answer Scenario 5: Two DOOMers are conversing voice, both then switch the line from voice to data, connecting their modem: #1: sersetup -com1 -voice D #2: sersetup -com3 -irq 5 -answer -noinit PROBLEMS? If you experience any problems whatsoever in using this driver, feedback to the author is certainly appreciated! While I can't hope to solve all your problems, provided that it can be diagnosed (which depends on the information you supply) many of them can be easily be fixed either by changing setup or by using alternative configuration parameters. If you do have a problem report, please complete the form in SERSETUP.FRM and send this back with your report. This information contains the minimal set of data I usually need to resolve problems without having to ask you lots more questions about basics. Using the form will save us both time. If you have any comments or suggestions, words or praise or feature requests, you can direct them to any of the Email addresses below - we'll be appreciative of the feedback and happy to look at anything which you may suggest. We are particularly interested in hearing about configurations where this driver did not work! DOES THIS COST ANYTHING? That's entirely up to you. This is not shareware, but DONATEware - if you find it useful then you are more than welcome to send a nominal sum of US$10 or equivalent to the address below. Furthermore, if you haven't already done so, REGISTER DOOM WITH ID! They deserve it for this awesome creation; registering will encourage the development of this type of game in the future, both from Id and others. We also welcome any commercial enquiries regarding use and licensing of the BNU SIO driver. Postal address (aka: where to send the moola :-)): PO Box 352 Doveton, Victoria, 3177 Australia CONTACTING THE AUTHOR InterNet: davidn@csource.pronet.com (fastest) davidn@csource.oz.au nugentex@brt.deakin.edu.au FidoNet: david nugent 3:632/348 (3:50/0, 3:3/20) Data/BBS: +61-3-792-3507 (PEP) +61-3-794-7949 (V32b) Voice: +61-3-793-2728 The BNU SIO driver is an all-Australian product!