Magnum One/Magnum One (Mid-American Digital) (Disc Manufacturing).iso/d1/infop146.arc/PAGE_08.INF

Text File | 1991-06-04 | 2KB | 32 lines

  This page gives information on the printer and serial ports, along with
various sound cards.

  Up to 3 printer ports will be shown. The ports are found in a special
table in the BIOS data area. The Busy, ACK, Paper out, Selected, I/O error,
and Timed out values are what the printer is reporting. If you set your
printer off-line, and re-display the page, the Selected line should change.

  Up to 4 printer ports will be shown. The ports are found in a special
table in the BIOS data area. The interface between the serial device and
the computer is called a UART (Univeral Asynchronous Receiver/Transmitter.)
There are several types typcially used in a PC. The 8250 is usually found
in PC/XT's, and internal modems. The 16450 typically in AT/386/486's. A
newer type is the 16550. There are several versions. The most common is the
16550A/16550AN/16550AFN. These versions contain a 16 byte buffer that lets
incoming data build up before the computer must read it.
  If a program (such as Desqview) has set the port to 0, then INFOPLUS has
been denied access to it. This is often done to prevent programs from
interfering with each other.

  INFOPLUS can detect several sound cards, including the Adlib, Sound
Blaster, and Roland MPU-401.
  The Adlib is used by many games, and is cloned by the Sound Blaster. It
offers several sound and rhythm voices for music and games. There is also a
special SOUND.COM driver that offers an interface to play music. INFOPLUS
checks to see if this driver is loaded.
  The Sound Blaster, in addition to it's AdLib capabilities, also has a
digital channel and stereo capabilities. The port shown if found is the one
used to access the digital capabilities, and is selectable by a jumper on
the card.
  The Roland MPU-401 is actually a MIDI controller.