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-
- January 31, 1994:
-
- Enclosed is a Telix.PIF file for the use of Telix under Windows 3.1.
- We make no guarantees as to its usability. You will have to use the
- PIF Editor to set your own paths, or it may not work. Other tips for
- the operation of Telix 3.22 under Windows follow.
-
- And before this generates a flood asking if there will ever be a native
- Windows application of Telix, the answer is, "Yes." deltaComm previewed
- such a version at BBSCON in Colorado in August 1993, and such a version is
- expected to be released in the spring of 1994. The best way to help
- get a Windows version of Telix into general release more quickly is to
- encourage registration of existing versions, as that income is what
- finances future development.
-
- Here are some extra tips for the operation of Telix v. 3.22 under Windows
- 3.1:
-
- 1) Set your DOS environment variable for Telix. i.e. In Autoexec.BAT,
- include a line similar to:
-
- SET TELIX=C:\TELIX
-
- No traling backspaces needed, and no spaces around the equals sign
- allowed.
-
- 2) The following table depicts the standard settings for the four
- communications ports that Microsoft Windows 3.10 and DOS (4.01)
- support. This information is useful for troubleshooting
- communications problems under Windows 3.10. A brief description for
- each column appears below the table. (Note: In the table below,
- Windows 3.10 is abbreviated as WIN3.)
-
- WIN3 COMM.DRV WIN3 Default WIN3 Desired
- Telix 3.22 SYSTEM.INI Settings SYSTEM.INI Settings
- Port I/O Range IRQ I/O Range I/O Range
- ---- ---------------- ------------------ ------------------
- [386ENH] [386ENH]
- COM1 3F8h 4 COM1BASE=3F8h COM1BASE=3F8h
- COM2 2F8h 3 COM2BASE=2F8h COM2BASE=2F8h
- COM3 3E8h 4 COM3BASE=2E8h COM3BASE=3E8h
- COM4 2E8h 3 COM4BASE=2E0h COM4BASE=2E8h
-
- The first column lists the ports. The second column describes the
- settings for the ports that both the Windows COMM.DRV and Telix
- communications packages use by default. The third column shows what
- Windows 3.10 sets by default and the fourth column shows what should
- be set in the [386ENH] section of the SYSTEM.INI file for proper
- functioning of the ports under enhanced-mode Windows 3.10.
-
- Note: You must make the changes shown in column 4 above if you want
- to share IRQs. These procedures are described in good detail in
- SYSINI2.TXT under the [386ENH] section.
-
- The headings "I/O Range" specify the base port addresses for the
- respective ports. IRQ represents the normal interrupts used in IBM-AT
- compatible computers and should not be changed under normal
- conditions. Under enhanced-mode Windows 3.10, you can change the base
- port addresses, IRQ lines, communications protocol, and
- communications IRQ sharing. For complete information on any of these
- topics, please consult the file SYSINI2.TXT.
-
- Troubleshooting Communications Problems Under Windows 3.10
-
- a. You can use two communication ports simultaneously that share the
- same interrupt (for example, COM1 and COM3, or COM2 and COM4) only
- if the hardware is capable of it. The ability to share
- communications port IRQs is hardware dependent. Currently, the
- only hardware that you can be assured that IRQ sharing is supported
- on is MicroChannel. Although EISA (Extended Industry Standard
- Architecture) does have IRQ sharing as part of its specifications,
- implementation on current machines is spotty. If you are unable to
- successfully share an IRQ with the COMIrqSharing switch set to
- true, the hardware does not support IRQ sharing and Windows 3.00 is
- not able to overcome the lack of support for this feature using
- software.
-
- b. COM3 and COM4 may not be reliable under Windows 3.00 standard mode
- unless both COM1 and COM2 are first activated. If you use only COM3
- and/or COM4, you may experience problems (with printing,
- communications, your mouse). If you use COM1 and COM3 without using
- COM2, you also may have problems. The easiest way to remember this is
- to not use a higher serial port (2, 3, or 4) unless all lower number
- ports (1, 2, and 3) are first activated (or in use).
-
- c. Standard-mode Windows 3.10 uses the COMM.DRV directly whereas
- enhanced-mode Windows 3.10 virtualizes the ports using a device
- called the virtual communications driver (VCD). For this reason,
- serial communication can theoretically be considered more reliable
- under standard mode because there can be no miscommunication between
- the VCD and the COMM.DRV. In cases where you are using multiple
- communications ports under Windows 3.10 enhanced mode, verify that
- the base port addresses are set as described in the table located
- earlier in this article.
-
- Note: IRQ sharing is possible under enhanced-mode Windows 3.10 only
- if you make the necessary changes to the [386ENH] section of the
- SYSTEM.INI file as outlined above.
-
- 3) Also, you may want to modify (or add) the lines:
-
- Com1AutoAssign=-1
- Com2AutoAssign=0
- Com3AutoAssign=2
- Com4AutoAssign=2
- COMIrqSharing=1
- COMBoostTime=<milliseconds>
- [ Default: 2
- Purpose: Specifies the amount of time (in milliseconds) to
- allow a virtual machine to process a COM interrupt.
- If a communications application is losing keyboard
- characters on the display, you can try increasing
- this value. deltaComm suggests 8 to 10 for Telix. ]
- COM1Buffer=<characters>
- COM2Buffer=<characters>
- COM3Buffer=<characters>
- COM4Buffer=<characters>
- [ Default: 128
- Purpose: Specifies the number of characters that will be
- buffered by the device on the corresponding
- communications port. Before changing one of these
- settings, make sure the corresponding
- COMxProtocol setting has the proper value.
- Buffering may slow down communications on a port,
- but might be necessary to prevent some
- communications applications from losing
- characters at high baud rates. The size of the
- buffer required will depend on the speed of the
- machine and the application's needs. Before
- increasing this value, see the COMxProtocol
- setting. deltaComm recommends 1024 or 2048 for Telix. ]
-
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