Brainboxes CC-368, PCI Quad Opto RS422, PCI Quad Opto RS485 User Manual

PCI Quad Opto

RS422/485 Card 1.1

By Paul D. Sinclair.

Contents

Introduction 1

Guarantee. ..................................................................................................................... 1

Copyright.......................................................................................................................1

BRAIN BOXES Limited................................................................................................ 1

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS............................................................................................ 1

Chapter 1 Serial Solutions 2

Serial Solutions For DOS............................................................................................... 2

Serial Solutions For Windows 3.x................................................................................... 3

Serial Solutions For Windows 9x.................................................................................... 4

Serial Solutions For Windows NT. ................................................................................. 4

Serial Solutions for Windows 2000.................................................................................4

Complete Documentation and Technical Backup............................................................ 5

Chapter 2 Hard ware Co nfigration 6

Introduction................................................................................................................... 6

Card Features................................................................................................................. 6

Autogating..................................................................................................................... 7

Card Layout and Specifications...................................................................................... 7

Port Pinouts................................................................................................................... 8

Configuring the Card......................................................................................................8

Optical Isolation............................................................................................................10

Chapter 3 Installing the Card 11

STEP 1:Remove Cover Mounting Screws..................................................................... 11

STEP 2:Remove The PC Cover. ................................................................................... 11

STEP 3: Remove the Blanking Cover........................................................................... 12

STEP 4: Inser t The Card ..............................................................................................12

STEP 5: Secure the Card into Your PC......................................................................... 12

STEP 6: Replace Cover................................................................................................ 13

STEP 7: Reattach All Cables........................................................................................ 13

Problems! .................................................................................................................... 13

Chapter 4 DOS Software Configration 14

Introduction................................................................................................................. 14

Determining PCI RS422/485 Resources........................................................................ 14

NEWCOM.SYS Parameters......................................................................................... 14

Configuring And Installing NEWCOM.SYS.................................................................15

Modifying Command Line Parameters......................................................................... 16

Chapter 5 Windows 3.x Software Configuration. 17

Introduction................................................................................................................. 17

Determining PCI Resources......................................................................................... 17

Windows 3.x Driver Installation. .................................................................................. 17

Serial Port Installation.................................................................................................. 18

PCI Quad 422/485 Card Contents x i

Configuring The COM Ports........................................................................................ 20

Deleting Ports in Windows........................................................................................... 21

Chapter 6 Windows 95 Software Configuration 22

Introduction................................................................................................................. 22

Card Settings ............................................................................................................... 24

Port Settings.................................................................................................................26

Serial Solutions Port Settings....................................................................................... 29

Chapter 7 Windows 98/Millenium Installation. 31

Checking the Installation .............................................................................................. 33

Card Settings ............................................................................................................... 34

Port Settings.................................................................................................................36

Chapter 8 Windows NT 4.0 Installation. 40

Introduction................................................................................................................. 40

Software Installation.................................................................................................... 40

Examining Card Configuration..................................................................................... 41

Card Setup................................................................................................................... 41

Configuring Ports......................................................................................................... 42

Advanced Port Settings................................................................................................ 43

Uninstalling Serial Solution s PCI. ................................................................................ 44

Chapter 9 Windows 2000 Installation 45

Software Installation.................................................................................................... 45

Checking your Installation............................................................................................ 47

Chapter 10 Optional RS422/485 Operation 49

The RS422 Standard. ................................................................................................... 49

The RS485 Standard. ................................................................................................... 49

Terminating Impedance’s............................................................................................. 50

Fail Safe Open Circuit Detection.................................................................................. 50

Fail Safe Short Circuit Protection................................................................................. 50

RS422 Operation.......................................................................................................... 50

RS422 Serial Port Cables. ............................................................................................ 50

Serial Port 1 To Other PC Cable................................................................................... 51

RS485 Operation.......................................................................................................... 51

RS485 Cable................................................................................................................ 52

RS485 One Talker - Many Listeners, Half Duplex........................................................ 52

Half Duplex Settings of RS485 Multiplex..................................................................... 52

RS485 Many Talkers- Many Listeners, Half Duplex..................................................... 52

RS485 Many Talkers- Many Listeners, Full Duplex...................................................... 53

Optional Grounding Arrangements............................................................................... 54

Index 55

PCI Quad 422/485 Card Contents x ii

Introduction

Guarantee.

BRAIN BOXES LIMITED guarantee your Serial Port Card for a full 36 months
from pu rch ase, part s and labour , provi d ed it h as been u sed in t he speci fied
manner. In the unlikely event of failure return your interface to BRAIN BOXES
LIMITED or to your Dealer, with proof of purchase, who will determine
whether to repair or replace this product with an equivalent unit.

Copyright.

COPYRIGHT © 1985-2000 BRAIN BOXES LIMITED.
All rights reserved. No part of this hardware, circuitry or manual may be

duplicated, copied, transmitted or reproduced in any way without the prior
written consent of BRAIN BOXES LIMITED.

BRAIN BOXES Limited.

Unit 3C, Wavertree Boulevard South,
Wavert ree Technol og y Park,
Liverpool , L7 9PF,
England.

Telephone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
E-mail: [e-mail]
Web: www.brainboxes.com

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.

BRAIN BO X ES i s a trademark of BRAIN BO XES LIMITED.
IBM, COMPAQ, Hewlett Packard, H.P. and EPSON are trademarks of the

releva nt com p ani es . OS/2 and M icrochan nel Architectu re are tr adema rks of
IBM. W indows is a trad e mark of Micr os oft.

/[e-mail]

PCI Quad 422/485 Card Introducti on x 1

Chapter 1 Serial Solut ions

This chapter is a brief description of the Serial Solutions software package; this
can also be purchased SEPARATELY and is available from YOUR DEALER.

The perfect partner for any Serial Port is Serial Solutions Software! Serial
Solutions is a fully featured suite of programs designed to squeeze the most from
PC serial communications.

Serial Solutions is made up of the following components: -

Serial Solutions for DOS
Serial Solutions for Windows 3.x
Serial Solutions for Windows 9x
Serial Solutions for Windows NT
Serial Solutions for Windows 2000
All the Serial Solutions drivers have the following features: -
Drivers for PC FIFO UARTs e.g. 16550 as well as the new improved 32 byte

16650 and 64 byte 16750 UARTs.
Support for any mix of RS232, RS422, and RS485 handshake schemes.
Support for wider range of Baud rates and for more than 4 serial ports.

Serial Solutions For DOS.

Serial Solutions for DOS consists of the following programs: -

NewCOM.sys

A device driver, it supports COM1 to COM16, allowing 16 serial ports to be
used under DOS. It also includes an inter rupt han dl er for enhanced performance
with user definable buffer sizes. Accessible from all DOS languages, it is the
heart of the Serial Solution.

It has extensive handshaking support, implementing both hardware handshaking
using any combination of the DTR, DSR, CTS, RTS, and DCD lines, and a
software handshak e usi ng th e XON/ XOFF p rotocol.

NewCOM24.sys

A device driver providing support for 24 ports.

NewCOM32.sys

A device driver providing support for 32 ports.

NewMode.exe

A replacement for the DOS ’mode com...’ command. NewMode is used to set the
serial parameters, inclu ding the port address , I RQ line us ed, the b aud rate , p arity
and data and stop bit options. Baud rates supported are from 110 baud to
115,200 baud! Included is a very handy query mode that reports the settings of
the var i ous serial ports. Flexi ble a nd fast!

PCI Quad 422/485 Card Chapter 1 Serial Soluti ons x 2

EASY programs

The EASY disk contains short, simple to understand and use EASYBAS,
EASYC and ASYPAS programs, providing strai ght forward, file type I/O to
serial ports with debug information. Use these FIRST, base your sample
applications on them. Source code, make files and compiled ready to run
programs supplied.

TERM programs

A suite of larger terminal emulation programs written in C (Cterm), Assembly
language (Aterm), Pascal (Pasterm ), BASIC (BASterm) and FORTRAN
(FORterm) show how to access the NEWBIOS routines as well as the simple file
I/O t o ports. Th ey cont ain man y lines of code and a re thus h arder to grasp . Th ey
demonstrate in depth serial port programming in a variety of languages but they
are also useful tools for using serial devices.

Comtest.exe

Comtest is a short but invaluable program that is used to check that the serial
port at a particular I/O address is functioning correctly and is connected to the
particular IRQ line. The program correctly identifies the UART type by
employing the built in loop back capability of the PC serial port chip, a full test
of the baud rate generator, transmitting and receiving buffer, parity enable and
start st op bi t is performed. There is no need for a s econd ser ial p ort or a cable
when using this utility.

Serial Solutions For Windows 3.x

Serial Solutions for Windows 3.x works with Windows 3.0, 3.1 and 3.11 as well
as Windows For Workgroups 3.11.

Serial Solutions for Windows 3.x consists of the following programs: -

Setup.exe

The install routine for the package.

Port.DLL

Enhanced Control Panel applet. Allows configuration of extra serial ports from
the Windows Control Panel. Supports single as well as multiport cards using
shared interrupts.

BbLynx.drv

Replacem ent for COMM.DRV.

LynxAPI.dll

Enhancement to the Windows Comm s A P I ’s allowing support for more than 9
ports.

Term.exe

Terminal program.

EasyCWIN

C sour ce code, pr oject fi les and ready to ru n.exe p rogr am for an ea s y to
understand Windows terminal program. Learn how to write Windows comms
apps correctly the easy way.

PCI Quad 422/485 Card Chapter 1 Serial Soluti ons x 3

Serial Solutions For Windows 9x.

Windows 95 has an improved communication API and directly supports up to
255 ports. Our Windows 95 driver supports the shared interrupt mechanism used
on our multiport cards. Serial Solutions for Windows 95 consists of the
following programs: -

PCI.inf

The information files to aid the

ISA.inf

Installation process "Have Disk....”

ssmodem.inf

Setup file for Serial Solutions modems.

sscardui.d ll ssportu i .dll

The device manager configuration DLLs and…

ssenum.vxd ssv485.vxd

…the vi rtu al device d rivers pr ovidin g the shared

ssvel.vxd ssmult.vxd ssm485.vxd

interrupt handlers and dispatch routines etc for the various Serial Solutions
serial cards.

Serial Solutions For Windows NT.

Windows NT has an improved communication API and directly supports up to
255 ports. No extra driver is nece s sary for Windo ws NT to drive mu ltiport cards.
Serial Solutions for Windows NT consists of the following programs: -

Setup.exe

Expands into the Control Panel applet and associated files which allows the
configuration of all ports on Serial Solutions serial cards.

Ssmodem.inf

Setup file for Serial Solutions modems.

Serial Solutions for Windows 2000

BBISA.inf, BBMulti.inf, BBPCMCIA.inf

The ISA...P CI...and PC MCI A c ard info rmation f ile s, w hich make the installation
with the hardware installation wizard possible.

BBPort.inf

PCI Quad 422/485 Card Chapter 1 Serial Soluti ons x 4

Information file, which contains information for the installation of individual
ports.

ssInstal.sys

The driver, which handles the installation and setup of each card, be it PCI, ISA
or PCMCIA.

SsPort.sys

The driver, which gets COM ports going.

SsPar.sys

The driver for Parallel ports

SsCard.dll

A Dynamic Link Library, which provides a user interface to configure cards and
their ports under Device Manager / Multi-port serial adapters

SsCard.hlp

The help file for the SsCard.dll user interface.

Complete Documentation and Technical Backup.

We believe in supplying complete documentation with every package we sell.
We guarantee your Serial Solution Software package for a full 12 months from
purchase. A complete technical backup service is available to ensure that you get
the maximum performance out of your investment.

PCI Quad 422/485 Card Chapter 1 Serial Soluti ons x 5

Chapter 2 Hardware
Configration

Introduction

This chapter detai l s the specifications of the PCI quad opto RS422/485 card and
explains how to configure the RS485 Multiplex jumpers present on both cards.
These half-sized cards will work happily in any PCI 2.0 or greater compliant PC
compatible.

Card Features.

¾

Four independent 9 pin D RS422/485 Serial ports.

¾

Reliable communications up to 4000 feet, 1.2 Kilometres.

¾

16950 FIFO provides 128-byte input and 128-byte output buffer on each
port.

¾

Maximum baud rate of 912600 Baud (1 Megabaud).

¾

Word length of 5, 6, 7 or 8 bits.

¾

Even, Odd, None, Mark or Space parity options.

¾

1 start bit always sent.

¾

1, (1.5 for 5-bit data word length), or 2 stop bits.

¾

TXD, RXD, RTS, a nd CTS si gnals.

¾

RS485 TXD/RXD multiplex selectable by jumpers: - either FULL
DUPLEX or HALF-DUPLEX.

¾

Fully double buffered for reliable asynchronous operation.

¾

High-speed integrated circuitry ensures operation with fast PC’s e.g. 800
MHz Pentium II WITHOUT extra wait states.

¾

Autogating low level RS485 half duplex (2 wire) control

Clock Input: 60.00mHz
Drivers: SN75174
High Level Voltage: 3.7V typical at 33mA source
Low Level Voltage: 1.1V typical at 33mA source
High Level Current : -60mA max.
Low Level Current: 60mA max.
Receivers: SN75175.
Difftial I/P threshold: 200mV max.
Hysteresis: 50mVolt typical.
Input Impedance: >12K Ohm without terminators.

PCI Quad 422/485 Card Chapter 2 Hardware Configrati on x 6

Autogating.

Multitasking operating systems, like Windows 95, Windows NT, OS/2 and
UNIX, cannot successfully use the RTS line to control the gating of the PC’s
transmitter. Whilst they can set the RTS line true just before the data
transmission starts, they cann ot set the RTS line false quickly enough after the
data has gone. This is due to the time slicing mechanism used by these
multitasking operating systems. The interrupt service routines in multitasking
OS’s have a long latency, i.e. time taken to switch context from the foreground
program to the interrupt routine. During this time, the first few bytes of the
external devices reply to the PC may be lost since the serial port transmitter is
still gated onto the twisted pair cable.

To overcome this problem, The 16950 has on chip autogating. This option
requires a special device driver (supplied) this automatically detects the start of
the PC’s data tr ansmi ssi on s, and gates the PC’s tran smitter onto the twisted pair
cable. It then automatically detects the last stop bit being sent and gates the port
off the twisted pair cable but to an application on the host PC. It looks just like
an ordina ry RS232 COM port. Autogating for half duplex operation is a
necessity for Windows 95, NT and Windows 2000.

Card Layout and Specifications.

PCI Quad 422/485 Card Chapter 2 Hardware Configrati on x 7

PCI Quad Opto RS422/485 Specifications:

Dimensions: 4.2 x 7.8 in , 106 x 205 m m
I/O Connection: 37 way female D connector to 4 serial ports
Serial Port 1: 9 pin Mal e D type.
Serial Port 2: 9 pin Mal e D type.
Serial Port 3: 9 pin Mal e D type.
Serial Port 4: 9 pin Mal e D type.

Port Pinouts.

PIN 5 - GROU ND (GND)

PIN 1 - TRANSMITTED DATA (TXD-)

PIN 2 - TRANSMITTED DATA (TXD+)

9 Pin D Connector

PIN 6 - RECEIVED DATA (RXD-)

PIN 7 - RECEIVED DATA (RXD+)
PIN 8 - CLEAR TO SEND (CTS-)
PIN 9 - CLEAR TO SEND (CTS+)

37 Way D Connector

PIN 3 - REQUEST TO SEND (RTS-)
PIN 4 - REQUEST TO SEND (RTS+)

PIN19 - G RO UN D
PIN18 - CTS 4+
PIN17 - CTS 4­PIN16 - RXD4+
PIN15 - RXD4­PIN14 - G ND3
PIN13 - RTS 3­PIN12 - RTS 3­PIN11 - T XD3+
PIN10 - T XD3­PIN9 - C TS2+
PIN8 - C TS2­PIN7 - R X D2+
PIN6 - R X D2­PIN5 - G ND 1
PIN4 - R TS 1+
PIN3 - R TS 1­PIN2 - TXD1+
PIN1 - TXD1-

PIN37 - G ND4
PIN36 - RTS 4+
PIN35 - RTS 4­PIN34 -TXD 4+
PIN33 - T XD4­PIN32 - CTS 3+
PIN31 - CTS 3­PIN30 - RXD3+
PIN29 - RXD3­PIN28 - G ND2
PIN27 - RTS 2+
PIN26 - RTS 2­PIN25 - T XD2+
PIN24 - T XD2­PIN23 - CTS 1+
PIN22 - CTS 1­PIN21 - RXD1+
PIN20 - RXD1-

Configuring the Card.

RS485 Multiplex Jumper Settings.

PCI Quad 422/485 Card Chapter 2 Hardware Configrati on x 8

PCI cards require no hardware configuration for IRQ and address allocation ­this is done automatically at start up by the PC. However, the PCI quad opto
RS422/485 has four sets of jumpers for configuration of RS485 multiplex modes
for each port, h ow to configure these jump ers is s hown below.

The RS485 Multiplex jumper block, is shown below with default settings of no
jumpers present (both ports full duplex).

Where:
TX/RX1+ and TX/RX1- control port 1 RS485 multiplexing.
TX/RX2+ and TX/RX2- control port 2 RS485 multiplexing.
TX/RX3+ and TX/RX3- control port 3 RS485 multiplexing.
TX/RX4+ and TX/RX4- control port 4 RS485 multiplexing.

Full Duplex Settings(port 1).

Both jumpers left unconn ected (not sh orted) .

Half Duplex Settings(port 1).

Both jumpers shorted, causing the RXD- & TXD- and the RXD+ & TXD+
signals to short together at the 9-pin connector. The multiplex jumpers should
only be set for RS485 Half Duplex operation, when one twisted pair is used to
interconnect both transmit and receive lines.

These settings are the same for each port.

NOTE: Any changes to RS485 Multiplex Operation must be accompanied with

appropr i ate ch ang es to th e d river software

PCI Quad 422/485 Card Chapter 2 Hardware Configrati on x 9

PCI Quad 422/485 Card Chapter 2 Hardware Configuration 10

For further details on the RS422 and RS485 standard, pinouts, half duplex and
full duplex RS485 systems, wiring diagrams and optional grounding diagrams
refer to Chapter 10 - "Optional RS422/485 Operation."

Optical Isolation

The PCI Quad OPTO RS422/485has optical isolation circuitry on board that
allows protection of:-

1500 Volts DC

! 1000 Volts AC

This Isolation present on board also allows greater protection from current
surges, lightening strikes to both the card itself and the PC. It also improves
noise immunity by isolating the PC from the cards transmit ground.

Chapter 3 Installing the Card

NOTE: Always turn the computer OFF
before installing or rem ovi ng any interface
board!

STEP 1:Remove Cover Mounting Screws.

Then using a screwdriver, remove the cover mounting screws on the back panel
of the PC system unit.

STEP 2:Remove The PC Cover.

Next, remove th e PC’s cover by sliding it forward and up. It usually helps to
disconnect the keyboard from the PC since it tends to get in the way when the
case is removed.

PCI Quad 422/485 Card Chapter 3 Installing the Card x 11

STEP 3: Remove the Blanking Cover.

Choose an empty expansion slot. This Card will fit into one of the white PCI
slots on your mothe rboa d. Remove the blanking cover prote c ting t he slot on the
PC back panel. KEEP the blanking cover screw safely for later.

STEP 4: Insert The Card.

STEP 5: Secure the Card into Your PC

PCI Quad 422/485 Card Chapter 3 Installing the Card x 12

Now insert the card in the slot. Be careful to ensure that the gold plated pcb
fingers fits neatly into the I/O expansion connector. Press down firmly but
evenly on t he top of the card.

The 9 pin D connector should fit neatly through the slot’s aperture to the outside
world.

Use the screw kept back from the blanking cover to screw the retaining bracket
into the PC back panel housing.

STEP 6: Replace Cover

Now replace th e s ystem uni t’s cover by carefully sliding it down and over the
system unit. Replace the cover s crews.

STEP 7: Reattach All Cables

After attaching all the monitor and keyboard cables, power up the PC. Do not
forget the m ain s p ower cable!

The PC should power on in the normal way.

Problems!

If the system fails to power up normally check the following:
Ensure that the PC Serial card is installed correctly.
nsure that ot her cards in t he PC have not been upset.
Ensure that the power is c onnecte d and the PC is switched O N !
If all these have been checked and the PC still does not power up then inspect

the area surrounding the card to ensure that any potentially harmful bits of metal
etc. a re n ot p resen t, if t he problem persists ask your d ealer to check the ca rd or
contact [e-mail]

PCI Quad 422/485 Card Chapter 3 Installing the Card x 13

Chapter 4 DOS Software
Configration

Introduction.

This section contains the installation procedures of the PCI Quad Opto
RS422/485 card, with the DOS, Windows 3.x Windows 95, Windows
98/Millennium, Windows NT and Windows 2000 operating systems.

The setup procedures in this chapter assume that your PC has only one serial
port present.

Determining PCI RS422/485 Resources.

Insert card into PC, as described in .
Run BBCARDS.EXE, from the supplied Serial Solutions CDROM by typing the

following:
D:\diskimg\ssutil\pci\BBCARDS
Where D:\ is t he Lett er of your CDROM d rive
BBCARDS.EXE will return a string that looks similar to the following (values

contained in the string may differ in individual P C ’s due to res ou rce av ailab ility):

card 1 is on bus 0, device 16, function 0
Card ID=5, revision 1: Quad Opto RS422/485

interrupt line 11 has been assigned
4 sets of 16550-compatible registers are at I/O
address 0140

Baud clock control is at I/O address 02d0
Write 0xf6 for /8 (default), 0xf2 for /4, 0xd6 for /2,
0xd2 for /1.

Note down IRQ and I/O which in this case:
The IRQ = 11
The I/O address = 0140

NEWCOM.SYS Parameters.

The NewCOM.SYS device driver in cluded with the PCI RS422/485 driver software is used to set up the

card in DOS and has the following syntax:

NEWCOM.SYS /A port address, /I IRQ,range /B number buffer /S buffer /H hardware handshake

PCI Quad 422/485 Card Chapter 4 DOS Software Configrat ion x 14

Where:

/A port address specifies CO M port number followed by a hex adecim al ad dress

in the form /Ax,y where x is COM port range and y is I/O address.

/I IRQ, range specifies card interrupt and COM port range. The COM port range
specifies the CO M p ort(s ) . Ran g e may be a single port OR a range of port s .

/B number buffer is used to set the number of pairs of buffers to be allocated to
ports and is a decimal number in the range 1-maxport.

/S buffer Set size of all buffers in bytes, buffer is rounded to the nearest power
of 2 and must be a decimal number in the ran ge 32 to 32768. For an y serial port
opened t wo bu ffe rs of size buffer ar e all oc ated, one for input and the other for
output.

/H hardware hand shak e selects which hardware handshake type to use on the
specified ports. This is used in the following manner: /H range, hs where range
specifies the CO M p ort or ports and hs sel ects han dshake type. Hand shake types
available are:

Type 1 RS422 RTS/CTS - The PC only transmits when CTS is input

tru e. When the PC is able to r eceive its sets RTS output true. The DSR and DCD
inputs are ignored. The DTR outp ut line is set true j u s t in c as e the external serial
device n eed s a tr u e s ignal.

Type 2 RS485 Half duplex - Before any data is sent the PC sets RTS

true, after the last byte in the buffer has been sent the PC sets RTS false. RTS is
used as a transmit gating control. The CTS, DSR and DCD inputs are ignored.
The DTR output line is set true j u s t in c as e the external serial dev ice need s a true
signal.

Type 3 RS485 Send only - This is a half duplex, transmit only

handshake. The PC transmits whenever it wishes, it cannot receive any data. The
CTS, DSR and DCD inputs are ignored. The RTS output line is set true just in
case the external serial device need s a tr u e s ignal.

Type 4 3 Wir e Ha ndshake - Rea lly no h ands hake at all since the PC

transmits irrespective of the handshake lines. The 3 wires are TxD, RxD and
Ground, no other lines are required. Th us the CTS, DSR and DCD inputs are
ignored. The RTS and DTR output lines are set true just in case the external
seri al device needs a true s ignal.

Note: If hardware handshaking is not specified in the NEWCOM.SYS
parameters, type 4, 3 Wire Handshake is selected automatically.

Configuring And Installing NEWCOM.SYS

To load the Serial Solutions for DOS device driver an entry needs to be added to
the CONFIG.SYS file. Any simple text editor, EDIT for example, can edit the
CONFIG.SYS file for example. The installation procedure given below is for a
PCI RS422/485 as COM 5-8.

The p arameter req u ired by the NEWCO M.SYS driver are t hose retur ned by the
BBCARDS.EXE application earlier. A brief explanation for the parameters
required by NEWCOM.SYS follows:

PCI Quad 422/485 Card Chapter 4 DOS Software Configrat ion x 15

Port Address.

/A5-8,0140
COM ports 5,6,7 and 8 ar e defined, with an i /o addr ess range that begins at

0140h and al l subsequent ports have an i/o addr ess that i s 8 h igher than the

previous. i.e. if COM5 has an address of 0140h, then COM6 will have an
address of 0148h, COM7 an address of 0150h etc.

IRQ, Ra nge.

/I 11,5
11 is the IRQ and since the COM port is COM5 is entered 5.

Number Buffer.

/B8 buffers are defined, though only four ports are in use –this is because buffers
in DOS are ass ig ne d in a sequential o rder from CO M 1 . S inc e the PC I Quad O p to
RS422/485 has been assigned COM port values of 5 to 8, all preceding COM
ports, m u st have buffers assign ed t o them also.

Buffer Size.

/S512
Buffer size set to 512 bytes.

Hardware Handshaking.

/H,4
Type 4, 3 Wire Handshake selected for all ports. Type 4, 3 Wire Handshake

selected for all ports .

Modifying Command Line Parameters.

When "assembled" the NEWCOM.SYS command line looks like…

DEVICE=NEWCOM.SYS /A5-8,0140 /I 11,5-8 /B8 /S 512 /H,4
…and should be entered into the C O N FIG.SY S file. O nce y ou are su re that these

parameters have b een entered correctly, restart your PC and your PCI Quad O p to
RS422/485 Cardshould be ready to use immediately.

PCI Quad 422/485 Card Chapter 4 DOS Software Configrat ion x 16

Chapter 5 Windows 3.x
Software Configuration.

Introduction

The Windows 3.x installation procedure consists of two steps after the PCI
RS422/485 card is inserted:

1. Determinin g t he resources that the PCI RS422/485 card has claimed.

2.Informing Win dows 3.x of those resources.
Whenever certain values have been entered or changed in the hardware settings

windo w, a message prompting to res tart W indows will appe ar. Only af ter having
made ALL the necessary changes restart Windows so that the new settings come
into effect.

Determining PCI Resources.

Insert the card into a PC, as described in Chapter 3 .

Run BBCARDS.EXE, fr om t he supplied “Serial Solutions CDROM” by typing
the following:

D:\diskimg\ssutil\pci\BBCARDS

Where D:\ is t he Lett er of your CDROM d rive
BBCARDS.EXE will return a string that looks similar to the following (values

contained in the string may dif fer in individual P C's due to res ource availability ):

card 1 is on bus 0, device 16, function 0
Card ID=5, revision 1: Quad Opto RS422/485

interrupt line 11 has been assigned
4 sets of 16550-compatible registers

are at I/O address 0140
Baud clock control is at I/O address 02d0
Write 0xf6 for /8 (default), 0xf2 for /4, 0xd6 for /2,
0xd2 for /1.

Note down IRQ and I/O which in this case:
The IRQ = 11
The I/O address = 0140

Windows 3.x Driver Installation.

PCI Quad 422/485 Card Chapter 5 Windows 3.x Software Configur ation. x 17

Place the supplied Serial Solutions CDROM in a suitable drive. From File
Man ager choose ‘Run’ and enter D:\diskimg\sswin3x\setup (w here D:
is the path to the CDROM drive Containing the disk).

Click OK, the Setup Program Main Screen is displayed:

By default, all component options will be installed, selecting the "Del All"
butto n will se lect all installed c ompone nts for de letion and "Add A ll" choo s es all
uninstalled components for installation; options may not be changed when the
components are installed. For further details on the Component Options consult
the README.TXT file on the supplied disk.

If only logical ports COM1 to COM9 are to be used then de-select the Comms
API library option in the "Install" column. This library is only necessary to allow
the use of logical ports greater th a n COM9 e.g. COM10, COM11 etc.

When you have made your ch oi ce of Component Options click Continue and
when the setup program h as fin ished s elect the Done button.

Note: If the Serial Port driver options has been selected, after the setup program
has finished, Windows will display a restart message - answer Yes and Serial
Solutions will be ready to run upon Windows restarting.

Serial Port Installation.

From Main, select Control Panel:
Double -click on Serial Ports:

PCI Quad 422/485 Card Chapter 5 Windows 3.x Software Configur ation. x 18

The following dialogue will be displayed:

To add a COM port:
Click on the add button and a Window similar to the following will be

displayed:

In Standard Settings:
In the COM Base field, enter the value 0140.
Note: COM ports are defined with an i/o address range, which in this case,

begins at 0140 and all subsequent ports have an i/o addr ess that i s 8 h i gher than
the p revious. i.e. if COM2 has an addr ess of 0140h, then COM3 h a s an address
of 0148h.

In t he IRQ field, enter th e va lue 11.
Note: T he va lues used in the above section wer e th os e ret urned by t he

BBCARDS program, as d e s c ri bed in the above s e c tion.
When you have finished, cl ick on OK. A restart message will be displayed; to

save time only re start when both ports hav e be en added and correctly configured .

After adding the COM ports the COM Ports Window will look similar to the
following:

PCI Quad 422/485 Card Chapter 5 Windows 3.x Software Configur ation. x 19

Configuring The COM Ports.

From the CO M Ports window choose the por t th at you wish to configure a nd
click on Settings -

the following dialogue will be displayed:

PCI Quad 422/485 Card Chapter 5 Windows 3.x Software Configur ation. x 20

Note: A port that has been added has the default values of:

Baud Rate: 9600
Data Bits: 8
Parity: None
top Bits: 1.0
Flow: None

Change the communications Settings in the COM Ports to match the baud rate,
parity settings etc. of the remote serial device.

Deleting Ports in Windows.

The Delete button can be used to discard the entries of ports that have been
removed from the system .

Note. Never try to leave out a serial port number when using the delete button,
because Windows may automatically shift serial port numbers which results in a
mis-match of settings in the Serial Ports Applet (COM1-COM4 only).

PCI Quad 422/485 Card Chapter 5 Windows 3.x Software Configur ation. x 21

Chapter 6 Windows 95
Software Configurat ion

Introduction

To obtain a trouble free m ix-an d-match of the C O M ports:
Switch off your computer, insert your PCI RS422/485 card into a free PCI slot,

as described in Chapter 3, and switch your computer on again.
During the booting process, Windows 95 will detect the PCI Quad Opto

RS422/485, but will display it simply as a "PCI CARD", and you will briefly see
a message box to this effect.

Windows will then display the "Update Device Driver Wizard", which asks you
to “insert any disk which came with the PCI card”. Insert the Serial Solutions
CD ROM into an appropriate drive and click 'Next'.

The Wizard should then display the following:

Click Other Locations

PCI Quad 422/485 Card Chapter 6 Windows 95 Software Configurat ion x 22

In the location space type <drive>:\ diskimg\ sswin9x where dr ive is the
appropriate letter for your CDROM drive

Click OK

The screen shot above shows that t he Update Device Driver Wizard has
found a suitable driver and the location of that driver.

Click Finish

Click OK

PCI Quad 422/485 Card Chapter 6 Windows 95 Software Configurat ion x 23

In the copy files from space type <drive>:\diskimg\sswin9x where drive is
the appropriate letter for your CDROM drive

After copying the file, Windows 95 will then detect each of the serial ports in
turn and install them as communications ports.

Using the right-hand mouse button click on the My Computer icon on your
desktop.

Click on Properties.

Select on th e Device Manager tab

When th e Devi ce M anager is viewed the PCI Quad Opto R422/485 card will
appear under the Multi-function adapters branch. Also, four RS485 Ports
will appear under the Ports (COM & L P T) branch.

Card Settings

PCI Quad 422/485 Card Chapter 6 Windows 95 Software Configurat ion x 24

For most users who have 4 or less COM ports the new ports will appear as
COM5-CO M 8 as pictur e d above, for users wit h m ore t han 5 COM ports the new
port will appear as the first available COM ports.

Using the right-hand mouse button click on the My Computer icon on your
desktop.

Click on Properties.

Click on the Device Manager tab

PCI Quad 422/485 Card Chapter 6 Windows 95 Software Configurat ion x 25

Select t he PCI Q uad Opto RS422/485 card from the Multi-Function
Adapter entry in Device Manager serial and click on properties to view the

cards general properties.

Click on the Serial Solutions tab Solutions tab produces.

In this window, the COM port assignment may be changed, simply by selecting
a new COM port value from the pull down menu relevant to the port. However,
COM port usage other than those for the PCI Quad Opto RS422/485 card itself
are not checked, s o i t is a d vi s able to first check whi ch COM p orts a re in use ­port availability can be checked by viewing the Device Manager:

All COM ports present will be listed under the entry "Ports (COM & LPT)."
The above s c reenshots indicates th at C O M 2 - 4 an d COM9 and a bove are not
installed, and therefore may be used.

The Maximum Baud Rate Setting for all ports on the card may also be set
from this window. This settting will make the maximum baud rates of all the
ports on this card equal to whatever is set. Individual ports may have their
settings changed as shown in Port Settings

Port Settings

PCI Quad 422/485 Card Chapter 6 Windows 95 Software Configurat ion x 26

Using the right-hand mouse button click on the My Computer icon on your
desktop.

Click on Properties.

Click on the Device Manager tab

PCI Quad 422/485 Card Chapter 6 Windows 95 Software Configurat ion x 27

Double clicking on a RS485 Port entry from the entry "Ports (Com & LPT)"
branch i n Device Manager will the display general properties window for the
selected p ort (in t his ca s e C O M5).

Selecting the Port Settings tab produces:

Selectable

Baud

Rates

Settings available in this window are:
Baud Rate* - deter min es the ba u d rat e at which t he select ed port op erat es , th e

maximum value available is dependant upon the Maximum Baud Rate Setting
(see below.)

Data Bits.*
Parity.*
Stop Bits.*
Flow Contr ol *
*These se tt i ng s a r e dependent upon the device being used.
Maximum Baud Rate Setting - four val ues ar e avail able, wh ich selects the

maximum baud rate at which the port may operate. The table below, indicates
the ranges of baud rate values available at the Maximum Baud Rate Settings.

Maximum Ba ud R ate

115200 230400 460800 921600

50 100 200 400

75 150 300 600
110 220 440 880
150 300 600 1200
300 600 1200 2400
600 1200 2400 4800

1200 2400 4800 9600
1800 3600 7200 1440
2000 4000 8000 16000
2400 4800 9600 19200
3600 7200 14400 28800
4800 9600 19200 38400
7200 14400 28800 57600

9600 19200 38400 76800
19200 38400 76800 153600
38400 76800 153600 230400
57600 115200 230400 460800

115200 230400 460800 921600

PCI Quad 422/485 Card Chapter 6 Windows 95 Software Configurat ion x 28

Note: Many serial comms applications will not actually register the ports as
ru nning a t bau d rates of above 115200.

Restore Defa ults - when clicked, resets the selected COM port to the following
values:

Baud Rate: 9600
Data Bits: 8
Parity: None
Stop Bits: 1
Flow Control: Xon / Xoff
Maximum Baud Rate Setting: 115,200

Serial Solutions Port Settings

Clicking on the Serial Solutions tab will display:

Settings available in this window are:

FIFO Settings.

Enabl e FIFO - turns the selected ports FIFO buffer on or off. It is strongly

recommended that the FIFO for both ports is left enabled.
Extend FI FO - when checked, ext ends t he select ed port s F I F O bu ffer from 1 6

to 64 bytes.
Receive Buffer - These settings allow the selection of a receiver FIFO tri g g er

setting. Selecting a low value will allow the interrupt to be serviced quicker,
which is good for slow machines. If you have a fast machine, setting a high
value will give you more time for multi-tasking operations.

Transmit Buffer - These se ttings allo w the s ele c tion o f a transmitter F I F O t ri gg er
setting. Sele cting a low value w ill se nd fewer data-b ytes per interrupt, and this is
recommended if you are communicating to a slower machine. Selecting a high
value will send more data-bytes per interrupt, and will give more time for multi­tasking operations.

485 Mode offers the options:

Half Duplex / Full Duplex(default) - are used in conjunction with the RS485

Multiplex Jumper Settings.

PCI Quad 422/485 Card Chapter 6 Windows 95 Software Configurat ion x 29

NOTE: These software settings must match the RS485 Multiplex Jumper
configuration, as described in the section "RS485 Multiplex Jumper Settings"
in Chapter 2, to ensure accurate and error free data transmission.

CTS Hold True, determines whether the CTS handshake signal is INPUT from
the ex ternal s eria l device or is per man entl y forced tru e on th e card . Th e seria l
ports own RTS OUTPUT handshake signa ls are always taken out to the serial
port connect or.

Restore - when this button is clicked the settings in the current window will be
reset to the default values of:

Enable FIFO: On (C hecked)
Extend FIFO: Off (Unchecked)

rd

Receive Buffer: 3

from left .
Transmit Buffer: 16
485 Mode: Full duplex.

PCI Quad 422/485 Card Chapter 6 Windows 95 Software Configurat ion x 30

Chapter 7 Windows
98/Millenium Installation.

To obtain a trouble free m ix-an d-match of the C O M ports:
Switch off your computer, insert your PCI RS422/485 card into a free PCI slot,

as described in , and switch your computer on again .
During the booting process, Windows 98 will detect the PCI Quad Opto

RS422/485, but will display it simply as a "PCI CARD", and you will briefly see
a message box to this effect.

Insert the Serial Solutions CD ROM into an appropriate drive and click ’Next’.

Select Search for the best driver f or your devi ce.
Click Next

PCI Quad 422/485 Card Chapter 7 Windows 98/Millenium Installation. x 31

Click Specify a locati on
In the location space type <drive>:\diskimg\sswin9x wh ere drive is t he

appropriate letter for your CDROM drive
Click Next

Click Next

PCI Quad 422/485 Card Chapter 7 Windows 98/Millenium Installation. x 32

Click Finish
After copying the file, Windows 95 will then detect each of the serial ports in

turn and install them as communications ports.

Checking the Installation

Using the right-hand mouse button click on the My Computer icon on your
desktop. Click on Properties.

Click on the Device Manager tab

PCI Quad 422/485 Card Chapter 7 Windows 98/Millenium Installation. x 33

Card Settings

When th e " Device Manager" is viewed the PCI Quad Opto R422/485 card will
appear under the "Multi-function adapters" branch. Also, four RS485 Ports
will appear under the "Ports (COM & LPT) branch".

For most users who have 4 or less COM ports the new ports will appear as
COM5 to CO M8 as pictured a bove , for user s with m ore t han 5 COM port s the
new port will appear as the first available COM ports.

Using the right-hand mouse button click on the My Computer icon on your
desktop. Click on Properties.

PCI Quad 422/485 Card Chapter 7 Windows 98/Millenium Installation. x 34

Click on the Device Manager tab

Select the PCI Quad Opto RS422/485 card from the "Multi-Function
Adapter" entr y in Device Manager serial and click on properties to view the
cards general properties.

Click on the Serial Solutions tab Solutions tab produces.

In this window, the COM port assignment may be changed, simply by selecting
a new COM port value from the pull down menu relevant to the port. However,
COM port usage other than those for the PCI Quad Opto RS422/485 card itself
are not checked, s o i t is a d vi s able to first check whi ch COM p orts a re in use ­port availability can be checked by viewing the Device Manager:

PCI Quad 422/485 Card Chapter 7 Windows 98/Millenium Installation. x 35

All COM ports present will be listed under the entry "Ports (COM & LPT)."
The above s c reenshots indicates th at C O M 2 - 4 an d COM6 and a bove are not
installed, and therefore may be used.

Port Settings

The Maximum Baud Rate Setting for all ports on the card may also be set
from this window. This settting will make the maximum baud rates of all the
ports on this card equal to whatever is set. Individual ports may have their
settings changed as shown in Port Settings

Click Here for Port Settings

Using the right-hand mouse button click on the My Computer icon on your
desktop. Click on Properties.

PCI Quad 422/485 Card Chapter 7 Windows 98/Millenium Installation. x 36

Click on the Device Manager tab

Double clicking on a Velocity RS485 Port entry from the entry "Ports (Com &
LPT)" branch i n Device Man ager will the display general properties window
for the selected port (in t his case COM5).

Selecting the Port Settings tab produces:

Settings available in this window are:
Baud Rate* - deter min es the ba u d rat e at which t he select ed port op erat es , th e

maximum value available is dependant upon the Maximum Baud Rate Setting
(see below.)

PCI Quad 422/485 Card Chapter 7 Windows 98/Millenium Installation. x 37

Data Bits.*
Parity.*
Stop Bits.*
Flow Contr ol *
*These se tt i ng s a r e dependent upon the device being used.
Maximum Baud Rate Setting - four val ues ar e avail able, wh ich selects the

maximum baud rate at which the port may operate. The table below, indicates
the ranges of baud rate values available at the Maximum Baud Rate Settings.

Maximum Ba ud R ate

115200 230400 460800 921600

50 100 200 400

75 150 300 600
110 220 440 880
150 300 600 1200
300 600 1200 2400
600 1200 2400 4800

1200 2400 4800 9600
1800 3600 7200 1440
2000 4000 8000 16000
2400 4800 9600 19200
3600 7200 14400 28800
4800 9600 19200 38400
7200 14400 28800 57600

9600 19200 38400 76800
19200 38400 76800 153600
38400 76800 153600 230400
57600 115200 230400 460800

115200 230400 460800 921600

Note: Many serial comms applications will not actually register the ports as
ru nning a t bau d rates of above 115200.

Restore Defa ults - when clicked, resets the selected COM port to the following
values:

Baud Rate: 9600
Data Bits: 8
Parity: None
Stop Bits: 1
Flow Control: Xon / Xoff
Maximum Baud Rate Setting: 115,200

Clicking on the Serial Solutions tab will display:

PCI Quad 422/485 Card Chapter 7 Windows 98/Millenium Installation. x 38

Settings available in this window are:

FIFO Settings.

Enabl e FIFO - turns the selected ports FIFO buffer on or off. It is strongly

recommended that the FIFO for both ports is left enabled.
Extend FI FO - when checked, ext ends t he select ed port s F I F O bu ffer from 1 6

to 64 bytes.
Receive Buffer - These settings allow the selection of a receiver FIFO tri g g er

setting. Selecting a low value will allow the interrupt to be serviced quicker,
which is good for slow machines. If you have a fast machine, setting a high
value will give you more time for multi-tasking operations.

Transmit Buffer - These se ttings allo w the s ele c tion o f a transmitter F I F O t ri gg er
setting. Sele cting a low value w ill se nd fewer data-b ytes per interrupt, and this is
recommended if you are communicating to a slower machine. Selecting a high
value will send more data-bytes per interrupt, and will give more time for multi­tasking operations.

485 Mode offers the options:

Half Duplex / Full Duplex(default) - are used in conjunction with the RS485

Multiplex Jumper Settings.
NOTE: These software settings must match the RS485 Multiplex Jumper

configuration, as described in the section "RS485 Multiplex Jumper Settings"
in Chapter 2, to ensure accurate and error free data transmission.

CTS Hold True, determines whether the CTS handshake signal is INPUT from
the ex ternal s eria l device or is per man entl y forced tru e on th e card . Th e seria l
ports own RTS OUTPUT handshake signa ls are always taken out to the serial
port connect or.

Restore - when this button is clicked the settings in the current window will be
reset to the default values of:

Enable FIFO: On (C hecked)
Extend FIFO: Off (Unchecked)

rd

Receive Buffer: 3

from left .
Transmit Buffer: 16
485 Mode: Full duplex.

PCI Quad 422/485 Card Chapter 7 Windows 98/Millenium Installation. x 39

Chapter 8 Windows NT 4.0
Installation.

Introduction

Microsoft Windows NT Provides built in support for 255 standard serial ports.
To setup your PCI RS422/485 serial card you should follow these steps. Please
note that to change any kind of hardware configuration under Windows NT you
must be logged in as a user with Administrator level privileges, if you do not
have these please contact your system administrator.

Software Installation.

Insert the PCIQuad Opto RS422/485 into your PC, as desc ribe d in chapter 2, and
restart. Place the supplied CDROM titled "Serial Solutions Software" in a
suit able dr ive an d from the Sta rt Menu ch oose Run

PCI Quad 422/485 Card Chapter 8 Windows NT 4.0 Installation. x 40

Enter <drive>:\diskimg\ssnt\setup (whe re <d riv e>: is the p ath to the
CDROM drive containing the installation disk).

InstallShield will then install the driver software automatically - it will then c opy
the necess ary files and s tart itself. This automatically detects yo u r new PCI s erial
card(s) and does not require any further system restarting.

Examining Card Configuration.

Go to Control Panel (Start/Settings/Control Panel)

Card Setup

double click on Serial Solutions PCI

You will be presented with a Serial Solutions PCI Port Configuration window:

PCI Quad 422/485 Card Chapter 8 Windows NT 4.0 Installation. x 41

To view the settings of a port, select it and click on settings.

Configuring Ports.

Select t he r esou rces tab:

PCI Quad 422/485 Card Chapter 8 Windows NT 4.0 Installation. x 42

Settings available in this window are:
Settings available in this window are:
Baud Rate - determines the baud rat e at which t he select ed port op erat es, the

maximum value available is 921,600 (1 Megabaud.) Note: Many serial comms
applications will not actually register the ports as running at baud rates of above

115200.

Data Bits.*
Parity.*
Stop Bits.*
Flow Contr ol .*

*Dependent upon device be i ng used.
Advanced - see the section below, titled "Advanced Port Settings."
Restore Defa ults - when clicked, resets the selected COM port to the following

values:

Baud Rate: 9600
Data Bits: 8
Parity: None
Stop Bits: 1
Flow Control: Hardware

Advanced Port Settings.

When th e Advanced button of Port Settings is selected the following dialogue
is displayed:

Settings available in this window are:

FIFO settings.

Receive Trigger Level - These settings allow the selection of a receiver F I F O
trigger setting. Selecting a low value will allow the interrupt to be serviced
quicker, which is good for slow machines. If you have a fast machine, setting a
high value will give you more time for multi-tasking operations.

Software Transmit Limit - These settings allow the selection of a transmitter
FIFO trigger setting. Selecting a low value will send fewer data-bytes per
interrupt, and this is recommended if you are communicating to a slower
machine. Selec ting a high valu e will s end more data-bytes per interrupt, and will
give more time for multi-tasking operations.

FIFO Off - turns the selected ports FIFO buffer on or off. It is strongly
recommended that the FIFO for all ports is left enabled.

485 Mode offers the options:
Half Duplex / Full Duplex(default) - are used in conjunction with the RS485

Multiplex Jumper Settings.

PCI Quad 422/485 Card Chapter 8 Windows NT 4.0 Installation. x 43

NOTE: These software settings must match the RS485 Multiplex Jumper
configuratio n, as describe d in the se ction "RS 485 M u ltiple x J u mper Settings." in
Chapter 2, to ensure accurate and error free data transmission.

Force CTS True, determines whe the r the CTS handshake signal is INPUT from
the ex ternal s eria l device or is per man entl y forced tru e on th e card . Th e seria l
ports own RTS OUTPUT handshake signa ls are always taken out to the serial
port connect or.

Defaults - When clicked this button resets the advanced properties to the
followed settings:

FIFO Off: On (u nch eck ed )
Transmit Buffers: 1
Receive Buffers: 8
Use Extended FI F O: Off (Unchecked )
485 Mode: Full Duplex

Uninstalling Serial Solutions PCI.

To uninstall Serial Solutions PCI:
From C ontrol Panel, open the Add/Remove Program s appl et , then cl ose the

Control Panel.
Select from the list Serial Solutions PCI.
Click the Add/Remove button.
Windows NT will then uninstall the Serial Solutions P CI ap plet witho u t the nee d

for restarting.

PCI Quad 422/485 Card Chapter 8 Windows NT 4.0 Installation. x 44

Chapter 9 Windows 2000
Installation

Software Installation

After inserting the PCI card into an available slot and reconnecting all cables
power up your machine.

The screen shot shown below will appear briefly on your screen.

Insert the Serial Solutions CD ROM into an appropriate drive and click ’Next’.

PCI Quad 422/485 Card Chapter 9 Windows 2000 Installat i on x 45

Select Search for a s u itabl e d river for my device
Click Next

Select Sp ecify a location
Click Next

In the box under Copy man ufacturers files from: type <CDROM
Drive>:\diskimg\sswin2k where <CDROM Drive> is the letter of the drive into
which you inserted the driver CD ROM. Eg. D:\diskimg\sswin2k

PCI Quad 422/485 Card Chapter 9 Windows 2000 Installat i on x 46

Click Next

Click Yes

Click Finish

The system will then detect the ports briefly showing the above scre e n shot.

Checking your Installation

Using the secondary(Right) mouse button click on the My Computer icon on
your desktop.

PCI Quad 422/485 Card Chapter 9 Windows 2000 Installat i on x 47

Click Properties

Select t he Hardware tab
Click Device Manager

PCI Quad 422/485 Card Chapter 9 Windows 2000 Installat i on x 48

Double Clicking on the Multi-port serial adapters label will display the
name of any installed cards.

Double Clicking on the Ports(COM & LPT) label will display all installed
Ports.

Chapter 10 Optional RS422/485

R

Operation

The RS422 Standard.

The RS422 standard defines a serial communicati ons standard. RS422 is a high speed
and/or long distance data transmission. Each signal is carried by a pair of wires and is
thus a differential data transmission system. Over distances up to 40 feet the maximum
data rate is 10 Megabits per second, and for distances up to 4000 fe e t the maximum data
rate is 100 Kilobytes per second. A 120-Ohm resistor should be used to terminate th e
receivi ng end of th e lin e. It i s g enerally used bet ween one transmitter receiver pai r to
ONLY one other transmitter receiver pai r, but each output can drive up to 10 r eceivers.

RS422 Standard

1 Driver up to 10 Receiver s

Line Length Max Data Rate

40 Feet = 12m 10 Mbits/sec

400 Feet = 122m 1 Mbits/sec

4000 Feet = 1219m 100 Kbits/sec

TTL TTL

The RS485 Standard.

The RS485 standard is similar to the RS422 standard upon which it is based.
The main difference is that up to 32 transmitter receiver pairs may be present on the line
at one time. A 120-Ohm resistor should be used to terminate either end o f the main line.
If more than one device may transmit data, the RTS line is used as transmit enable
signal, so preventi ng content ion between talkers.

DD

D

RS485 Standard

Up to 32 Driver /Receiver Pair s

Line Length Max Data Rate

40 Feet = 12m 10 Mbits/sec

400 Feet = 122m 1 Mbits/sec

4000 Feet = 1219m 100 Kbits/sec

R

R

R

PCI Quad 422/485 Card Chapter 10 Optional RS422/ 485 O per at i on x 49

Terminating Impedance’s.

RS422 and RS485 lines should be terminated at the end of the main branch of the
RECEIVER, in the cables characteristic impedance. These terminating impedance’s
stop ech oes caused by th e s eria l dat a being reflected back at th e cable ends. It is n ot
necessary to terminate the transmitter end of the twisted pair.

The PCI Opto Isolated Quad RS 422/485 has the correct 120 O hm (nominal) terminating
resistors for the RXD twisted pair line and the CTS twisted pair line fitted on the
RS422/485 card for both the serial port s on the card.

There is no need to add any more at the PC end.

The terminating impedance’s shown later in the wiring diagrams are automatically
pr ovided by t he on board resi s tor s and do not have to be ad ded by the us e r.

Fail Safe Open Circuit Detection.

Open circuit is when t here are no drivers on the ci rcui t. This occurs by design in party
line multi driver/receiver systems and u ninten tionally when th e twisted p air lin e is
accidentally cut or disconnected or the transmitting device fails. In RS485 party line
systems there are extended periods of time when none of the many possible talkers are
gated onto the bus. This is known as the line idle state and occurs when all the driver
outputs are in the high impedanc e state. The lines flo at, p erhaps being pu lled to the high
or low sta te by noise or other voltages on the l ine .

Without fail safe open circuit d etection false s tar t bits a re det ected by the receivers ,
either corrupting good communications or causing noise to masquerade as good data.

The on board fail safe open ci rcui t detecti on caus es the receiver to go to a known, pre­determined state and prevents false start bits and bad data being detected during open
circuits.

Fail Safe Short Circuit Protection.

Short circuits are when the two lines of a twisted pair are connected together. This
occurs due to either accidental damage to the cable or due to failure of one or more
transmitter/receivers on the li ne. The short circuit condition is dangerous since damage
to th e receiver may occur and com mun icati on ma y be corrupted or prevent ed .

The on board fail safe short circuit detection prevents the line impedance from
goin g to zero and thus p rotects the i nputs of receivers and the outpu ts of drivers.

RS422 Operation.

Generally, in RS422 systems all 8 signal li nes from the 9 pin D connector participate in
the data transfer sequence, thus 4 twisted pair cables are used. One twisted pair carries
the TXD data outwards, one pair brings the RXD data inward, another pair carries the
RTS handshake outwards and the fourth pair brings the CTS handshake inwards. There
is n o need to ca rry the gr ou nd fr om one device t o a noth er.

This RS422 arrangement allows data to be transmitted and received simult aneously
since each signal has its own data cable pair. In addition, the receiver can set RTS true
so te lling the transmitter on its CTS input that the receiver is ready to accept data. In this
way, no data will ever be transmitted when the receiver i s u nable to accept it, due to a
full input buffer etc. And so no data will be lost.

RS422 Serial Port Cables.

PCI Quad 422/485 Card Chapter 10 Optional RS422/ 485 O per at i on x 50

Use screened twisted pair Belden cable 9729 and 9829, L type 2493 and 2919 or IBM
Part No 4716748 cable to make the RS422 connection. Unscreened Belden type 8795
may also be used in less noisy environments.

its characteristic impedance.

Serial Port 1 To Other PC Cable.

SERIAL PORT 1 Side Other P C SERIAL PORT Side .
9 Pin Female D Connector 9 Pin Female D Connector

Note:

Receiver ends termi nat ed in char acter istic imped ance ONBOA RD resistor n etworks.
USE BELDEN TYPE 9729 etc. see above.
RS485 Gating & Multiplex Jumpers as Factory Set.

RS485 Operation.

The RS485 standard is intended for up to 32 driver receiver p air s on the bus. T he li ne
drivers used in the Serial Solutions RS422/485 card are designed to work correctly in
both RS422 and RS485 systems. The main difference therefore is in how the system is
implemented. Though the card uses a 9 pin D connector, in general, not all the lines are
used for RS485 systems. The RTS+/- and CTS+/- li nes, though driven by the card, are
usually not connected. In two wire, Half-Duplex configurations the TXD+ line is
conn ected to the RXD+ wh ilst the T X D- line is con nected to th e RXD-, only one pair of
twisted wire cable is used in RS485 Half Duplex communications.

The har dware h a ndshaking per formed by the CTS+/- and RTS+/- lines in RS422
systems are han dled by a software protocol in RS485 systems. In situations where more
than one device may transmit data on the shared data line, each cards RTS line is used
as a gating signal to enable the TXD driver only when that card needs to transmit data,
i.e. s et TXD GATE or AUT O ju mper. This mechanism p revents bus content ion cau s ed
by multiple transmitters holding the line in opposing states. Revision 3 and higher
versions of this card have a facility which automatically “gates” the RTS line, thus
enabling the transmitter independently of any software. This “Auto gating” is described
in more detail in t he previous 485 half duplex section

PCI Quad 422/485 Card Chapter 10 Optional RS422/ 485 O per at i on x 51

The three wiring s chemes g iven described bel ow are: ­RS485 One Talker Many Listeners (HALF DUPLEX)

RS485 Many Talkers Many Listeners (HALF DUPLEX.)
RS485 Many Talkers Many Listeners (FULL DUPLEX.)

RS485 Cable.

For best noise immunity use twisted pair cables to make the RS485 connection. In Half
Duplex wi ring only 1 twisted cable pair i s needed. Two twist ed pair cables are needed
for Full Duplex communications.

Use screened twisted pair Belden cable 9729 and 9829, UL type 2493 and 2919 or IBM
Part No 4716748 cable to make the RS485 connection. Termina te the twisted pair cable
at either end in its chara cteri stic impedance, which for the Belden 9729 cable is 120
Ohms. Unscreened Belden type 8795 may also be used in less noisy environments.

RS485 One Talker - Many Listeners, Half Duplex.

There are several schemes for connecting RS485 devices depending on th e
characteristics of the system. In many cases there will be only one device, which can
transmit, data and all the others simply listen to it. This scheme is used for theatrical
lighting intensity control in th e DMX512 standard. This is sh own below. For the talker
the RS485 TXD GATE jumper should remain in the fac tory s et position, i.e. transmitter
is always enabled. There is NO multiplexing of the TXD and RXD lines. Data is only
flowing one way, from PC outwards, and is thus a Half-Duplex configuration, only one
twisted pair cable is needed.

Note: The Receiver end of MAIN l ine t ermi nat ed in characterist ic imp ed ance by
ONBOARD resistor networks, stubs off the main not terminated.

In the above scheme , on e RS 485 device is talk only, it transmits data, but it does not
receive a ny. The oth er RS485 devices are receive only, t hey do not tra nsmit any data at
all.

Half Duplex Settings of RS485 Multiplex

Both jumpers shorted, causing the RXD- & TXD- and the RXD+ & TXD+ signals to
shor t toget her at the 9-p in con nector.

RS485 Many Talkers- Many Listeners, Half Duplex.

Another popular RS485 layout is for multiple talkers and multiple listeners. This is
shown below. This is also known as "party line" transmission. It is imperative to have
some method of preventing two devices trying to drive the data lines at the same time.
The normal method is to use the RTS line as a talk enable. The RTS line should go true
immediately prior to the data transmissio n and go false immediate ly af ter the last byte in
the stream is sent.

PCI Quad 422/485 Card Chapter 10 Optional RS422/ 485 O per at i on x 52

120

120

-TXD2

TXD1- -TXD n

W

-RXD1

+RXD1

+RXD2

-RXD2
+TXD2

+RXD3

-RXD3
+TXD3

-TXD3

-RXDn

+RXDn

+RXDn-1

-RXDn-1
+TXDn-1

-TXDn-1

Note: BOTH ends of MAIN line terminated in characteristic impedance, stubs off main
line not imped ance, s ince both end s receive. The t wis ted pair ends are wir ed to both
RXD+ & TXD+ and RXD- & TXD- at each RS485 device!

RS485 Many Talkers- Many Listeners, Full Duplex.

The RS485 many talkers, many listeners, Full Duplex system can be used when all the
RS485 devices have separate Transmit and Receive channels. There is NO multiplexing
of the T XD and RXD s ignals on the sa me device. Thi s s ystem is especially useful when
there is no flow control available on the PC, usually due to the use of a third party
communications program that prevents the use of the RTS signal as a "transmit enable"
control, via the TXD GATE jumper. It can be used in the following situations:-

a) The PC is connected to only ONE RS485 device.
b) Th e PC is communicatin g with several RS485 devices that are each able to

recognize and respond to their own unique addr ess. The RS485 devices only drive
their TXD lines when they are responding to requests from the PC to send data. In
effect, the RS485 device’s ad d ress and t he command it r eceives is used to control acces s
to th e devices TXD channel .

W

This is a Full Duplex system. Two twisted pair cables are required. One twisted pair, is
the PC’s TXD channel, it carries the data sent from the PC’s TXD outputs t o the RXD
inputs of each of the RS485 devices. The second twisted pair, is the Devices TXD
chann el, it carries t he data sent from each of the devices’ TXD outputs to the RXD
inputs of the PC.

The advantag es of t his system ar e g reat , since no new communications , softwar e is
needed, and the PC can talk and listen at the same time. In effect, the handshaking is
performed by the intelligence of the RS485 devices attached to the PC.

When wired as below, the PC can transmit data at any time and all the RS485 devices
#1 to #n simult aneously receives it.

Only one of the RS485 devices may talk, i.e. transmit data, at any one time . Each RS485
device recognizes commands and data addressed to it, it only talks when the PC
commands it to do so. When the RS485 device receives th e com man d to tal k from t he
PC, it gates its TXD drivers on, sends the data down the device TXD channel, and
disables its TXD drivers. The other RS485 devices remain in t he receive only mode
when they are not being addressed, they do not transmit any data at all.

RS485 Jumpers, Full Duplex.

Both jumpers left unconn ected (not sh orted) .

PCI Quad 422/485 Card Chapter 10 Optional RS422/ 485 O per at i on x 53

Note: The receiver end of MAIN lin e term ina ted in cha ract eristic im pedance, stubs off

(1/2)

the main not terminated.

Optional Grounding Arrangements.

Proper operation of the cable circuit, according to TIA EIA: 485 A (1995) requires
that the cable ground shield is not connected directly to the equipment ground shield. A
current limiting resistor should be used in series with the shield to avoid possible large
current flow due to differences in ground potential. Any one of the methods shown
below can do this.

Configuration A)

100

Ω

W

SG

GWG

Configuration B)

SG

GWG

SG = Signal Ground Interchange circuit.
GWG = Green wire ground of power system.

= Protective ground of frame ground.

= Circuit ground or circuit

Configuration A) The cir cui t com mon of th e equ ipm ent is con nect ed to pr otect ive gr oun d, a t on e poin t on ly by a

Ω, ±20% resistor with a power dissipation rating of 1/2W. An additional provision may be made for the resistor to be

100
bypassed with a strap to connect signal common and protective ground directly together when specific installation
conditions necessitate.

PCI Quad 422/485 Card Chapter 10 Optional RS422/ 485 O per at i on x 54

common.

F

fail safe 56, 57

FIFO 2, 6

Index

1

1 Megabaud 6
115200 Baud 32, 43
16450 / 16550 2, 6

4

460800 Baud 32, 43

9

921600 Baud 32, 43

A

asynchronous 6
Autogating 6, 7

B

baud / baud rate 3
BBCARDS.EXE 15, 17, 18
Belden 57
bits 56

buffer 57

17

Buffer

buffer / buffered 2, 3, 6

G

gating 58

H

handsh a ke 2, 57

I

impedance 56, 57, 58, 59, 61

installation 4, 15
Installing Ports In Microsoft Windows 95 & 98. 23
Installing ports in Windows 3.x 19
interr upt s 3

J

jumper 9, 58, 59

L

last 59

loop back 3

M

Maximum Baud Rate 31, 32, 41, 42, 43
Megabaud See 921600 baud. See 921600 baud
mode 3, 60

O

C

cable 3, 56, 57, 58
CD ROM 52
Changing COM numbers in Windows 95 29, 39
COM 54
command 3, 59
Configuring Ports In Microsoft Windows NT. 45
CTS 2, 6, 56, 57, 58

D

data word length 6
DCD 2
device driver 15, 16
DSR 2
DTR 2

E

emulation 3

open circuit 56

P

parity 3

party line 56, 59

port / ports 2, 3, 4, 6, 15, 45, 56
Port Address 17
protocol 2, 58

R

receive 10, 58, 59, 60
resistor 55, 56, 57, 58

RS232 2, 6, 9
RS422 / RS485 6, 9, 10, 33, 44, 49, 55, 56, 57, 58,

59, 60, 61
RS422 Pinout 8
RS485 Multiplex Jumper Settings 9, 33, 44, 49
RTS 2, 6, 56, 57, 58, 59

RXD 6, 10, 56, 57, 58, 59

PCI Quad 422/485 Card Index x 55

S

serial port 2, 3, 15, 45, 56
shared int er rupt 3, 4

short circuit 57

SISR 16
speed 6, 55

T

twisted pair 10, 56, 57, 58, 59
TXD 6, 10, 57, 58, 59, 60

U

Uninstalling Serial Solutions PCI for Windows NT

49

W

Windows 2, 3, 4, 45

PCI Quad 422/485 Card Index x 56