Page 1
H
ar
d
ware
M
anua
l
¤
¤
¤¤
Dual LPT & RS232
1.2 Edition February 1999
Page 2
Guarantee.
FULL 36 MONTHS GUARANTEE.
We guarantee your Serial Port Card for a full 36 months from
purchase, parts and labour, provided it has been used in the
specified manner. In the unlikely event of failure return your
interface to your Dealer, with proof of purchase, who will
determine whether to repair or replace this product with an
equivalent unit.
COPYRIGHT.
COPYRIGHT © 1985-1998.
All rights reserved. No part of this hardware, circuitr y or manual
may be duplicated, copied, transmitted or repr oduced in any way
without the prior written consent of the Manufacturer.
Serial Solutions is supplied to you by
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT S.
IBM, COMPAQ, Hewlett Packard, H.P. and EPSON are
trademarks of the relevant companies. Windows is a trademark of
Microsoft.
Page 3
PCI DUAL LPT & RS232 Introduction
Intro 1
PCI DUAL LPT & RS232 MANUAL
OUTLINE CONTENTS
Chapter 1 - Optional Serial Solution Software.
Chapter 2 - PCI DUAL LPT & RS232 Specifications.
Chapter 3 - PCI DUAL LPT & RS232 Software
Configuration Guide.
The Layout Of This Manual
Chapter 1 - Serial Solution Software, is an overview of the
optional, ideal companion software package for our range of serial
port cards. Buy it from your dealer now!
Chapter 2 - PCI DUAL LPT & RS232 Specifications,
gives details of the PCI DUAL LPT & RS232 specifications,
details of how to install the optional parallel port and shows you
how to install your PCI Dual LPT & RS232 Card.
Chapter 3 - PCI DUAL LPT & RS232 Software
Configuration Guide
, shows you how to configure your
operating system to successfully allow trouble free operation of
your PCI Dual LPT & RS232 Card. Installation procedures are f or
Windows 95/98.
Page 4
PCI DUAL LPT & RS232 Introduction
Intro 2
PCI DUAL LPT & RS232 MANUAL................................... 1
CHAPTER 1.................................................................3
SERIAL SOLUTIONS SOFTWARE........................................3
Introducing Serial Solution Software..................................... 3
Serial Solutions For DOS. ..................................................... 4
Serial Solutions For Windows 3.x..........................................6
Serial Solutions For Windows 95........................................... 6
Complete Documentation and Technical Backup................... 7
CHAPTER 2.................................................................8
PCI DUAL LPT & RS232 SPECIFICATIONS......................... 8
Introduction........................................................................... 8
PCI Dual LPT & RS232 Card Features. ................................. 8
Configuring The PCI DUAL LPT & RS232 Card................ 10
Parallel Printer Port Configuration....................................... 10
Hardware Installation........................................................... 11
Problems!............................................................................ 12
Installing 2nd parallel and Serial Ports ................................. 12
Chapter 3..................................................................... 14
PCI Dual LPT AND RS232 SOFTWARE CONFIGURATION
GUIDE................................................................................... 14
Introduction......................................................................... 14
Installing Ports In Microsoft Windows 95 & 98................... 14
Card Settings In Windows 95 & 98...................................... 17
Port Settings In Windows 95 & 98....................................... 18
Page 5
PCI DUAL LPT & RS232 Serial Solutions
Chapter 1 Page 3
CHAPTER 1
SERIAL SOLUTIONS SOFTWARE.
Introducing Serial Solution Software.
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 f r om P C seri al comm unicat i ons.
Serial Solutions is made up of the following components: -
Serial Solutions for DOS
Serial Solutions for Windows 3.x
Serial Solutions for Windows 95
Serial Solutions for Windows NT
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, 64 byte 16750 and 128 byte 16950
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.
Page 6
PCI DUAL LPT & RS232 Serial Solutions
Chapter 1 Page 4
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 interrupt handler 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 handshake
using the XON/XOFF protocol.
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, including the port address, IRQ
line used, the baud rate, parity and data and
stop bit options.
e.g. NEWMODE COM5:38400,E,7,1 01A0 7
Baud rates supported are from 110 baud to
115,200 baud! Included is a very handy query
mode that reports the settings of the various
serial ports. Flexible and fast!
EASY programs. The EASY disk contains short, simple to
understand and use EASYBAS, EASYC and
ASYPAS programs, providing straight
forward, file type I /O to serial ports with debug
information. Use these FIRST, base your
sample applications on them.
Page 7
PCI DUAL LPT & RS232 Serial Solutions
Chapter 1 Page 5
Source code, make files and compiled r eady 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 NE WBIOS routi nes as
well as the simple file I/O to ports. They
contain many lines of code and are thus har der
to grasp. They 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 li ne. T he pr ogr am
correctly identifies the UART type e.g. non-
FIFO, 16550 FIFO, 16550AF FIFO and the
improved 16650 32 byte FIFO and 16750 64 byte
FIFO’s. 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 stop bit is
performed. There is no need for a second serial
port or a cable when using this utility.
Page 8
PCI DUAL LPT & RS232 Serial Solutions
Chapter 1 Page 6
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 r outi ne f or t he 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 Replacement for COMM.DRV.
LynxAPI.dll Enhancement to the Windows Comms API’s
allowing support for more than 9 ports.
Term.exe Terminal program.
EasyCWIN C source code, project files and ready to run. exe
program for an easy to understand Windows
terminal program. Learn how to write Windows
comms apps correctly t he easy way.
Serial Solutions For Windows 95.
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: -
ISA.INF
PCI.inf
SSDRVS.INF
SSCARDUI.DLL
SSPORTUI.DLL
SSSENUM.VXD
SSM485.VXD
SSMULT.VXD
SSV485.VXD
SSVEL.VXD
The information files to aid the installation
process "Have Disk.. .
…The DLL ’ s and…
...the virtual device driver providing the
shared interrupt handler.
Page 9
PCI DUAL LPT & RS232 Serial Solutions
Chapter 1 Page 7
Compl ete Documenta tion and Technical Backup.
We believe in supplying complete documentation with
every package we sell. The S erial So lution Sof tware Package i s no
exception, it has an attractive CD ROM containing all required
documentation. A complete technical backup service is available
to ensure that you get the maximum performance out of your
investment.
Page 10
PCI Dual LPT & RS232 Software Configuration
Chapter 2 Page 8
CHAPTER 2
PCI DUAL LPT & RS232
SPECIFICATIONS
Introduction.
This chapter details the specifications of the PCI Dual LPT
& RS232 Card and explains how to add the optional serial/parallel
port to the card.
This half-sized card will work happily in any PCI 2.0 or
greater compliant PC compatible.
PCI Dual LPT & RS232 Card Features.
• One or two Centronics Parallel printer ports, PC compatible
• One or two independent 9 pin D RS232 Serial ports.
• Reliable communications up to 50 feet, 15m, and beyond!
• 16550 FIFO provides 16-byte input and 16-byte output buffer
on each port.
• Maximum baud rate of 115,200 Baud.
• Word length of 5, 6, 7 or 8 bits.
• Even, Odd, None, Mar k or S pace par it y opti ons.
• 1 start bit always sent.
• 1, (1.5 for 5 bit data wor d length) or 2 stop bits.
• Clock input of 1.8432 MHz
• 100% PC Compatible serial port TI 16C550, up to 115,200
baud.
• Full modem control TXD, RXD, DSR, DCD, DTR, RT S, CTS
and RI signals.
• Fully double buffered for reliable asynchronous operation.
• High-speed integrated circuitry ensures operation with fast PC’s
e.g. 500MHz Pentium II WIT HOUT extr a wait states.
Page 11
PCI Dual LPT & RS232 Software Configuration
Chapter 2 Page 9
Figure 2-1. PCI DUAL LPT & RS232 Card Layout.
PCI DUAL LPT & RS232 Specifications:
Dimensions: 4.8 x 3.5 in, 120 x 90 mm
I/O Connection: Serial Por t 1: 9 pin Male D type.
Optional Serial Port 2: 9 pin Male D type.
(via flylead with P C bracket . )
LPT port: Parallel Port 1: 25 pin Female D type
Optional Parallel Port 2 : 25 pin Female D
type (via flylead wit h PC br acket. )
Page 12
PCI Dual LPT & RS232 Software Configuration
Chapter 2 Page 10
Configuring The PCI DUAL LPT & RS232 Card.
PCI cards, by definition, require no hardware conf igur ation
and can be installed "directly from the box".
Figure 2-2. 9 Pin D Connector Port Pinouts.
Parallel P r inter Port Configuration.
On the PCI Dual LPT & RS232 Card, the parallel printer
port is the lower 25-pin connector on the card.
Figure 2-3 Printer Port Pin Outs.
4-2(%8%'%66-)6()8)'8('(
4-2(%8%7)86)%(=(76
4-2'0)%6837)2('87
4-2 86%271-88)((%8%8<(
4-2 6)')-:)((%8%6<(
4-2(%8%8)61-2%06)%(= ( 86
4-26)59)78837)2(687
4-26-2+-2(-'%8366-
4-2+6392(+2(
Page 13
PCI Dual LPT & RS232 Software Configuration
Chapter 2 Page 11
Hardware Installation.
NOTE: Always turn the computer OFF before installing or
removing any interface board. .!!!
STEP 1: Before the PC card can be installed the power to the PC
must be switched off and for additional safety it is recommended
that the mains supply plug is removed from the PC itself.
STEP 2: Remove t he case.
Figure 2-4. Removing Blanking Cover
STEP 3: Choose an empty appropriate
expansion slot. Remove the blanking cover
protecting the slot on the PC back panel.
KEEP the blanking cover screw safely for
later (Figure 2-4) .
Figure 2-5. Inserting The PC Serial Card.
STEP 4: Now insert the PC Serial card in
the available 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 the top of the PC Serial
card (Figure 2-5) .
STEP 5: The D connectors should fit neatly thr ough the slot’s aperture to
the outside world. NB. Use the screw kept back from the blanking cover
to screw the PC Serial retaining bracket into the PC back panel housing.
Page 14
PCI Dual LPT & RS232 Software Configuration
Chapter 2 Page 12
STEP 6: Now replace the system units cover by carefully sliding
it down and back over the system unit. Replace the cover
mounting screws.
STEP 7: After attaching all the monitor and keyboard cables,
power up the PC. Do not fo r get t he main s power cabl e!
The PC should power on in the normal way.
Problems!
If the system fails to power up normally check the following.:
i.) Ensure that the P C Ser ial car d is inst all ed cor r ectl y.
ii.) Ensure that other cards in the PC have not been upset.
iii.) Ensure that the power is connected and the PC is switched
ON!
n
If all these have been checked and the PC still does not
power up then there is probably a conflict of I/O address between
the PC Serial card and another board in the PC. Ask your dealer to
check this
Installing 2nd parallel and Serial Ports
Supplied with the PCI DUAL LPT & RS232 card is a seperate
bracket containing a 9 pin serial port connector and a 25 pin
parallel port connector. Both connectors have a ribbon cable
attached terminating in an IDC style plug.
Each of these cables have 1 of the wir es coloured red. Where this
red wire terminates at the plug there is an inverted triangle, this
denotes PIN1.
The PCI Dual LPT & RS232 card has 2 "headers" on the board
labelled PRINTER2 and SERIAL2 located along the top edge.
Each of these "headers" has a whi te ar r o w which point s to PI N1.
Page 15
PCI Dual LPT & RS232 Software Configuration
Chapter 2 Page 13
Holding the cable assembly at right angles to the board (As shown
in fig 2-6), ensuring that PIN1 on each plug mates with PIN1 on
the "header", press each plug down evenly and firmly until
resistance is felt - The extra ports have now been plugged in.
Figure 2-6 Installation of Serial Port 2.
Page 16
PCI Dual LPT & RS232 Software Configuration
Chapter 3 Page 14
Chapter 3
PCI DUAL LPT AND RS232
SOFTWARE CONFIGURATION
GUIDE
Introduction.
This section contains the installation procedures of the PCI
Dual LPT & RS232 card, with the Windows 95/98 operating
system.
The setup procedures in this chapter assume that your PC
has only one serial port present.
Installing Ports In Microsoft Windows 95 & 98.
Although covering the installation of the PCI Dual LPT &
RS232 into the Windows 95 operating system, the procedure is
also valid, with only minor differences, in the Windows 98
Operating System. The Windows 95 environment now supports up
to 255 standard serial ports, RS232, RS422, RS485 etc.
To obtain a trouble free mix- and-match of the COM ports:
• Switch off your computer, insert your PCI Dual L PT & RS232
card into a free PCI slot, as described in the secti on "Ha rdware
Installat ion " in Chapter 2, and switch your computer on again.
• During the booting process, Windows 95 will detect PCI Dual
LPT & RS232, 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
Page 17
PCI Dual LPT & RS232 Software Configuration
Chapter 3 Page 15
card”. Insert the Windows 95 installation disk into an
appropriate drive and click 'Next'.
• The Wizard should then display something similar to following:
• Click Finish.
• A "Copying Files…" window should now appear. Click 'OK'
when it asks you to insert the disk.
Page 18
PCI Dual LPT & RS232 Software Configuration
Chapter 3 Page 16
• After copying the file, Windows 95 will then detect each of the
serial ports in turn and install them as communications ports; in
the case of the PCI Dual LPT & RS232 it will also 2 parallel
ports, and then installs them as printer ports.
When the "Device Manager" is viewed:
• PCI Dual LPT & RS232 will appear under the "Multi-
function adapters" branch, 2 Communications Ports and 2
Printer 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 and COM6, as pictured below; for
users with more than 5 COM ports the new ports will appear as the
first available COM ports.
Page 19
PCI Dual LPT & RS232 Software Configuration
Chapter 3 Page 17
Card Settings In Windows 95 & 98.
• Select the PCI Dual LPT & RS232 card from the "Multi-
Function Adapter" entry in Device Manager and click on
properties to view the cards general properties; clicking on the
Serial Solutions tab produces:
In this window, the COM (and LPT) 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 Dual LPT & RS232 card itself are not
checked, so it is advisable to f i r st check which COM por t s are i n use port availability can be checked by viewing the Device Manager.
This process also applies to LPT assignment, and LPT port usage can
also be viewed from t he Device Manager.
. NOTE: At time of print there exists no facility within the
driver software to disable any of the card’s ports.
Page 20
PCI Dual LPT & RS232 Software Configuration
Chapter 3 Page 18
Port Settings In Windows 95 & 98.
Double clicking on a Communications Port that belongs to
a PCI Dual LPT & RS232 card will display general properties
window for that port (in this case COM2). Selecting the Port
Settings tab produces:
Settings available in these windows are:
1. Baud Rate - determines the baud rate at which the
selected port operates.
• the maximum value of operation is 115,200, even
though the maximum value selectable is 921,600 this is due to standard Windows COM port drivers
being used.
2. Data Bits.
3. Parity.
4. St op B its.
5. Flow Control.
Change to suit remote device.
Page 21
PCI Dual LPT & RS232 Software Configuration
Chapter 3 Page 19
6. Advanced - clicking on this will display the following
window:
Settings available in this window are:
• Use FIFO Buffers - turns the selected ports FIFO
buffer on or off. It is strongly recommended that
the FIFO for both ports is left enabled.
• Receive Buffer - These settings allow the selection
of a receiver FIFO 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.
• Transmit Buffer - 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. Selecting a
high value will send more data-bytes per interrupt,
and will give more time for multi-tasking
operations.
• Defaults: when clicked this button restores the
advanced settings for t he select ed por t t o:
Page 22
PCI Dual LPT & RS232 Software Configuration
Chapter 3 Page 20
Use FIFO Buffers: On (Checked)
Receive Buffer: High (14)
Transmit Buffe r: High (14)
7. Restore Defaults - 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
Page 23
INDEX
16450 / 16550...................................................................... 3, 5, 8
asynchronous ...............................................................................8
baud / baud rate.................................................................... 4, 5, 8
buffer / buffered................................................................... 4, 5, 8
cable....................................................................................... 5, 12
Changing COM numbers in Windows 95...................................17
command.....................................................................................4
Configuring ports in Windows 95 & 98......................................18
connectors...................................................................................11
CTS .........................................................................................4, 8
data word length...........................................................................8
DCD........................................................................................4, 8
DSR......................................................................................... 4, 8
DTR......................................................................................... 4, 8
emulation.....................................................................................5
FIFO....................................................................................3, 5, 8
handshake ................................................................................3, 4
installation .................................................................................14
Installing Ports In Windows 95 & 98. ........................................14
interrupts......................................................................................6
loop back......................................................................................5
mode ............................................................................................4
modem.........................................................................................8
Optional Serial / Parallel Port.......................................................9
Parallel Printer Port.................................................................... 10
parity ....................................................................................... 4, 5
port.......................................................................................... 4, 5
port / ports ................................................................1, 8, 9, 10, 14
ports...................................................................................3, 4, 5, 6
Print / Printer ......................................................................... 8, 10
protocol........................................................................................4
RI.................................................................................................8
Index
Page 24
INDEX
RS232........................................................................ 1, 3, 8, 9, 10
RS422 / RS485 ............................................................................3
RTS .........................................................................................4, 8
RXD............................................................................................8
serial port..................................................................1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8
shared interrupt............................................................................6
speed............................................................................................8
TXD.............................................................................................8
Windows.......................................................................... 2, 4, 3, 6
Loading...