Lava LAVAPORT-PCI User Manual

LavaPort-PCI

Installation Manual

LAVAPORT-650PCI

MADE

IN

CANADA

PNMOKOS-1
MADEINJAPAN
0255351

LAVA

P.N.MOKO L66.6

Rev.B01

COMPUTERS

Congratulations on your purchase of the LavaPort-PCI Com Port
Accelerator for 56K and ISDN external modems,and other high-speed
serial peripherals.

Included with your package, you should have the following:

1. The LavaPort-PCI printed circuit board

2. One software installation diskette

3. This user’s manual

If any of the above items are missing,please contact the reseller where
you purchased this product.

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Contents

Quick Install

Installing the LavaPort-PCI Hardware

Windows Installation

·

Windows Driver Installation

· Changing Port Numbers (Com 3/4/5 etc.)

· Setting LavaPort Data Rates

· Setting LavaPort FIFO Control

· Flow Control

· Lava Modem Speed Set - for 230.4 kbps

Windows NT 4.0 Installation

Windows NT Driver Installation

·

· High Speed Data Rates

Note: Instructions for installing the LavaPort-PCI

under DOS or Windows 3.x may be found at

http://www.lavalink.com

or on the Driver Installation Diskette.

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Quick Install

Windows 95/98/ME/2000/XP

1. With the power off,insert the LavaPort-PCI card into any free PCI
slot.

2. Launch Windows – new hardware will be found.

3. When prompted,insert the LavaPort-650 installation diskette point
Windows to look at the floppy's root directory.

4. After Windows has booted,Click the Start button, then Settings,
Control Panel,System, Device Manager, Ports.The LavaPort-PCI ports
will be listed as two of your Com Ports.Click“Properties”to change
the default settings as desired.

5a. If desired,install the Lava Com Port Redirect and Lava Modem Speed

Set utilities to change the Com numbers of your ports, and to
automate modem speed settings.

5b. For Windows 2000/XP, you can redirect your Com ports by Right

Clicking My Computer > Properties > Hardware > Device Manager >
double click the Lava Port you want to change > Port Settings >
Advanced and under Com Port Number,you can change the port
number from the drop down menu.

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Hardware Installation

1. Before opening the casing of your computer, make sure that all
power is off.

2. Locate an unused PCI slot and insert the LavaPort-PCI into it.Ensure
that it is well seated.

3. Screw the metal backplane of the LavaPort-PCI board to your PC’s
casing and replace the machine’s cover.

4. Connect your modem cable to the whichever port on the LavaPort­PCI that you would like to use first and turn the PC on.

Screw for attaching card bracket
to PC casing

Port B

Port A

PCI Slot

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Windows Installation

Note: Make sure that you are installing the correct LavaPort PCI

drivers for the appropriate operating system.

DO NOT install NT or Windows 3.x drivers under

other versions of Windows.

Windows Driver Installation

1. Once the LavaPort-PCI is installed in your PC,turn on your computer.
Windows will automatically detect the LavaPort-PCI as a new PCI
Serial Controller and ask you to insert the LavaPort Installation
diskette.The installation files are located in either the root or the
Win95 subdirectory of this disk. On some PC’s you may have to
manually type A:\WIN95 when prompted for the LavaPort
Installation diskette.

2. After the necessary files have been copied,Windows will complete
the full installation of the LavaPort-PCI.During this process, a
LavaPort Parent will be created in Device Manager under Multi­Function Adapters,and two child ports will be created in Device
Manager/Ports.The following describes how you may custom
configure these ports for your personal needs.

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3. Click on the Start button, then choose Settings,Control Panel,
System, Device Manager.You should see a window that is similar to
the following:

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4. Click on Ports and select one of the ports listed under the heading
LavaPort-PCI.

5. Click Properties.The following screen will appear:

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6. Click the Resources tab.A screen similar to the following will appear:

Note: Do not be alarmed if Windows reports

an I/O Range or IRQ conflict between the LavaPort-PCI

and some other device in your PC.The LavaPort-PCI is a

fully compliant PCI device,and therefore allows for the

sharing of IRQ and I/O Resouces between devices.

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TThe LavaPort-PCI hardware appears in Device Manager in two places:
under the Multi-function Adapters tree and as part of the Ports tree.

Please note that the Resources (I/O Address & IRQ) used by the
LavaPort-PCI can only be modified through the LavaPort Parent device ­listed under Multi-function Adapters. Modifying I/O Address and IRQ
Resources is NOT recommended.

If you wish to change the Com number of either one of the ports on the
LavaPort-PCI (e.g.Assign Port 1 to be Com 3 instead of the default Com

6), please use the Lava Com Port Redirector Utility.This program will

allow you to change the numbering of your ports without changing I/O
address resources.

Interrupt Resources may be modified for the LavaPort Parent device (see
Device Manager - Multi-function Adapters), but not for individual ports
because both ports on the LavaPort-PCI share one IRQ. Please note that
interrupt changes require a reboot to take effect.

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Changing the Com numbering of your Ports

Windows 95/98/ME

The LavaPort-PCI takes advantage of the inherent support of Windows
for a multitude of Com Ports,and allows the user to add one or more
ports beyond the traditional Com 4. Indeed because the LavaPort-PCI is
a PCI device,Windows will always configure its ports using Com
designations with higher numbers than Com 4.

Unfortunately many communications application programs do not
recognize Port designations beyond Com 4.It therefore may be
necessary to rename one or more of the Ports in your PC to use different
Com numbers.This may be accomplished using the Lava Port Redirect
utility found in the Utils subdirectory of your LavaPort-PCI diskette.This
utility may be run from the diskette or installed onto your hard drive by
using the Setup.exe program in the Utils subdirectory.

To install the Lava Port Redirect utility on your hard drive,insert the
LavaPort diskette into your floppy drive,click Start, Run and type
A:\Utils\Setup.

Windows 2000/XP

Windows2000/XP has its own port changing ability built-in. You can do
this by Right Clicking My Computer > Properties > Hardware > Device
Manager > double click the Lava Port you want to change > Port
Settings > Advanced and under Com Port Number, you can change the
port number from the drop down menu.

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Setting LavaPort Data Rates in Windows

The data rate of the LavaPort may be set using the Bits per Second pull
down menu.

Please note that this menu will also appear when setting the“Port
Properties”in any communications application, and may have to be set
independently of your Control Panel settings.Control Panel settings
may not necessarily be linked to those of your Communications
Application. For example, Port speeds in Dial-Up Networking are
controlled independently of speed settings in Device Manager.

For optimum performance,always verify that your LavaPort is set to the
maximum speed supported by your modem, and that both speed
settings are the same in every application.

Please note that the setting of Communications Port Data Rates is often
the most confusing of tasks encountered by modem users.For this
reason, Lava has included the Lava Modem Speed Set utility in the Utils
subdirectory of your LavaPort diskette.Lava strongly recommends using
this utility for all LavaPort-to-modem connections.

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Setting LavaPort FIFO Control in Windows

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Each of the the LavaPort-PCI’s two ports incorporates a 32-byte FIFO
(first-in-first-out) buffer.

The FIFO control tabs set the buffer“trigger” levels. When the buffer is
filled to its trigger level with the selected number of bytes,the CPU will
be interrupted and asked to either reload the buffer (for transmission),
or retrieve data from the buffer (for reception).

Most efficient data transmission occurs when the CPU is interrupted
infrequently.For each interrupt,the CPU can then service the buffer with
larger data blocks: during transmission, it can place a large burst of data
into the buffer, and during reception it can retrieve a large block from
the buffer and then continue multi-tasking.

Ideally therefore,Receive triggers should be set as high as possible and
Transmit triggers as low as possible.

However, if the Transmit trigger levels are set too low,or Receive triggers
too high, and the CPU is busy when an interrupt is called by the
LavaPort,a short period of inactivity may occur between the port and
the modem.This will reduce effective transmission/reception speeds.

Optimum buffer settings are dependent on your modem speed,your
CPU speed, and the amount of multi-tasking that occurs while online.
For a fast modem and fast CPU performing few multi-tasking functions,
set transmit triggers low and receive triggers high.If multi-tasking while
online, set transmit triggers higher and receive triggers lower.

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Setting LavaPort Flow Control in Windows

Flow Control refers to the type of signaling that is used between the
modem and the LavaPort.

If you are connecting the LavaPort to a modem or ISDN terminal
adapter,use the default setting of Hardware (RTS/CTS) flow control.

Software Flow Control (Xon/Xoff) is used only for connecting the
LavaPort to a non-modem serial device (e.g.Using a null-modem cable
to connect to another Com Port).

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Lava Modem Speed Set for Windows

The LavaPort-PCI supports data rates up to 460.8 kbps,including 115.2
kbps and 230.4 kbps. However,not all modems support Com Port rates
above 115.2 kbps.

If your modem does not support higher data rates and you select a
higher data rate in the LavaPort Properties,Windows will automatically
default to the slowest supported rate in the chain.

Some modems do support higher data rates but require special settings
(AT Commands) and INF files for configuration.Lava has included a
software utility called “Lava Modem Speed Set” which automates these
functions and allows for easy speed reconfiguration.This utility may be
found in the Utils subdirectory of your LavaPort diskette,and is
constantly being updated to support more modems. Please check the
Lava Web site for details:www.lavalink.com

To install the Lava Modem Speed Set utility on your hard drive,insert the
LavaPort diskette into your floppy drive,click Start, Run and type
A:\Utils\Setup.

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Windows NT 4.0 Installation

Note: Make sure that you are installing the correct LavaPort-PCI

drivers for the appropriate operating system.

DO NOT install drivers for other versions ofWindows

under Windows NT

Windows NT Driver Installation

1. Once the LavaPort-PCI is installed in your PC,turn on your computer
and start NT.

2. Place the LavaPort-PCI installation diskette into your floppy drive
and select Run from the Start Menu. When prompted type:
A:\NT4.0\Setup.

3. After the necessary files have been copied,select My Computer and
start Control Panel.A new icon will appear called “LavaPort”.This
applet should now be used to configure ALL Com Ports in your PC ­not just LavaPorts.

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Please note that Com 1 may not appear in this applet if you have your
mouse attached to Com 1.

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Setting a 230.4 kbps Data Rate

The LavaPort-PCI supports data rates up to 460.8 kbps,including 115.2
kbps and 230.4 kbps. However,not all modems support Com Port rates
above 115.2 kbps.

If your modem does not support higher data rates and you select a
higher data rate in the LavaPort Properties,Windows will automatically
default to the slowest supported rate in the chain.

Some modems do support higher data rates but require special settings
(AT Commands) and setup files for configuration.Contact your modem
manufacturer for details.

NOTE:Lava’s technical support department has tested the LavaPort-PCI
with several modems,and we have posted instructions on configuring
such modems for higher speed data rates on our web site.Please check
www.lavalink.com,Tech Support, FAQ for details.

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Lava

Technical Support

9:00 am to 5:30 pm Monday to Friday (Eastern Time)

Tel: [phone]

Fax:+ 416 674-8262

E-mail: [e-mail]

Internet: www.lavalink.com

Lava Computer MFG Inc.

This device complies with part 15 of the FCC Rules. Operation is subject

to the following conditions: (1)This device may not cause harmful interference,

and (2) this device must accept any interference received,including interference

Lava Computer MFG Inc.908 Niagara Falls Blvd. #629.North Tonawanda NY 14120-2060

that may cause undesired operation.