Moxa Technologies C168H User Manual

SSmmaarrttiioo C168H/PCI User’s Manual

Smartio 8 Ports Serial Board for PCI Bus

Jul. 1999 (2nd Edition)

The content of this manual is also available in CD-ROM and at Moxa Web Site.

Moxa Technologies Co., Ltd.

Tel: [phone]

Fax: [phone]

www.moxa.com
[e-mail]

SSmmaarrttiioo C168H/PCI User’s Manual

The software described in this manual is furnished under a license agreement and may be used only in

accordance with the terms of the agreements.

Copyright Notice

Copyright  1999 Moxa Technologies Co., Ltd.

All rights reserved.

Reproduction in any form without permission is prohibited.

Trademarks

MOXA is a registered trademark of Moxa Technologies Co., Ltd.

All other trademarks or registered marks in this manual belong to their respective manufacturers.

Disclaimer

Information in this document is subject to change without notice and does not represent a commitment on
the part of Moxa.

Moxa provides this document “as is”, without warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied,
including, but not limited to, the particular purpose. Moxa may make improvements and/or changes in
this manual or in the product(s) and/or the program(s) described in this manual at any time.

Information provided in this manual is intended to be accurate and reliable. However, Moxa
Technologies assumes no responsibility for its use, or for any infringements of rights of the fourth parties
which may result from its use.

This product could include technical or typographical errors. Changes are periodically made to the
information herein; these changes may be incorporated in new editions of the publication.

MOXA Internet Services

Customer’s satisfaction is always our number one concern. To ensure that customers get the full benefit
of our services, Moxa Internet Services have been built for technical support, product inquiry, new driver
update, user’s manual update, etc.

The followings are the services we provide.

E-mail for technical support
address: [e-mail]

FTP site for free driver update
address: ftp.moxa.com
or
ftp.moxa.com.tw
user ID: ftp
password: your_email_address

World Wide Web (WWW) Site for product info
address: www.moxa.com
or www.moxa.com.tw

About This Manual

This manual is composed of six Chapters and one Appendix. This manual is written for installer, system
administrator and software programmer.

If you are a first-time installer and system administrator, we recommend you to go through the whole
manual except Chapter 4 “Serial Programming Tools”.

If you are a software programmer, you may refer to Chapter 4 “Serial Programming Tools”.

If you need cable wiring information, please see Chapter 5 “Connection Option (Opt8x) and Cable
Wiring”.

If you encounter any problem during installation, please refer to Chapter 6 “Troubleshooting”.

Chapter 1 Introduction

This chapter gives the overview and features for C168H/PCI. Check-list and overall installation guide are
also included.

Chapter 2 Hardware Installation

This chapter gives details of how to do hardware installation for C168H/PCI and connection option
(Opt8x).

Chapter 3 Software Installation

This Chapter describes the software installation, board and ports configuration, driver update and
removal for various operating systems: Windows NT, and Windows 95/98.

Chapter 4 Serial Programming Tools

This Chapter roughly describes the programming tools for various O.S. platforms, including PComm Lite
under Windows NT and Windows 95/98. Also, RS-485 programming issue is discussed (for Opt8J).

Chapter 5 Connection Option (Opt8x) and Cable Wiring

This Chapter describes the RS-232/422/485 cable wiring for each connection option (Opt8x).

Chapter 6 Troubleshooting

This Chapter describes error might happen and possible solutions for C168H/PCI.

Appendix Technical Reference

This chapter describes specification, PCI, UART, and DB62 pinouts.

Table of Contents

Introduction ................................................................................1-1

Overview----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1-1
Features ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1-2
Check List--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1-3
Installation Guide-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1-5

Hardware Installation ................................................................2-1

Installing the Smartio C168H/PCI Board -----------------------------------------------------------------2-1
Installing Connection Option Opt8x------------------------------------------------------------------------2-2

Software Installation.................................................................. 3-1

Windows NT----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3-1

Installing Driver----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------3-2
Configuring Board and Port ------------------------------------------------------------------------------3-8
Updating Driver--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------3-11
Removing Driver------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------3-12

Windows 95/98------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------3-13

Installing Driver--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------3-13
Configuring Board and Port ----------------------------------------------------------------------------3-21
Updating Driver--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------3-23
Removing driver-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------3-25

Serial Programming Tools..........................................................4-1

PComm Installation-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------4-1
PComm Programming Library ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------4-2

Utility---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------4-2
RS-485 Programming for Opt8J----------------------------------------------------------------------------4-6

Connection Option (Opt8x) & Cable Wiring ............................... 5-1

RS-232 Cable Wiring for Opt8A/B/C/D/S-----------------------------------------------------------------5-1
RS-422 Cable Wiring for Opt8J/F/Z------------------------------------------------------------------------5-8
RS-485 Cable Wiring for Opt8J---------------------------------------------------------------------------5-10
RS-422/485 Impedance Matching------------------------------------------------------------------------5-11

Troubleshooting .........................................................................6-1

General Troubleshooting-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------6-1
Windows NT----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6-2
Windows 95/98--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------6-3

Technical Reference.................................................................. A-1

Specification ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------A-1
PCI ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------A-1
UART 16C550C------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ A-2
DB62 Connector Pinouts ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ A-3

1

Introduction

Overview

SSmmaarrttiioo - The Smart Multiport Async Solutions

The term SSmmaarrttiioo represents smart multiport serial I/O solution. SSmmaarrttiioo

C168H/PCI is designed for 32-bit PCI bus with Plug and Play feature. It offers 8
serial ports for connecting terminals, modems, printers, data acquisition equipment
and any other serial devices to the PC and its compatible systems. Being a well­designed and fine-tuned device driver, the Smartio board makes full use of the 32
byte Tx/Rx FIFO and on-chip H/W flow control, which makes it possible
transferring data without loss at high speed as 921.6 Kbps. They offer a reliable and
high performance solution for serial multiport communications.

Board Applications

The board applies for many applications. Here are a few:

11

11

l Internet/Intranet Connection

l Remote Access Application

l Multi-user Application

l Industrial Automation

l Office Automation

l Telecommunication
l PC-based (vending) Machine or Kiosk System

Smartio C168H/PCI User’s Manual 1-1

l Point-of-Sale (POS) System

PCI Solution

The board complies with PCI Spec. 2.1 needing neither switch nor jumper. The
hardware configuration for the IRQ and Memory addresses is automatically
assigned by the PCI BIOS. Hence, the board MUST be plugged first before
installing the software driver. For more PCI information, please refer to Appendix
“Technical Reference”.

Operating System Support

It supports Windows NT, Windows 95/98 and DOS with user-friendly installation,
configuration and performance.

MOXA Serial Comm Tool

For application development, MOXA provides an easy-to-use serial communication
library (PPCCoommmm) under Windows NT and Windows 95/98. With the library, it is easy
to develop your own applications using sample applications developed with Visual
Basic, Visual C++, Borland Delphi, etc. Utilities, such as diagnostic, monitor,
terminal emulation, etc., are also included for debugging or monitoring the
communication status or terminal emulation, or even file transferring.

Features

v Compact board size, half-size
v Plug and play, no switch no jumper
v Surge/isolation protection option
v High speed 16C550C Communication Controller with on-chip hardware flow

control, no data loss

v Windows NT/95/98 device drivers and PPCCoommmm serial comm tool
v Bus interface: 32-bit PCI
v Number of ports: 8
v I/O address: Assigned by PCI BIOS
v IRQ: Assigned by PCI BIOS
v Data bits: 5, 6, 7, 8
v Stop bits: 1, 1.5, 2
v Parity: None, even, odd, space, mark
v UART: 8¡Ñ16C550C or compatible

1-2 Smartio C168H/PCI User’s Manual

Introduction

v Speed (bps): 50 ~ 921.6K
v Connectors: 8¡ÑDB25/DB9, male or female

v

Data signals: RS232¡ÐTxD, RxD, RTS, CTS, DTR, DSR, DCD, GND
RS422¡ÐTxD+(B), TxD-(A), RxD+(B), RxD-(A), GND
(Opt8J:RTS+(B), RTS-(A), CTS+(B), CTS-(A))

RS485¡ÐData+(B), Data-(A), GND

v Operating temp: 0 ~ 55 ¢J
v Power requirement:

180mA max. (+5V), 110mA max. (+12V), 160mA max. (-12V)

v Dimensions: 123 cm¡Ñ100 cm
v Popular O.S. Support:

C168H/PCI

Windows NT

Windows 95/98

ü
ü

Dos R

3: Driver supported by Moxa and shipped with product
R: Driver supported by Moxa and shipped by request
Note: You can download the latest versions of drivers for above O.S. from the
MOXA FTP service. For other O.S. drivers (other than O.S. listed above),
please check out MOXA web site to see whether they are available.

Check List

Upon unpacking the Smartio C168H/PCI, you should find the following items in
the package,

v Smartio C168H/PCI 8 port serial board
v Device driver diskettes:

l Windows NT and Windows 95/98 ¡Ñ1
l PPCCoommmm Lite ¡Ñ¡Ñ1

v Smartio C168H/PCI User’s Manual (This manual)
v One of the following connection options:

Opt8A/Opt8B/Opt8S

v RS-232 connection box with 8 DB25 female/male ports (surge protection for

Opt8S).

v 1.5 meter DB62 to DB62 cable.

Smartio C168H/PCI User’s Manual 1-3

Opt8C/Opt8D

v RS-232 octopus cable with 8 port male connectors, DB25 for Opt8C or DB9

for Opt8D (1 meter long).

Opt8F/Opt8Z

v RS-422 connection box with 8 port female DB25 connectors (isolation

protection for Opt8F).

v 1.5 meter DB62 to DB62 cable.
v 110V or 220V adapter included.

Opt8J

v RS-422/485 connection box with 8 port female DB25 connectors.
v 1.5 meter DB62 to DB62 cable.
v 110V or 220V adapter included.

1-4 Smartio C168H/PCI User’s Manual

Introduction

Installation Guide

This section gives a brief summary of how to install the
each supported operating system. Installation is simple and involves the following
stages:

Check PCI BIOS settings
Install Smartio C168H/PCI board See Chapter 2 “Hardware
and connection option (cable/box) Installation”

Install software from diskette See respective O.S. Section
and configure driver for board and ports of Chapter 3 “Software

Connect devices with cable See Chapter 5 “Connection

Restart system See Chapter 3 “Software
Check the driver initialization status Installation”
If system restart successfully, you may
develop your applications or See Chapter 4 “Serial
execute desired applications Programming Tools”

Smartio

Installation”

Option (Opt8x) and Cable
Wiring” for cable wiring

C168H/PCI under

Smartio C168H/PCI User’s Manual 1-5

1-6 Smartio C168H/PCI User’s Manual

2

Hardware Installation

The installation of the Smartio C168H/PCI consists of hardware and software
installation. The respective sections of the operating systems in the next chapter will
discuss more about the software installation. The hardware installation is described
in this chapter.

The no-switch-no-jumper Smartio C168H/PCI board hardware configuration for
IRQ number and I/O addresses is automatically assigned by the PCI BIOS. Hence,
the board MUST be plugged first before installing the software driver.

Installing the Smartio C168H/PCI Board

Step 1: Power off the PC.

Warning! Make sure your system is switched off before you start installing

any board. If you don’t, you may risk damaging your system and
the board.

22

22

Step 2: Remove the PC cover.

Step 3: Remove the slot cover bracket if there is any.

Step 4: Plug the Smartio C168H/PCI(s) in the free PCI expansion slot(s) of the

PC.

Step 5: Fasten the holding screw to fix the control board in place.

Step 6: Replace the system cover.

Smartio C168H/PCI User's Manual 2-1

Step 7: Connect one of the connection box/cable (also adapter if required)

detailed in the next section.

Step 8: Power on PC and BIOS will automatically set the IRQ and memory

address.

Note ! Each board must occupy one unique IRQ and one unique

memory address, which are assigned by PCI BIOS
automatically. However, you may select the free IRQ number

manually via PC's BIOS setup for PCI slot, but normally this
method is not available for memory. The possible IRQ numbers
are 2, 3, 4, 5, 9, 10, 11, 12, and 15. The possible I/O addresses are
from 0x0000 to 0xFFFF.

Step 9: Proceed with software installation detailed in the next Chapter “Software

Installation”.

Installing Connection Option Opt8x

Connect the Smartio C168H/PCI with the one of the following connection options.
Then you can connect your modem, serial printer, PC COM1/2, bar code reader,
POS, instrument or any other serial devices to the DB25/DB9 connectors. Refer to
Chapter “Connection Option (Opt8x) and Cable Wiring” for RS-232/RS-422/RS­485 cable wiring.

2-2 Smartio C168H/PCI User’s Manual

Hardware Installation

123

45678

T

R

Opt8A/Opt8B/Opt8S

P1P2P3

P4

P6P5P7

P8

Opt8A/Opt8B/Opt8S

Hold one end of the DB62 cable and plug it into the DB62 connector on the bracket
of the Smartio C168H/PCI. Carefully screw it until it is tight. Then plug the other
end of the cable to the RS-232 connection box's DB62 connector. Both ends of the
cable are identical.

Smartio C168H/PCI

Opt8C/Opt8D

Hold one end of the DB62 cable and plug it into the DB62 connector on the bracket
of the Smartio C168H/PCI. Screw it carefully until it fits.

Opt8C/Opt8D

Smartio C168H/PCI

Smartio C168H/PCI User’s Manual 2-3

1

2

345

6

7

8

TxR
x

Opt8F/Opt8Z/Opt8J

Opt8J/Opt8F/Opt8Z

Hold one end of the DB62 cable and plug it into the DB62 connector on the bracket
of the Smartio C168H/PCI. Carefully screw it until it is tight. Then plug the other
end of the cable to the RS-422/RS-485 connection box's DB62 connector. Both ends
of the cable are identical. After that, don't forget to apply power via the adapter to
the Opt8J/F/Z.

Smartio C168H/PCI

Refer to Chapter “Connection Option (Opt8x) and Cable Wiring” for RS­232/RS-422/RS-485 cable wiring. And also to Chapter “Serial Programming
Tools” for RS-232/RS-422/RS-485 programming details.

Operating Opt8J

Opt8J is the RS-422/485 connection box with 8 port female DB25 connectors for
MOXA 8 port boards, including the Smartio C168H/PCI. There are 8-DIP switches
on the side of the Opt8J. Each switch controls the communication mode (RS-422 or
RS-485) of each port respectively.

2-4 Smartio C168H/PCI User’s Manual

Hardware Installation

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

ONDIP

RS-422/485 Port Switch of Opt8J

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

DIP

ON

RS-422 Mode

Set the respective switch to OFF position to use RS-422 interface. This means the
port is always ready to transmit and receive data simultaneously (full-duplex).

RS-485 Mode

The Opt8J supports only 2-wire RS-485 communication. Set the respective switch
to ON position to use RS-485 interface. This means the port can transmit data only
when RTS is asserted, and receive data only when RTS is not asserted (half-duplex).

Refer to Chapter “Connection Option (Opt8x) and Cable Wiring” for RS­422/RS-485 cable wiring, and also to Chapter “Serial Programming Tools” for
Opt8J RS-485 programming details.

Smartio C168H/PCI User’s Manual 2-5

2-6 Smartio C168H/PCI User’s Manual

3

Software Installation

In this chapter, the software driver installation, configuration and driver
update/removal procedures are described for various operating systems, including
Windows NT, and Windows 95/98. Before proceeding with the software installation,
complete the hardware installation first.

If it is required to develop your own applications, please refer to the next chapter,
“Serial Programming Tools” for serial programming issues.

Windows NT

Windows NT supports up to 256 serial ports, from COM1 to COM256. To fully
utilize the advanced features of Windows NT, multi-process, multi-thread, and pure
32-bit Windows NT device drivers are developed for the Smartio C168H/PCI and
other MOXA multiport boards. The drivers conform to Win32 COMM API
standard.

To install the driver for the very first time, please go directly to Section “Installing
Driver”.

33

33

To re-configure the board and port for installed boards, please refer to Section
“Configuring Board and Port”.

To update the driver for installed boards, please refer to Section “Updating Driver”.

To remove the driver, please go to Section “Removing Driver”.

Smartio C168H/PCI User's Manual 3-1

Installing Driver

First Time Installing Driver

Following is the procedures for installing the Smartio C168H/PCI driver for the
first time under Windows NT 3.51/4.0. Make sure the board (s) has (have) already
been plugged in the system PCI slot (s).

1. Please log in NT as Administrator.

2. Open [Control Panel], click [Network] icon and select [Adapters] tab.

3. Click [Add] button, then [Have Disk...] button in [Select Network Adapter]
dialog box.

4. Specify the exact path of the driver diskette, A:\WINDOWS.NT. Then click
[OK] button.

3-2 Smartio C168H/PCI User’s Manual

Software Installation

5. Select MOXA Smartio/Industio Family multiport board in Select OEM

Option dialog box, and click [OK] to start driver installation.

Moxa Smartio/Industio Configuration Panel dialog box appears.

6. Click [Add] button to open Property dialog box to change port setting and

advanced FIFO configuration done automatically by the system.

7. Select the newly plugged C168H/PCI board from the Board Type pull-down

list.

8. Click on a specific port Item.

9. Click [Port Setting] button to open Port X dialog box.

Smartio C168H/PCI User’s Manual 3-3

10. Select a COM number for the specific port from Port Number pull-down list.

Note! Step 11 is optional, if you want to assign COM numbers to ports

manually.

11. Check Auto Enumerating COM Number check-box then the subsequent
ports are mapped to continuous COM numbers. For example, if COM 3 is
assigned to Port 1, then COM 4 will be automatically assigned to Port 2.

Note! You may skip Step 12 to 15, if the system doesn’t require a

special performance tuning.

12. Select an Rx FIFO Trigger from Rx FIFO Trigger pull-down list.

Rx FIFO trigger levels, at 1, 4, 8 or 14 bytes, are available, and the default
value is 14 bytes.

3-4 Smartio C168H/PCI User’s Manual

Software Installation

13. Check Set the change to all ports check-box then if desire to apply Rx FIFO

Trigger just defined to all ports.

14. Select a Tx FIFO Size from Tx FIFO Size pull-down list.

Tx FIFO sizes from 1 to 16 bytes are available, and the default value is 16
bytes.

15. Check Set the change to all ports check-box then the if desire to apply Tx

FIFO Size just defined to all ports.

16. Click [OK] button in Port X dialog box to confirm the port setting.

17. Click [OK] button in Property dialog box to complete the port setting and
return to Moxa Smartio/Industio Configuration Panel dialog box.

Now the configured C168H/PCI board item will be shown in Moxa
Smartio/Industio Configuration Panel dialog box.

Smartio C168H/PCI User’s Manual 3-5