Quatech DS-200, DS-300 User Manual

DS-200/300

Two Channel RS-422/485 Asynchronous

Enhanced Serial Adapter

for ISA compatible machines

INTERFACE CARDS FOR IBM PC/AT AND PS/2

User's Manual

QUATECH, INC. TEL: [phone]
5675 Hudson Industrial Parkway FAX: [phone]
Hudson, Ohio 44236 http://www.quatech.com

Warranty Information

Quatech Inc. warrants the DS-200/300 to be free of defects for one (1) year from the
date of purchase. Quatech Inc. will repair or replace any adapter that fails to perform under normal operating

conditions and in accordance with the procedures outlined in this document during the warranty period. Any
damage that results from improper installation, operation, or general misuse voids all warranty rights.

The authors have taken due care in the preparation of this document and any associated software
program(s). In no event will Quatech Inc. be liable for damages of any kind, incidental or consequential, in
regard to or arising out of the performance or form of the materials presented herein and in the program(s)
accompanying this document. No representation is made regarding the suitability of this product for any
particular purpose.

Quatech Inc. reserves the right to edit or append to this document or the product(s) to which it
refers at any time and without notice.

Please complete the following information and retain for your records. Have this information available when
requesting warranty service.

Date of purchase:

Model Number: DS-200/300

Product Description: Two Channel RS-422/485 Asynchronous Enhanced Serial Adapter

Serial Number:

DS-200/300 User's Manual i

© 1998, Quatech, Inc.

NOTICE

The information contained in this document cannot be reproduced in any
form without the written consent of Quatech, Inc. Likewise, any software
programs that might accompany this document can be used only in accordance
with any license agreement(s) between the purchaser and Quatech, Inc. Quatech,
Inc. reserves the right to change this documentation or the product to which it
refers at any time and without notice.

The authors have taken due care in the preparation of this document and
every attempt has been made to ensure its accuracy and completeness. In no event
will Quatech, Inc. be liable for damages of any kind, incidental or consequential,
in regard to or arising out of the performance or form of the materials presented in
this document or any software programs that might accompany this document.

Quatech, Inc. encourages feedback about this document. Please send any
written comments to the Technical Support department at the address listed on the
cover page of this document.

MicrosoftÒ and WindowsÒ 95 are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation.

IBM PC
Machines Corporation.

TM

, PC-ATTM, PS/2™, and Micro Channel™ are trademarks of International Business

ii Quatech Inc.

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DS-200/300 User's Manual iii

Table of Contents

1. General Information

2. Installation

..............................................

3. Windows 95 Configuration

3.1 Using the Add New Hardware

Wizard ....................................................

3.2 Viewing and Changing

Resources with Device Manager ................................

4. Addressing Ports

5. Data Rate Multiplier

5.1 Data Rate Multiplier Jumper

Block .....................................................

6. Interrupt Level (IRQ)

7. Output Configuration

7.5 Half Duplex/Full Duplex

selection ...................................................

7.6 Factory Default Configuration of

DS-200/300 ................................................

7.8 RS-422/485 Peripheral

Connection .................................................

8. Specifications

............................................

9. Troubleshooting

.....................................

...............................

.........................................

.....................................

....................................

....................................

.........................................

1-1
2-1
3-1

3-1

3-3
4-1

4-14.1 Setting the address ........................................

4-44.2 Enabling or disabling ports .................................

5-1

5-1

5-15.2 Options Register .........................................

6-1

6-26.1 Interrupt Sharing .........................................

6-36.2 Interrupt Status Register ....................................

7-1

7-27.1 RTS/CTS handshake ......................................

7-27.2 RCLK .................................................

7-37.3 XCLK .................................................

7-37.4 AUXIN/AUXOUT Loopback ...............................

7-4

7-5

7-67.7 Termination Resistors .....................................

7-6
8-1
9-1

iv Quatech Inc.

1. General Information

The Quatech, Inc. DS-200/300 provides two RS-422/RS-485 asynchronous serial
communication interfaces for IBM-compatible personal computer systems using
the 16-bit ISA (Industry Standard Architecture) expansion bus.

The DS-200/300's serial ports are implemented using 16550 or 16750 Universal
Asynchronous Receiver/Transmitters (UARTs). The 16550 UARTs enable the
DS-200/300 to transmit and receive data at a rate of up to 230.4 kbaud; the 16750
UARTs enable data rates of up to 921.6 kbaud. The data rate can be altered either
through hardware or software. The 16550 contains a 16-byte hardware buffer that
reduces processing overhead; the 16750 contains a 64-byte hardware buffer. To
use the 16550/16750's buffering capabilities, the software must be aware of the
UART's presence. Otherwise, it will act as a 16450 UART. The 16750 is
suggested for heavy multitasking environments and for applications involving
high data rates.

The DS-200/300 uses Quatech’s new Enhanced Serial Adapter design. This
allows the user to access higher data rates by either setting a jumper on the board
or by programming a special register. The register also allows the board to be
identified as a Quatech Enhanced Serial Adapter. This enables specially written
software to take advantage of the added features.

The DS-200/300 is highly flexible with respect to addressing and interrupt level
use. The serial ports are individually addressed and can be placed anywhere
within the range of 0000 hex to FFF8 hex at 0008 hex intervals. Available
interrupt levels include IRQ2 to IRQ7, IRQ10 to IRQ12, IRQ14, or IRQ15.

Both ports on the DS-200/300 can share one interrupt level or an interrupt level
can be shared with another Quatech adapter that supports interupt sharing. A
special Interrupt Status Register is provided to allow controlling software to
manage the shared interrupt level. The shared interrupt feature minimizes the
system resources consumed by the adapter.

In order to support the use of the shared interrupt feature and the higher data rates
of the DS-200/300, Quatech has developed device drivers for several popular
operating systems and environments. The sales department can be contacted for
details on current offerings.

DS-200/300 User's Manual 1-1

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1-2 Quatech Inc.

2. Installation

If the default address and interrupt settings are sufficient, the DS-200/300 can be
quickly installed and put to use. The factory defaults are listed in Figure 1.

ENABLEDIRQADDRESSPORT

YES43F8 hexSerial 0

YES32F8 hexSerial 1

Figure 1 --- Default address and IRQ settings for DS-200/300

The output of the DS-200/300 is two 9-pin D-connectors labeled CN1 (serial 0)
and CN2 (serial 1).

1. If the default settings are correct, skip to step 2, otherwise refer to sections
4 and 6 of this document for detailed information on how to set the
address and IRQ level.

2. Turn off the power of the computer system in which the DS-200/300 is to
be installed.

3. Remove the system cover according to the instructions provided by the
computer manufacturer.

4. Install the DS-200/300 in any vacant expansion slot. The board should be
secured by installing the Option Retaining Bracket (ORB) screw.

5. Replace the system cover according to the instructions provided by the
computer manufacturer.

6. Attach and secure the cable connectors to the desired equipment.

DS-200/300 User's Manual 2-1

Figure 2 --- Photo of DS-200/300

2-2 Quatech Inc.

3. Windows 95 Configuration

Windows 95 maintains a registry of all known hardware installed in your
computer. Inside this hardware registry Windows 95 keeps track of all of your
system resources, such as I/O locations, IRQ levels, and DMA channels. The
"Add New Hardware Wizard" utility in Windows 95 was designed to add new
hardware and update this registry.

An “INF” configuration file is included with the DS-200/300 Enhanced Serial
Adapter to allow easy configuration in the Windows 95 environment . Also, a
custom Windows 95 serial device driver is included with the DS-200/300 to
support the use of the FIFOs on the 16550 and 16750 UARTs. Windows 95 uses
the “INF” file to determine the system resources required by the DS-200/300,
searches for available resources to fill the requirements of the board, and then
updates the hardware registry with an entry that allocates these resources.

Windows 95 will not
required to manually configure the hardware to match the resources that Windows
95 allocates to the DS-200/300. Another option is to use the “Device Manager” in
Windows 95 to change the system resources allocated to match the configuration
of the hardware. See section 3.2 for information on changing resources within
Windows 95.

automatically configure the DS-200/300. The user is

3.1 Using the Add New Hardware Wizard

The following instructions provide step-by-step instructions on installing the
DS-200/300 Enhanced Serial Adapter in Windows 95 using the “Add New
Hardware” wizard. Select Start|Help from within Windows 95 for additional
information on this utility.

1. Start the “Add New Hardware Wizard” utility. The icon for this utility is
located in the Windows 95 control panel. Double-click the “My
Computer” icon, double-click the “Control Panel” icon, and double-click
the “Add New Hardware” icon.

2. A dialog box should appear explaining the “Add New Hardware Wizard”
utility. Click the “Next” button to continue.

3. An option box appears providing the choice of having Windows 95
automatically detect your new hardware. Click the “No” option. The
dialog in the box recommends selecting the “Yes” option, but unless the
hardware is installed at some standard I/O and IRQ levels, this option will
fail. Click the “Next” button to continue.

DS-200/300 User's Manual 3-1

4. A hardware types list box should appear. Find the “Multi-function
Adapters” type on the list and click it. Click the “Next” button to
continue.

5. A list box opens with Manufacturers on the left and the associated board
Models on the right. Click the “Have Disk” button.

6. An Install From Disk dialog box should pop up. Insert the diskette with the
Quatech INF files on it, select the correct drive letter, and click the “OK”
button. Windows 95 automatically browses the root directory for an INF
file that defines configurations for Multi-function Adapters. If no INF
files are found, click the “Browse” or “Other Location” button,
double-click the Win95 sub directory on the installation diskette, and
choose “OK”. The edit box should now read “A:\WIN95”. If it does,
choose “OK”. You are not required to select the file name. After finding
the directory containing the INF files, Windows 95 will choose the correct
file.

7. Your computer should read the INF file on the diskette and display a list of
Quatech Multi-function Adapter models supported by Windows 95. Select
the DS-200/300 Enhanced Serial Adapter Model Name from the list and
click the Next button to continue.

8. A dialog box will appear with an unused I/O range and IRQ resources that
Windows 95 has found available in the registry. Windows 95 has assigned
these resources to the DS-200/300. Review these settings carefully before
proceeding. You should either take notes of these resources being
allocated to your new hardware, or have Windows 95 print a copy. You
are required to manually configure the DS-200/300 to match these
resources. Windows 95 will not automatically configure a DS-200/300
board, it will only assign an available I/O range and IRQ.

9. The “Add New Hardware” utility now asks for your Windows 95
installation disks. Serial communication ports require two drivers
supplied by Microsoft to function: SERIAL.VXD and SERIALUI.DLL.
Insert the disk or CD and click “OK”.

NOTE:

You may be able to skip step 9 if you are certain that your system has the
latest version of these files installed. If you do not have your Windows 95
install disks immediately available, click “OK” anyway. A dialog box appears
with an option to Skip the files. Click the Skip button and the files will not be
installed. This is all right if the latest version of these drivers are currently in
the SYSTEM directory.

3-2 Quatech Inc.