Copyright: Copyright © 1997, Sealevel Systems, Inc.


Installing Windows 3.1 ISA COM Ports

Windows 3.x (including WFW 3.11) Installation

To configure communication ports under Windows 3.x, start by opening the ‘Control Panel’. The Control Panel is typically found in the ‘Main’ Program Group. The next step is to open the ‘Ports’ selection under the Control Panel.

Select the port you wish to configure. Once you have selected the port, click on the ‘Settings’ button.

The next step is to select the appropriate Baud rate, Data Bits, Parity, Stop Bits and Flow control.

If you wish to select an IRQ or address different than the default click on  the ‘Advanced’ button.

Select ‘OK’ for all windows after you have made your selection. The following message should appear:

If you wish to configure another COM: Port setting, select the ‘Don't Restart Now’ button and repeat this procedure until you have configured all new ports. To make the changes take effect immediately select the ‘Restart Now’ button.


Installing Windows 3.1 PCI COM Ports

PCI communication ports must first be correctly installed in DOS before adding the Ports in Windows 3.x. The following instructions are taken from the PCI.TXT file in the \DOS\PCI directory of this disk.

Note: Please read this entire section before installing PCI cards.

I. Installing PCI Cards in DOS

1. Install the PCI communications adapter into an available

   PCI slot in your system. Refer to the Hardware Installation

   section in the product's manual. Multiple cards may be installed

   in a single system.

2. Boot the machine to DOS.

3. The system BIOS will assign I/O addresses and an interrupt to

   each PCI communications adapter present in the system during each

           system boot. The FINDPCI.EXE utility in this directory is used to

   display current resource assignments for each card.

4. FINDPCI.EXE will display resources for each detected card in the

   system. These settings are also stored in the file PCI.INI, located

   in the same directory as FINDPCI.EXE. The following is a sample output.

; PCI.INI

[CARD1]

MODEL=7201

BUS=0

DEVICE=15

FUNCTION=0

PORT1=160

PORT2=168

IRQ=15

[CARD2]

MODEL=7201

BUS=0

DEVICE=16

FUNCTION=0

PORT1=190

PORT2=198

IRQ=10

   Each card installed in your system should have a [CARDx] entry displayed

   by FINDPCI.EXE.

II. Determining Resources Assigned to Each Installed PCI Card

1. Each system motherboard organizes its physical PCI slots according to the

   current PCI specification. There is not a fixed order or number of slots

 	   for each motherboard.

2. To determine which resources correspond to which PCI card, you may want

   to add the cards one at a time and run FINDPCI.EXE after each card is

 	   added. Each PCI slot will have a corresponding BUS, DEVICE, and FUNCTION

   number. These numbers uniquely identify that slot when running these DOS

   utilities. Note the slot data for each card that you install.

III. Configuring PCI Cards in DOS

1. After all PCI cards have been installed a [CARDx] section for each

   card will appear in the PCI.INI file created by FINDPCI.EXE.

2. The SETPCI.EXE utility is used to modify any I/O resource assignments

   for PCI communication ports. Interrupt assignments may not be modified

   since variation in motherboard interrupt routing techniques makes

   modification through the BIOS unreliable.

3. To modify the assigned I/O resources for any PCI port, edit the PORTx value

   in the PCI.INI file and run SETPCI.EXE. In the above example, changing the

   PORT1=160 line to PORT1=3E8 would relocate the first port on CARD1 to address

   3E8.

4. SETPCI.EXE uses the following command line syntax. It may be run from the

   autoexec.bat file.

SETPCI /f:PCI.INI

IV. Testing PCI Ports in DOS

1. After PCI communication ports have been installed and configured using

   the steps above, these ports may be tested using the SSD.EXE utility

   found in the /DOS/DIAG directory of this disk. Simply use the current

   I/O address and interrupt settings for the card and refer to the directions

   for using SSD.EXE found in /DOS/DIAG/DIAG.TXT.

IV. Using PCI Cards with the SeaCOM DOS Driver

1. After PCI communication ports have been installed and configured using

   the steps above, these ports may be used with the SeaCOM DOS driver. The

  	   driver and documentation are located in the /DOS/DRIVERS directory of this

   disk. If the SeaCOM driver is started from the autoexec.bat file, make

   sure that the SETPCI /f:PCI.INI line proceeds the SeaCOM entry. Run the

   setup utility provided with SeaCOM and enter the current port settings for

   each PCI COM port that is serviced by the driver.

V. Troubleshooting PCI Problems

1. Many motherboards offer advanced CMOS options that control the

   assignment of system resources to PCI and ISA slots. Check the

   CMOS settings during system startup and make sure that an

   interrupt and IO range are available for the slot containing the

   PCI communication adapter. Contact the supplier of your system

   board for further assistance with CMOS configuration.

2. On the Intel TC430HX motherboard if "Use plug and play OS" in the CMOS

   	   settings is selected, the BIOS doesn't appear to configure card's

   IO addresses. FindPCI locates the card, but SSD fails to see ports.

   Solutions:

1. Use Windows 95 or another PnP OS.

              	2. Turn of "Use PnP OS" in CMOS settings.

After the DOS installation is completed, follow the steps outlined in Installing Windows 3.1 ISA COM Ports using the same resources settings specified in the PCI.INI file used with SETPCI.EXE.

Note that PCI ports may also be used with the optional HiCOMM9 Windows 3.x driver, extending Windows 3.x to nine ports. Call technical support for more information.


Windows Communication Port Installation
Windows 3.x Communication Port Installation

Installing Windows 3.1 ISA COM Ports

Installing Windows 3.1 PCI COM Ports