Comm Port Question

[cwg01]

This here's a question which is whacking me over the head.
Story:
I setting up a DOS box, (really! runs only DOS), which needs to access both the built in comm ports in the machine, and a modem card.
My problem is one which I never considered until I started setting the system up.
Mainly;
The box has two built in comm ports, settable by the BIOS to ANY port setting, the modem is jumper settable.
Apparently, I'm not setting the modem card's IRQ properly, it's conflicting with the serial ports when I enable them.
I need to have at least one port enabled, for communications with other equipment.
--
So, the question:
Where can I find the table of standard settings for the ports?
I know the animal exists somewhere on the site, but all my searchs result in tons of information, but no headings which would lead me to such a table 'appear'. (need to install psycic search, 'I know what you're looking for, it is here.') <Yes, I know it's a typo, no spell checker in Lynx.>
Letting the card default to COM3 is out, the program running the show is qbasic, and it limits you to the first two ports.

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turbochargedbylynx

[Reid]

This serial COM port FAQ (http://www.comminfo.com/pages/ctsfaq01.htm) may help; just happened to be the first I found.

I had a COM port problem and the "work-around" was to install a serial port card and set it up on COM4. It may have been that my mouse was on COM1 and COM2 would not work with my camera interface.

Perhaps Paleo Pete and other more knowledgeable people will have some advice to help resolve your problem.

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reido@my-deja.com

Friends don't let friends install Windows ME

[This message has been edited by Reid (edited 02-08-2001).]

[Paleo Pete]

COM1= IRQ 4; 3F8
COM2= IRQ 3; 2F8
COM3= IRQ 4; 3E8
COM4= IRQ 3; 2E8

Those are usually the default settings. If your mouse is on COM1 or COM3 anything set on COM1, COM3 or IRQ 4 will cause a conflict. Same for COM2 and COM4. Anything set on COM2, COM4 or IRQ 3 will conflict with any device set on COM2 or COM4.

The exception is devices that don't use the COM port constantly. The modem and mouse can share a COM port, but soon as the modem is accessed there goes your mouse. The mouse and printer could share a COM port without much trouble, you'd only lose the mouse while printing, and not for long.

How to set it up on a DOS box is beyond me, and I can't find anything in my DOS or A+ books. Usually you have to have the COM port for the modem disabled in BIOS for Windows, but maybe for DOS it should be enabled, I'm not sure. You might try it.

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Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines!
Note: Please post your questions on the forums, not in my email.

Computer Information Links (http://www.geocities.com/paleopete/)

[cwg01]

I was about to say something, and it plumb clean ran away because I started reading some text just below the text entry box. It says: 'Note: UBB code icons and smilie icons require Javascript. (If you have Javascript disabled, you can still "click for details" to see a list of equivalent text codes.)' And I was wondering, click WHAT for details?
--
Anyway, now the brain re-engages. From what I remember, without windows, you have to obey BIOS rules under a strictly DOS environment, I think one of the problems I'm having is that the modem is semi-P&P, and it's not quite obeying it's jumper settings 100%. There's four jumper pads, btw, it's a ZOOM-vfp14.4vh, and I haven't been able to locate the exact manual for it over at Zoom. I've found a lot of documentation for it, including what I believe is the jumper settings. But only for the COM ports settings, that leaves the other two pads in the 'mystery hardware' zone.
--
Note: I started this reply at about 10:00am my time, it's now past 12:00 noon, taking care of email during business hours when you've go other stuff to do is for the BIRDS.
--
Reid, that page is a nice wonderful page, I like it, and perhaps along what whatever other help you provide, I can get this project up and running.
--
And, what maybe I was hoping that someone had a Peter Norton book concerning the hardware, I _had_ one years ago, and remember quite clearly that there was a chart showing not only the default address's for COM 1-8, but their standard IRQ's, and the possible alternates which would also work with certain systems. Damm Flood.

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turbochargedbylynx

[Paleo Pete]

Click where it says "Click for Details"...right over there <--- Under where it says "UBB Code Icons. And there's another one over there too <--- right under Smilie Icons. Each explains how to use them.

You're gonna hate me...I passed up a box about a foot square full of Peter Norton books in a resale shop a few weeks ago, mainly because I couldn't really afford it. Took me about 20 minutes to finally decide, had the money but couldn't really let it go, on my tight budget. It might have been the books you're referring to, a complete set of instructional manuals, designed for teaching a class on computers...About 20 of 'em, half inch thick or so each, spiral bound, with Peter Norton's name plastered all over the front...

Don't shoot me, moving targets are lots more fun!! http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/biggrin.gif

I've still been looking, and can't find any info in the books I do have, but I've only been through about a half dozen so far, still have another half dozen or so to go.

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Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines!
Note: Please post your questions on the forums, not in my email.

Computer Information Links (http://www.geocities.com/paleopete/)

[cwg01]

Originally posted by Paleo Pete:
Click where it says "Click for Details"...right over there

Trust me, what you're pointing to does not exist for me, I use Lynx to browse the internet, it doesn't do images, it doesn't do javascript, it just does HTML. Or Text. What I see is is a box labeled [USEMAP] and when I click on it, I get a list of mapped objects:
JavaCode

JavaCode

MAP: <A HREF="http://www.PCGuide.com/cgi-bin/postings.cgi" TARGET=_blank>http://www.PCGuide.com/cgi-bin/postings.cgi?action=reply&forum=How+Do+I...&number=9&topic=000440.cgi&TopicSubject=Comm+Port+Questio n&replyto=4#JavaCode

1. [URL=http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/ubbcode.html]http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/ubbcode.html</A>
2. http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/smilies.html
3. javascript:void(0);

So I would now, seeing as you did your best to point it out to me, that there's where the details are. Thank you.

You're gonna hate me...I passed up a box about a foot square full of Peter Norton books in a resale shop a few weeks ago,
&lt;clipped&gt;
Don't shoot me, moving targets are lots more fun!! http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/biggrin.gif

Breaking out one small tactical nuclear warhead....
`=}
You've done been a big help already, and I understand completely that the status of the wallet oftens dictates the outcome of a situation we may find ourselves in.
--
I Am going to have to spend some time at http://www.geocities.com/paleopete/, just to see what's kicking there.
Godspeed.

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turbochargedbylynx

[This message has been edited by cwg01 (edited 02-09-2001).]

[Reid]

Originally posted by cwg01:

And, what maybe I was hoping that someone had a Peter Norton book concerning the hardware, I _had_ one years ago, and remember quite clearly that there was a chart showing not only the default address's for COM 1-8, but their standard IRQ's, and the possible alternates which would also work with certain systems.


I have a Norton book around. I'll check later and see if it has that info.



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reido@my-deja.com

Friends don't let friends install Windows ME

[Paleo Pete]

Hey...I'm not a moving target...and if I were I'd be a slow one... http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/biggrin.gif

I don't know how Lynx works, but if you have the Edit button showing on top of each post, you can click it and see how we use the UBB code. It's a bit difficult to post instructions, since the forum interprets it as UBB and changes it to links, smilies etc. But I'll try. By using the edit option you can't edit our posts, but maybe you can see how we write links, bold text, italics etc.

['b]bold[/b]
['i]italics[/i]
['url=http://www.website.com]Site Name[/url]

Smilies are a bit different, I only use a couple, colon D for the grin http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/biggrin.gif, colon ) for a smilie http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/smile.gif. A few others will work, but I normally don't use many...If this doesn't post so you can read it as code, try it by the edit option. Remove the ' behind each bracket, I put those there so maybe it will bypass the code and post it as written, instead of as it would normally look.

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Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines!
Note: Please post your questions on the forums, not in my email.

Computer Information Links (http://www.geocities.com/paleopete/)

[cwg01]

Been posting over at Winamp off and on for a while, I might not _know_ all the codes, but I understand the basics.
UBB code is a modified and shortened version of HTML, and I've been handcrafting intricate, custom, HTML for quite a while.
In addition to that, I generally handcraft my Javascript for the company website, and there's a few custom pages for my person satisfaction there as well.
Spend BIG hours working on a banner ad rotater which doesn't insist on &lt;yell&gt;downloading every frigging image&lt;/yell&gt; when the page loads, instead it waits until it's time to change ads, it checks to see if it has the ad, if not, get it and display default image. When the image loads, display it.
QBasic is one of my favorite languages to whack away with, I've done quite a few interesting projects with it. Matter of fact, I consider WINDOWS to be incomplete without it as a indespensable tool, even wrote a core set of routines which allows me to access long files names from a 8.3 DOS Program!
I understand 'C', and 'C++', but haven't had the chance to re-install DJGCC and play around with it, wrote one program way back, I mean [b]_w_a_y_/b] back, it fakes a browser front end, takes the URL passed to it, and creates an internet shortcut out of it.
There WAS a reason for that madness.
On top of all that, I cut my programming teeth in raw assembly language, could even write a protected mode, 32bit program with it, but why?
Silly point, but it does lead up to this next statement:
I am a self taught hardware/software engineer, not only can I write programs for the computer, but I pretty much understand how the software interacts with the hardware.
Which is something I think the higher level languages take you from, while it's nice that there a such and such routine to access the this and that, you ought to have at least an understanding of WHAT it's doing!
(Which might be a reason why certain software companies suffer from code bloat, they've done forgotten what their core routines really do and just built upon each layer, and probably not discarding unused routines from the package!)
Geesh, I got a little windy here. L8R!
Oh! By the Way! Got both Modem and Comm port working! Had the port select jumper for the modem BACKWARDS!
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turbochargedbylynx

[This message has been edited by cwg01 (edited 02-11-2001).]