SEALEVEL Ultra COMM+2.PCI User Manual

SEALEVEL Ultra COMM+2.PCI

Introduction

The Sealevel COMM+232.PCI is a two channel PCI Bus serial I/O adapter for the PC and compatibles. It provides two RS­232 serial ports supporting data rates up to 460.8K bps. The COMM+232.PCI works seamlessly with the standard operating system serial driver. UART upgrades are available providing 32. 64 and 128 byte FIFOs.

Before You Get Started

What’s Included
The COMM+232.PCI is shipped with the following items. If any of these items are missing or damaged, please contact Sealevel for replacement. COMM+232.PCI Serial I/O Adapter

Advisory Conventions

Warning
The highest level of importance used to stress a condition where damage could result to the product or the user could suffer serious injury.

Important
The middle level of importance used to highlight information that might not seem obvious or a situation that could cause the product to fail.

Note
The lowest level of importance used to provide background information, additional tips, or other non-critical facts that will not affect the use of the product.

Factory Default Settings
The COMM+232.PCI factory default settings are as follows:

To install the COMM+232.PCI using factory default settings, refer to Installation. For your reference, record installed ULTRA COMM+2.PCI settings below:

Card Setup

Address and IRQ Selection
The COMM+232.PCI is automatically assigned I/O addresses and IRQs by your motherboard BIOS. Only the I/O address may be modified by the user. Adding or removing other hardware may change the assignment of I/O addresses and IRQs.

Clock Modes
The COMM+232.PCI employs a unique clocking option that allows the end user to select from divide by 4 and divide by 1 clocking modes. These modes are selected at Headers E1 and E2. To select the Baud rates commonly associated with COM: ports (i.e. 2400, 4800, 9600, 19.2, … 115.2K Bps ) place the jumper in the divide by 4 mode (silk-screen DIV4) position.

To select the maximum data rate (460.8K bps) place the jumper in the divide by 1 (silk-screen DIV1) position

Baud Rates and Divisors for the ‘DIV1’ Mode
The following table shows some common data rates and the rates you should choose if using the adapter in the ‘DIV1’ mode

If your communications package allows the use of Baud rate divisors, choose the appropriate divisor from the following table

Installation

Operating System Installation

For Windows Users
Begin by locating, selecting, and installing the correct software from the Sealevel software driver database.

Other Operating Systems
Refer to the appropriate section of the Serial Utilities Software.

System Installation
The COMM+232.PCI can be installed in any of the PCI expansion slots and contains several jumper straps for each port that must be set for proper operation.

1. Turn off PC power. Disconnect the power cord.
2. Remove the PC case cover.
3. Locate an available PCI slot and remove the blank metal slot cover.
4. Gently insert the COMM+232.PCI into the slot. Make sure that the adapter is seated properly.
5. Replace the screw.
6. Replace the cover.
7. Connect the power cord.

Installation is complete.

Technical Description

The Sealevel Systems COMM+232.PCI provides a PCI interface adapter with 2 asynchronous serial ports providing a versatile interface for modems, printers and plotters.
The COMM+232.PCI utilizes the 16550 UART. This chip features programmable baud rates, data format, interrupt control and a 16-byte input and output FIFO. A full array of advanced UARTS is also available for this card. Contact Sealevel Systems for more information.

Interrupts
A good description of an interrupt and its importance to the PC can be found in the book ‘Peter Norton’s Inside the PC, Premier Edition’: A good analogy of a PC interrupt would be the phone ringing. The phone ‘bell’ is a request for us to stop what we are currently doing and take up another task (speak to the person on the other end of the line). This is the same process the PC uses to alert the CPU that a task must be preformed. The CPU upon receiving an interrupt makes a record of what the processor was doing at the time and stores this information on the ‘stack’; this allows the processor to resume its predefined duties after the interrupt is handled, exactly where it left off. Every main sub-system in the PC has it’s own interrupt, frequently called an IRQ (short for Interrupt ReQuest). In these early days of PC’s Sealevel Systems decided that the ability to share IRQs was an important feature for any add-in I/O card. Consider that in the IBM XT the available IRQs were IRQ0 through IRQ7. Of these interrupts only IRQ2-5 and IRQ7 were actually available for use. This made the IRQ a very valuable system resource. To make the maximum use of these system resources Sealevel Systems devised an IRQ sharing circuit that allowed more than one port to use a selected IRQ. This worked fine as a hardware solution but presented the software designer with a challenge to identify the source of the interrupt. The software designer frequently used a technique referred to as ‘round robin polling’. This method required the interrupt service routine to ‘poll’ or interrogate each UART as to its interrupt pending status. This method of polling was sufficient for use with slower speed communications, but as modems increased their throughput abilities this method of servicing shared IRQs became inefficient

Why use an ISP?
The answer to the polling inefficiency is the Interrupt Status Port (ISP). The ISP is a read only 8-bit register that sets a corresponding bit when an interrupt is pending. Port 1 interrupt line corresponds with Bit D0 of the status port, Port 2 with D1 etc. The use of this port means that the software designer now only has to poll a single port to determine if an interrupt is pending.
The ISP is at Base+7 on each port (Example: Base = 280 Hex, Status Port = 287, 28F… etc.). The COMM+232.PCI will allow any one of the available locations to be read to obtain the value in the status register. Both status ports on the COMM+232.PCI are identical, so any one can be read.

Example : This indicates that Channel 2 has an interrupt pending

Bit positions D7-D2 are not biased in anyway and may report back as either a 1 or a 0. When checking the ISP, these bits should be masked

Connector Pin Assignments

RS-232 (DB-9 Male)

These assignments meet EIA/TIA/ANSI-574 DTE for DB-9 type connectors.

Specifications

Environmental Specifications

to 158º F)
Humidity Range| 10 to 90% R.H. Non-Condensing| 10 to 90% R.H. Non- Condensing

Manufacturing
All Sealevel Systems Printed Circuit boards are built to UL 94V0 rating and are 100% electrically tested. These printed circuit boards are solder mask over bare copper or solder mask over tin nickel.

Power Consumption

Mean Time Between Failures
Greater than 150,000 hours. (Calculated)

Physical Dimensions

Appendix A – Troubleshooting

Serial Utility test software is supplied with the Sealevel Systems adapter and will be used in the troubleshooting procedures. By using this software and following these simple steps, most common problems can be eliminated without the need to call Technical Support.

1. Identify all I/O adapters currently installed in your system. This includes your on-board serial ports, controller cards, sound cards etc. The I/O addresses used by these adapters, as well as the IRQ (if any) should be identified.
2. Configure your Sealevel Systems adapter so that there is no conflict with currently installed adapters. No two adapters can occupy the same I/O address.
3. Make sure the Sealevel Systems adapter is securely installed in a motherboard slot.
4. When running DOS, Windows 3.x or other operating systems refer to the Serial Utilities software for that operating system and the User Manual to verify that the Sealevel Systems adapter is configured correctly. The supplied software contains a diagnostic program ‘SSD’ that runs under DOS and will verify if an adapter is configured properly. This diagnostic program is written with the user in mind and is easy to use. Refer to the DIAG.txt file in the dos\diag directory for detailed instructions on using ‘SSD’.
5. For Windows 95/98 and Windows NT, the diagnostic tool ‘WinSSD’ is installed in the Sealevel folder on the Start Menu during the setup process. First find the ports using the Device Manager, then use ‘WinSSD’ to verify that the ports are functional.
6. Always use the Sealevel Systems diagnostic software when troubleshooting a problem. This will help eliminate any software issues and identify any hardware conflicts.

PCI COM: Number Selection in Windows 95/98
When installing a multi-port PCI card in Windows 95 the default starting COM: number assigned to the first port will be COM:5 if no COM:5 exists. If there is a COM: 5, 6, etc., the next available COM: number will be assigned to the first port with all additional ports following in ascending order. To change the first two ports so that Windows assigns them COM: 3 and COM: 4 port enumeration double click the Systems icon in control panel or right click on My Computer and choose properties which will bring you to System Properties. Choose the Device Manager tab and double click on the Multi-Function Adapter heading. This will show all the information concerning the Sealevel adapter. Choose the Resources tab, which will show all resources assigned to the multi- function adapter. Uncheck the Use Automatic Settings box. Notice that with a two port card there will be three input/output, (I/O), ranges listed. With a four port card there will be five input/output, (I/O), ranges listed. The first I/O range is for the PCI bus and should not be changed. The second and third I/O ranges are the ones that need to be changed in order to have those ports enumerated as COM: 3 and COM: 4. Double click on the second I/O range which will allow you to change the address. Highlight the entire I/O range and type: 03e8–03ef for COM: 3. Click OK. Windows will inform you that you have made modifications that may affect other devices. Click OK. Next double click on the third I/O range. Highlight the entire I/O range and type: 02e8–02ef for COM: 4. Again Windows will inform you that you have made modifications that may affect other devices. Click OK. Following these steps will change the COM: number assignments on the first two ports to COM: 3 and 4.

Appendix B – How To Get Assistance

Please refer to Troubleshooting Guide prior to calling Technical Support.

1. Begin by reading through the Trouble Shooting Guide in Appendix A. If assistance is still needed please see below.
2. When calling for technical assistance, please have your user manual and current adapter settings. If possible, please have the adapter installed in a computer ready to run diagnostics.
3. Sealevel Systems provides an FAQ section on its web site. Please refer to this to answer many common questions. This section can be found at http://www.sealevel.com/faq.asp.
4. Sealevel Systems maintains a web page on the Internet. Our home page address is www.sealevel.com. The latest software updates, and newest manuals are available via our web site.
5. Technical support is available Monday to Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. eastern time. Technical support can be reached at 864-843-4343.

RETURN AUTHORIZATION MUST BE OBTAINED FROM SEALEVEL SYSTEMS BEFORE RETURNED MERCHANDISE WILL BE ACCEPTED. AUTHORIZATION CAN BE OBTAINED BY CALLING SEALEVEL SYSTEMS AND REQUESTING A RETURN MERCHANDISE AUTHORIZATION (RMA) NUMBER

Appendix C – Electrical Interface

RS-232
Quite possibly the most widely used communication standard is RS-232. This implementation has been defined and revised several times and is often referred to as RS-232 or EIA/TIA-232. The IBM PC computer defined the RS-232 port on a 9 pin D sub connector and subsequently the EIA/TIA approved this implementation as the EIA/TIA-574 standard. This standard is defined as the 9-Position Non-Synchronous Interface between Data Terminal Equipment and Data Circuit-Terminating Equipment Employing Serial Binary Data Interchange. Both implementations are in wide spread use and will be referred to as RS-232 in this document. RS-232 is capable of operating at data rates up to 20 Kbps at distances less than 50 ft. The absolute maximum data rate may vary due to line conditions and cable lengths. RS-232 is a single ended or unbalanced interface, meaning that a single electrical signal is compared to a common signal (ground) to determine binary logic states. The RS-232 and the EIA/TIA-574 specification define two types of interface circuits, Data Terminal Equipment (DTE) and Data Circuit-Terminating Equipment (DCE). The COMM+232.PCI is a DTE device.

Appendix D – Asynchronous Communications

Serial data communications implies that individual bits of a character are transmitted consecutively to a receiver that assembles the bits back into a character. Data rate, error checking, handshaking, and character framing (start/stop bits) are pre-defined and must correspond at both the transmitting and receiving ends. Asynchronous communications is the standard means of serial data communication for PC compatibles and PS/2 computers. The original PC was equipped with a communication or COM: port that was designed around an 8250 Universal Asynchronous Receiver Transmitter (UART). This device allows asynchronous serial data to be transferred through a simple and straightforward programming interface. A start bit, followed by a pre-defined number of data bits (5, 6, 7, or 8) defines character boundaries for asynchronous communications. The end of the character is defined by the transmission of a pre-defined number of stop bits (usually 1, 1.5 or 2). An extra bit used for error detection is often appended before the stop bits.

This special bit is called the parity bit. Parity is a simple method of determining if a data bit has been lost or corrupted during transmission. There are several methods for implementing a parity check to guard against data corruption. Common methods are called (E)ven Parity or (O)dd Parity. Sometimes parity is not used to detect errors on the data stream. This is refereed to as (N)o parity. Because each bit in asynchronous communications is sent consecutively, it is easy to generalize asynchronous communications by stating that each character is wrapped (framed) by pre-defined bits to mark the beginning and end of the serial transmission of the character. The data rate and communication parameters for asynchronous communications have to be the same at both the transmitting and receiving ends. The communication parameters are baud rate, parity, number of data bits per character, and stop bits (i.e.9600,N,8,1).

Appendix E – Silk Screen

 Appendix F – Compliance Notices

Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Statement
This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for Class B digital device, pursuant to Part 15 of the FCC Rules. These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection against harmful interference when the equipment is operated in a residential installation. This equipment generates, uses, and can radiate radio frequency energy and, if not installed and used in accordance with the instruction manual, may cause harmful interference to radio communications. However, there is no guarantee that interference will not occur in a particular installation. If this equipment does cause harmful interference to radio or television reception, which can be determined by turning the equipment off and on, the user is encouraged to try to correct the interference by one or more of the following measures:

• Reorient or relocate the receiving antenna
• Increase the separation between the equipment and receiver
• Connect the equipment into an outlet on a circuit different from that to which the receiver is connected
• Consult the dealer or an experienced radio/TV technician for help

EMC Directive Statement
Products bearing the CE Label fulfill the requirements of the EMC directive (89/336/EEC) and of the low-voltage directive (73/23/EEC) issued by the European Commission. To obey these directives, the following European standards must be met:

• EN55022 Class B – “Limits and methods of measurement of radio interference characteristics of information technology equipment”
• EN55024 – “Information technology equipment Immunity characteristics Limits and methods of measurement”.

Always use cabling provided with this product if possible. If no cable is provided or if an alternate cable is required, use high quality shielded cabling to maintain compliance with FCC/EMC directives.

Caution
Sealevel Systems, Inc. is not responsible for any radio or television interference caused by unauthorized modifications of this equipment or the substitution of attachment of connecting cables and equipment other than those specified by Sealevel Systems. Such unauthorized modifications, substitutions, or attachments may void the user’s authority to operate the equipment. The correction of interference caused by such unauthorized modifications, substitutions, or attachments will be the responsibility of the user. Always use cabling provided with this product if possible. If no cable is provided or if an alternate cable is required, use high quality shielded cabling to maintain compliance with FCC directives.

Canadian Radio Interference Regulations
This Class B digital apparatus meets all requirements of the Canadian Interference-Causing Equipment Regulations.

Warranty

Sealevel’s commitment to providing the best I/O solutions is reflected in the Lifetime Warranty that is standard on all Sealevel manufactured I/O products. We are able to offer this warranty due to our control of manufacturing quality and the historically high reliability of our products in the field. Sealevel products are designed and manufactured at its Liberty, South Carolina facility, allowing direct control over product development, production, burn- in and testing. Sealevel achieved ISO-9001:2015 certification in 2018.

Warranty Policy
Sealevel Systems, Inc. (hereafter “Sealevel”) warrants that the Product shall conform to and perform in accordance with published technical specifications and shall be free of defects in materials and workmanship for the warranty period. In the event of failure, Sealevel will repair or replace the product at Sealevel’s sole discretion. Failures resulting from misapplication or misuse of the Product, failure to adhere to any specifications or instructions, or failure resulting from neglect, abuse, accidents, or acts of nature are not covered under this warranty. Warranty service may be obtained by delivering the Product to Sealevel and providing proof of purchase. Customer agrees to ensure the Product or assume the risk of loss or damage in transit, to prepay shipping charges to Sealevel, and to use the original shipping container or equivalent. Warranty is valid only for original purchaser and is not transferable.
This warranty applies to Sealevel manufactured Product. Product purchased through Sealevel but manufactured by a third party will retain the original manufacturer’s warranty.

Non-Warranty Repair/Retest
Products returned due to damage or misuse and Products retested with no problem found are subject to repair/retest charges. A purchase order or credit card number and authorization must be provided in order to obtain an RMA (Return Merchandise Authorization) number prior to returning Product.

How to obtain an RMA (Return Merchandise Authorization)
If you need to return a product for warranty or non-warranty repair, you must first obtain an RMA number. Please contact Sealevel Systems, Inc. Technical Support for assistance:
Available Monday – Friday, 8:00AM to 5:00PM EST Phone 864-843-4343 Email support@sealevel.com

Trademarks
Sealevel Systems, Incorporated acknowledges that all trademarks referenced in this manual are the service mark, trademark, or registered trademark of the respective company © Sealevel Systems, Inc. 7202 Manual | SL9059 7/2021

References

• FAQs - Sealevel

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