Copyright: Copyright ©  Sealevel Systems, Inc. 1998


Adding COM Ports

Adding ISA COM Ports

Adding PCI COM Ports

Adding PCMCIA COM Ports


Adding ISA COM Ports

Windows 2000 Add/Remove Hardware Wizard allows the user to quickly and simply install from one to eight ISA COM ports under Windows  2000.

I. Running Windows 2000 Add/Remove Hardware Wizard

1. 	Run the Add/Remove Hardware utility located in Control Panel. Double click the icon to launch the Wizard . When the Choose Hardware Task appears choose Add/Troubleshoot a device. At that point Windows will search for Plug and Play devices. Since the ISA board is not Plug and Play it will not be found. If Windows finds something you were not expecting, cancel that install and click Next. When Choose a Hardware Device appears select Add a new device. Windows will then ask if you want it to search and you select No, I want to select the hardware from a list. Then click Next. After choosing Next you will see Hardware Type. If you are installing a single port serial card select Ports (COM & LPT). If you are installing a multiport serial card, ( two or more ports), choose Multi-port serial adapters. Click Next. The Select a Device Driver window will appear. On the left side the Manufacturer name and on the right side of the window select the card type you are installing.

2. 	Windows will now show a warning message that it could not detect the settings of the device and that you must enter the settings manually. Click OK. The Add New Hardware Wizard Properties window will appear. This window will show the default settings for the I/O address and one IRQ. The one IRQ will mean that you will be sharing one IRQ for all ports on the board for a multi port card. You will only need one IRQ if installing a single port card. Since Windows cannot detect the settings there my be a conflict with another device or the settings shown may be not the settings you wish to use. To change the settings choose Basic configuration 0001 next to the heading Setting based on:. When this configuration is chosen the Resources window will appear with all question marks. Simply choose each Input/Output Range and IRQ and change the settings to match the board settings. Make sure there are no conflicts with other devices which would appear at the bottom of the window under Conflicting device list. After you have either accepted the default settings or changed the settings, the Start Hardware Installation window will appear. Click Next.

3.   The next window to appear will be the Digital Signature Not Found. Do not search for digitally signed software and continue with the installation. The Completing the Add/Remove Hardware Wizard window will appear. You will be given a chance to change the resource settings again at this point if necessary. Choose Finish. At this point you will need to restart your computer. After restarting the Found New Hardware window will appear for each port that you are installing. To confirm that the drivers installed you can now look in Device Manager under Ports (COM &LPT) and each of the ports should show with their corresponding COM number.

II. Installing the adapter

1.	Refer to the manual for your board for proper configuration procedures. Make sure to configure the board's resources to the same as Windows has configured them.

2.	Install your adapter into the PC following the steps outlined in the accompanying manual.

3.	Restart Windows 2000.

4.	Your adapter is now properly installed and configured. Refer to Verifying COM Port Settings.


Adding PCI COM Ports

PCI COM ports are configured automatically by the system BIOS and the included Windows 2000 serial driver. After running the Setup.exe program on the included software, shut the system down and install PCI COM adapter according to the procedure in the included documentation. The serial driver will automatically configure the adapter and assign COM identifiers during the next boot of Windows 2000. Windows Device Manager located in Control Panel  will display PCI resource assignments but will not allow them to be modified.

Refer to Verifying COM Port Settings.


Adding PCMCIA COM Ports

PC Card (PCMCIA) COM ports are configured automatically by the  Windows 2000 PCMCIA service and the included serial driver. After running the Setup.exe program on the included software, shut the system down and install the PCMCIA COM adapter according to the procedure in the included documentation. The serial driver will automatically configure the adapter and assign COM identifiers during the next boot of 2000. Use Windows Device Manger located in Control Panel to verify that the adapter installed.

You may also change the default settings, if necessary,  for the adapter in Device Manager as well.

Refer to Verifying COM Port Settings.


Advanced FIFO Settings

FIFO are on-chip buffers used by the UART. They enable the port to communicate at higher data rates, and also reduce CPU overhead and the chances of communication errors.

The following table lists FIFO sizes, default trigger settings, and allowed trigger settings for each UART type supported by the enhanced NT serial driver. Use the Advanced Port Utility to modify these settings.

UART	FIFO Size	Def. Tx Trig	Tx Trigs.	Def. Rx Trig	Rx Trigs
8250	1	1	N/A	1	1
16450	2	1	N/A	1	1
16550	16	1	N/A	1	1,4,8,14
16554	16	1	N/A	1	1,4,8,14
16650	32	16	16,8,24,30	8	8,16,24,28
16654	64	8	8,16,32,56	16	8,16,56,60
16750	64	16	N/A	16	1,16,32,56
16850	128	16	1-128	16	1-128
16854	128	16	1-128	16	1-128
16950	128	1	1	16	1-128
16954	128	1	1	16	1-128

NOTE: This is for information purposes only. The Windows 2000 driver does not support UARTS above the 16550.


Contents

Version Number: QQQQQQQQ

The Windows 2000 Add /Remove Hardware utility in Control Panel, Device Manager, displays information about all COM ports currently installed on your Microsoft Windows 2000 system. Ports may be reconfigured and removed using this utility. Many multi port serial adapters  feature an interrupt status port. These adapters are capable of sharing a single interrupt request (IRQ) for all ports on the adapter. The interrupt status port enables the Windows 2000 serial driver to efficiently service multiple COM ports sharing a single IRQ. Check the documentation that came with your adapter to determine if it has an interrupt status port or not. Device Manager can also be used to configure single and multi-port adapters to a unique interrupt for each port as well. Once the Add/Remove Hardware utility has configured the Windows 2000 serial ports, the communication parameters can be printed out along with a description of how to set the card’s jumpers and DIP-switches to match the Windows 2000 settings.

Adding COM Ports

Advanced FIFO Settings

Jumper and Switch Settings

Model and Port Information

Removing COM Ports

Sharing Interrupts

Verifying COM Port Settings

      Sample Code

Tech Support.


Model and Port Information

Windows 2000 Device Manager will display the Model and Port number for each port on a PCI or ISA adapter. Since PCI ports are installed and assigned COM identifiers automatically, this information is helpful in pairing COM identifiers with physical connectors on the PCI cards as well as multi-port ISA adapters.

For single or multi-port adapters view the information under PORTS (COM & LPT). Remember that a multi-port adapter will also show under Multi-Port Serial Adapters. Under this heading you can view information about your adapter as well.


Removing COM Ports

Removing ISA COM Ports

Removing PCI COM Ports

Removing PCMCIA COM Ports


Removing ISA COM Ports

Device Manager supports quickly removing single or multiple COM ports in Windows 2000.

I. Removing Ports

1.	If you have a single port adapter you will need to remove this from the heading PORTS (COM & LPT) in Device Manger. Simply highlight the adapter and choose Remove.

2.   If you have a mulit-port adapter, ( 2 or more ports), you will need to remove this from the heading MultiPort Serial Devices in Device Manager. Simple highlight the adapter and click Remove. This action will also remove all listings under PORTS (COM & LPT). Although the ports show under the PORTS (COM & LPT) listing the adapter cannot be removed from this location. It must be removed from the Multi Port Serial Devices section.

3.   After removing the adapter in software, power the machine down and remove the serial adapter. On reboot all registery entries related to the board are removed.


Removing PCI COM Ports

Device Manager supports quickly removing single or multiple PCI COM ports in Windows 2000.

I. Removing Ports

1.	If you have a single port adapter you will need to remove this from the heading PORTS (COM & LPT) in Device Manger. Simply highlight the adapter and choose Remove.

2.   If you have a mulit-port adapter, ( 2 or more ports), you will need to remove this from the heading MultiPort Serial Devices in Device Manager. Simple highlight the adapter and click Remove. This action will also remove all listings under PORTS (COM & LPT). Although the ports show under the PORTS (COM & LPT) listing the adapter cannot be removed from this location. It must be removed from the Multi Port Serial Devices section.

3.   After removing the adapter in software, power the machine down and remove the serial adapter. On reboot all registery entries related to the board are removed.

4.   Since a PCI device is plug and play it is possible to simply remove the adapter from the system and it will no longer show in Device Manager. However, this is not a good solution to removing the ports because registery entries will be left behind. If you want to remove the ports it is suggested that you follow the above procedure.


Removing PCMCIA COM Ports

PCMCIA ports are automatically detected by the 2000 Serial Driver. To remove a PCMCIA port(s) remove the card in Device Manager under PORTS (COM & LPT). When you do this make sure the card is still in its slot. Then power the system down and remove the card. Windows 2000 will automatically remove the port's registry entries during the next boot of Windows 2000.


Sharing Interrupts on 4 and 8 Port Adapters

Note that a PCI adapter will use one IRQ regardless of the number of ports on that adapter. For ISA 4 port adapters consult the user's manual for your product to determine if the adapter contains an Interrupt Status Port. If it does then you can share one interrupt on all ports or share two interrupts among four ports. You will need to set this according to your needs during the installation process. Refer to Adding ISA COM Ports for detailed information. All eight port adapters have an interrupt status port and may share an interrupt for all ports. Windows 2000 supports the use of an interrupt status port and therefore no special driver is needed.

NOTE: Any four port adapter that does not contain an interrupt status ports requires unique IRQ's for each port and the IRQ's must NOT be used by any other device in the system.

Refer to Model and Port Information for assistance in locating conflict free interrupts.


Technical Support

Please follow this link to Tech Support.


Verifying COM Port Settings

To verify the port setting of your adaptor use Windows 2000 Device Manager. Device Manager will report assigned resources and report any conflicts that may exist.  Device Manager is also helpful in pairing COM identifiers with physical connectors on the serial adaptor.

Remember that a single port adapter shows under PORTS (COM & LPT) only and multi-port adapters will show up in Multi-Port Serial Adapters and PORT (COM & LPT) .

Device Manager also has a feature to change the COM identifier if necessary. If your serial adaptor installs as COM 5, 6, 7, 8, it is possible to change these, for example, to 3, 4, 5, 6.

In Device Manager locate the port you wish to change under Ports (COM & LPT) and click Properties and Advanced. You can change the COM number there with a drop down box. Simply choose the number you wish, as long as it is not used by any other device, including modems, and click OK.


Jumper and Switch Settings

After installing the serial adaptor in Windows 2000 make a note of the resources assigned to the card. These resources will be found in Device Manager in Windows 2000. They will also be displayed during the installation process. Consult Adding COM Ports and select the type adapter you have for detailed information for the installation process.

After making notes of the resources assigned to the adapter you will need to configure the adapter to match the resources reported by Windows 2000. Consult the manual for your board to determine the correct configuration.


Sample Code

SeaCOM ports are accessed through standard Win32 calls, such as WriteFile(), ReadFile, CloseHandle or CreateFile().  Three examples, with source and executables, are included in the Samples subdirectory under the main SeaCOM directory.  (defaults to C:\Program Files\SeaCOM\Samples)