patch-2.1.70 linux/Documentation/specialix.txt

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+
+      specialix.txt  -- specialix IO8+ multiport serial driver readme.
+
+
+
+      Copyright (C) 1997  Roger Wolff (R.E.Wolff@BitWizard.nl)
+
+      Specialix pays for the development and support of this driver.
+      Please DO contact io8-linux@specialix.co.uk if you require
+      support.
+
+      This driver was developed in the BitWizard linux device
+      driver service. If you require a linux device driver for your
+      product, please contact devices@BitWizard.nl for a quote.
+
+      This code is firmly based on the riscom/8 serial driver,
+      written by Dmitry Gorodchanin. The specialix IO8+ card
+      programming information was obtained from the CL-CD1865 Data
+      Book, and Specialix document number 6200059: IO8+ Hardware
+      Functional Specification.
+
+      This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
+      modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as
+      published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of
+      the License, or (at your option) any later version.
+
+      This program is distributed in the hope that it will be
+      useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied
+      warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR
+      PURPOSE.  See the GNU General Public License for more details.
+
+      You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public
+      License along with this program; if not, write to the Free
+      Software Foundation, Inc., 675 Mass Ave, Cambridge, MA 02139,
+      USA.
+
+
+Intro
+=====
+
+ 
+This file contains some random information, that I like to have online
+instead of in a manual that can get lost. Ever misplace your Linux
+kernel sources?  And the manual of one of the boards in your computer?
+
+
+Adresses and interrupts
+=======================
+
+Addres dip switch settings:
+The dip switch sets bits 2-9 of the IO address. 
+
+       9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 
+     +-----------------+
+   0 | X   X X X X X X |
+     |                 |    =   IoBase = 0x100 
+   1 |   X             |
+     +-----------------+          ------ RS232 connectors ---->
+         
+         |    |    |
+       edge connector
+         |    |    |
+         V    V    V
+
+Base address 0x100 caused a conflict in one of my computers once.  I
+haven't the foggiest why. My Specialix card is now at 0x180.  My
+other computer runs just fine with the Specialix card at 0x100....
+The card occupies 4 addresses, but actually only two are really used.
+
+The driver now still autoprobes at 0x100, 0x180, 0x250 and 0x260.  If
+that causes trouble for you, please report that. I'll remove
+autoprobing then.
+
+The driver will tell the card what IRQ to use, so you don't have to
+change any jumpers to change the IRQ. Just use a command line
+argument (irq=xx) to the insmod program to set the interrupt.
+
+If your specialix cards are not at the default locations, you can use
+the kernel command line argument "specialix=io0,irq0,io1,irq1...".
+Here "io0" is the io address for the first card, and "irq0" is the
+irq line that the first card should use. And so on. 
+
+Examples. 
+
+You use the driver as a module and have three cards at 0x100, 0x250
+and 0x180. And some way or another you want them detected in that
+order. Moreover irq 12 is taken (e.g. by your PS/2 mouse).
+
+  insmod specialix.o iobase=0x100,0x250,0x180 irq=9,11,15
+
+The same three cards, but now in the kernel would require you to
+add 
+
+   specialix=0x100,9,0x250,11,0x180,15
+
+to the command line. This would become 
+
+   append="specialix=0x100,9,0x250,11,0x180,15" 
+
+in your /etc/lilo.conf file if you use lilo. 
+
+
+Baud rates
+==========
+
+The rev 1.2 and below boards use a CL-CD1864. These chips can only 
+do 64kbit. The rev 1.3 and newer boards use a CL-CD1865. These chips
+are officially capable of 115k2.
+
+The Specialix card uses a 25MHz crystal (in times two mode, which in
+fact is a divided by two mode). This is not enough to reach the rated
+115k2 on all ports at the same time. With this clock rate you can only
+do 37% of this rate. This means that at 115k2 on all ports you are
+going to loose characters (The chip cannot handle that many incoming
+bits at this clock rate.) (Yes, you read that correctly: there is a
+limit to the number of -=bits=- per second that the chip can handle.)
+
+If you near the "limit" you will first start to see a graceful
+degradation in that the chip cannot keep the transmitter busy at all
+times. However with a central clock this slow, you can also get it to
+miss incoming characters.
+
+The specialix card cannot reliably do 115k2. If you use it, you have
+to do "extensive testing" (*) to verify if it actually works.
+
+When "mgetty" communicates with my modem at 115k2 it reports:
+got: +++[0d]ATQ0V1H0[0d][0d][8a]O[cb][0d][8a]
+                            ^^^^ ^^^^ ^^^^ 
+
+The three characters that have the "^^^" under them have suffered a
+bit error in the highest bit. In conclusion: I've tested it, and found
+that it simply DOESN"T work for me. I also suspect that this is also
+caused by the baud rate being just a little bit out of tune. 
+
+
+(*) Cirrus logic CD1864 databook, page 40.
+
+
+Cables for the Specialix IO8+
+=============================
+
+The pinout of the connectors on the IO8+ is:
+
+     pin    short    direction    long name
+            name
+    Pin 1   DCD      input        Data Carrier Detect
+    Pin 2   RXD      input        Receive
+    Pin 3   DTR/RTS  output       Data Terminal Ready/Ready To Send
+    Pin 4   GND      -            Ground
+    Pin 5   TXD      output       Transmit
+    Pin 6   CTS      input        Clear To Send
+        
+    
+             -- 6  5  4  3  2  1 --
+             |                    |
+             |                    |
+             |                    |
+             |                    |
+             +-----          -----+
+                  |__________|
+                      clip
+    
+    Front view of an RJ12 connector. Cable moves "into" the paper.
+    (the plug is ready to plug into your mouth this way...)
+
+    
+    NULL cable. I don't know who is going to use these except for
+    testing purposes, but I tested the cards with this cable. (It 
+    took quite a while to figure out, so I'm not going to delete
+    it. So there! :-)
+    
+    
+    This end goes               This end needs
+    straight into the           some twists in
+    RJ12 plug.                  the wiring.
+       IO8+ RJ12                   IO8+ RJ12
+        1  DCD       white          -
+        -             -             1 DCD
+        2  RXD       black          5 TXD
+        3  DTR/RTS   red            6 CTS
+        4  GND       green          4 GND
+        5  TXD       yellow         2 RXD
+        6  CTS       blue           3 DTR/RTS
+    
+
+    Same NULL cable, but now sorted on the second column.
+ 
+        1  DCD       white          -
+        -             -             1 DCD
+        5  TXD       yellow         2 RXD
+        6  CTS       blue           3 DTR/RTS
+        4  GND       green          4 GND
+        2  RXD       black          5 TXD
+        3  DTR/RTS   red            6 CTS
+    
+    
+    
+    This is a modem cable usable for hardware handshaking:
+        RJ12                        DB25           DB9
+        1   DCD      white          8 DCD          1 DCD
+        2   RXD      black          3 RXD          2 RXD
+        3   DTR/RTS  red            4 RTS          7 RTS
+        4   GND      green          7 GND          5 GND
+        5   TXD      yellow         2 TXD          3 TXD
+        6   CTS      blue           5 CTS          8 CTS
+                            +----   6 DSR          6 DSR
+                            +----  20 DTR          4 DTR
+
+    This is a modem cable usable for software handshaking:
+    It allows you to reset the modem using the DTR ioctls.
+    I (REW) have never tested this, "but xxxxxxxxxxxxx
+    says that it works." If you test this, please
+    tell me and I'll fill in your name on the xxx's.
+
+        RJ12                        DB25           DB9
+        1   DCD      white          8 DCD          1 DCD
+        2   RXD      black          3 RXD          2 RXD
+        3   DTR/RTS  red           20 DTR          4 DTR
+        4   GND      green          7 GND          5 GND
+        5   TXD      yellow         2 TXD          3 TXD
+        6   CTS      blue           5 CTS          8 CTS
+                            +----   6 DSR          6 DSR
+                            +----   4 RTS          7 RTS
+
+   I bought a 6 wire flat cable. It was colored as indicated.
+   Check that yours is the same before you trust me on this.
+   
+ 
+Hardware handshaking issues.
+============================
+
+The driver can be compiled in two different ways. The default
+("Specialix DTR/RTS pin is RTS" is off) the pin behaves as DTR when
+hardware handshaking is off. It behaves as the RTS hardware
+handshaking signal when hardware handshaking is selected.
+
+When you use this, you have to use the appropriate cable. The
+cable will either be compatible with hardware handshaking or with
+software handshaking. So switching on the fly is not really an
+option.
+
+I actually prefer to use the "Specialix DTR/RTS pin is RTS" option.
+This makes the DTR/RTS pin always an RTS pin, and ioctls to
+change DTR are always ignored. I have a cable that is configured
+for this. 
+
+
+Ports and devices
+=================
+
+Port 0 is the one furthest from the ISA connector.
+
+Devices:
+
+You should make the devices as follows:
+
+bash
+cd /dev
+for i in  0  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9 10 11 12 13 14 15 \
+         16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
+do
+  echo -n "$i "
+  mknod /dev/ttyW$i c 75 $i
+  mknod /dev/cuw$i c 76 $i
+done
+echo ""
+
+
+You cannot have more than 4 boards in one computer. The card only
+supports 4 different interrupts. If you really want this, contact me
+about this and I'll give you a few tips (requires soldering iron)....
+
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+
+  Fixed bugs and restrictions:
+       - During intialization, interrupts are blindly turned on.
+            Having a shadow variable would cause an extra memory
+            access on every IO instruction. 
+       - The interrupt (on the card) should be disabled when we
+         don't allocate the Linux end of the interrupt. This allows 
+         a different driver/card to use it while all ports are not in
+         use..... (a la standard serial port)
+       == An extra _off variant of the sx_in and sx_out macros are
+          now available. They don't set the interrupt enable bit.
+          These are used during initialization. Normal operation uses
+          the old variant which enables the interrupt line.
+       - RTS/DTR issue needs to be implemented according to 
+         specialix' spec.
+            I kind of like the "determinism" of the current 
+            implementation. Compile time flag?
+       == Ok. Compile time flag! Default is how Specialix likes it.
+       == Now a config time flag! Gets saved in your config file. Neat!
+       - Can you set the IO address from the lilo command line?
+            If you need this, bug me about it, I'll make it. 
+       == Hah! No bugging needed. Fixed! :-)
+       - Cirrus logic hasn't gotten back to me yet why the CD1865 can
+            and the CD1864 can't do 115k2. I suspect that this is
+            because the CD1864 is not rated for 33MHz operation.
+            Therefore the CD1864 versions of the card can't do 115k2 on 
+            all ports just like the CD1865 versions. The driver does
+            not block 115k2 on CD1864 cards. 
+        == I called the Cirrus Logic representative here in Holland.
+           The CD1864 databook is identical to the CD1865 databook, 
+           except for an extra warning at the end. Similar Bit errors
+           have been observed in testing at 115k2 on both an 1865 and
+           a 1864 chip. I see no reason why I would prohibit 115k2 on
+           1864 chips and not do it on 1865 chips. Actually there is
+           reason to prohibit it on BOTH chips. I print a warning.
+           If you use 115k2, you're on your own. 
+       - A spiky CD may send spurious HUPs. Also in CLOCAL???
+         -- A fix for this turned out to be counter productive. 
+            Different fix? Current behaviour is acceptable?
+         -- Maybe the current implementation is correct. If anybody
+            gets bitten by this, please report, and it will get fixed.
+
+         -- Testing revealed that when in CLOCAL, the problem doesn't
+            occur. As warned for in the CD1865 manual, the chip may
+            send modem intr's on a spike. We could filter those out,
+            but that would be a cludge anyway (You'd still risk getting
+            a spurious HUP when two spikes occur.).....
+ 
+
+
+  Bugs & restrictions:
+       - This is a difficult card to autoprobe.
+            You have to WRITE to the address register to even 
+            read-probe a CD186x register. Disable autodetection?
+         -- Specialix: any suggestions?
+       - Arbitrary baud rates are not implemented yet. 
+            If you need this, bug me about it. 
+
+

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