- Dolphin FAQs
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- Glossary
ADDRESS
Address of the peripheral devices residing in the system.
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- ADDRESS CONFLICT
When two devices have the same address, the CPU cannot distinguish
which device has the address and thereby creates a conflict.
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- FIFO
- First In First Out
This is a buffering scheme in which the first byte of data that
enters the buffer is also the first byte retrieved by the CPU.
This scheme is used in the 16650 and 16550 UARTs because it closely
mimics the way the serial data is transmitted; ie, one bit at
a time.
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- IRQ -
- Interrupt ReQuest
This is a special signal generated from the peripheral devices
telling the CPU that they are ready to transmit or receive.
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- IRQ CONFLICT
When two devices share the same IRQ and try to call attention
to the CPU by raising the IRQ flag at the same time continuously,
a situation is created in which the CPU does not know which one
of the devices the IRQ flag came from. In this instance, an IRQ
conflict is created and the system ignores the presence of these
devices.
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- ISA
- Industry Standard Architecture
- Common bus used
on PC-type computers. Supports 8-bit and 16-bit wide data channels.
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- PCI
- Peripheral Component
Interconnect, a local bus standard developed by the Intel Corporation.
Most modern PCs include a PCI bus, in addition to their ISA expansion
bus. Many believe that PCI will eventually supplant ISA entirely.
PCI is also widely used on newer versions of the Macintosh.
- PCI is a 32-bit bus but supports
a 64-bit extension for newer processors such as the Pentium.
It can run at clock speeds of 33 or 66 MHz. At 32 bits and 33
MHz it yields a throughput rate of 133 MBps. 64-bit implementations
running at 66 MHz can yield rates as high as 524 MBps.
UART
Universal Asynchronous Receiver/Transmitter.
- This component converts the
incoming serial data into the parallel format used in the PC's
I/O and memory buses. It also converts the parallel data into
a serial stream so that the data can be transmitted through the
phone lines.
16650
This is a UART chip which has 32 byte FIFO buffers so that the
process of transmitting or receiving data may minimize the use
of IRQ in order to speed up the data flow.
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- What is PCI?
- PCI is an acronym for Peripheral Component Interconnect,
a local bus standard developed by the Intel Corporation. Most
modern PCs include a PCI bus, in addition to their ISA expansion
bus. Many believe that PCI will eventually supplant ISA entirely.
PCI is also widely used on newer versions of the Macintosh.
- PCI is a 32-bit bus but supports
a 64-bit extension for newer processors such as the Pentium.
It can run at clock speeds of 33 or 66 MHz. At 32 bits and 33
MHz it yields a throughput rate of 133 MBps. 64-bit implementations
running at 66 MHz can yield rates as high as 524 MBps.
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- What is ISA?
- ISA is an acronym for Industry Standard Architecture,
a bus architecture used in IBM PC/XT and PC/AT computers. The
AT version of ISA is referred to as the AT bus and has become
an industry standard. For quite some time the industry has been
searching for a successor to the ISA bus, which is insufficient
for modern devices and applications. It is growing ever more
apparent that the successor will be PCI.
- Most computers made today include
both an AT bus for slower devices and a local bus for devices
that need better bus performance. In 1993, Intel and Microsoft
introduced a new version of the ISA specification called Plug
and Play ISA. Plug and Play ISA enables the operating system
to configure expansion boards automatically so that users do
not need to worry about hardware configuration requirements
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- Software
For Dolphin Peripherals I/O Cards
- All Dolphin Peripherals PCI
Bus Serial, Parallel and Multi Port I/O cards include drivers.
All the ISA Bus Serial, Parallel, and Multi Port I/O cards do
not require any drivers.
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- Serial &
Parallel Port Installation
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- BEFORE YOU START
THE INSTALLATION
- a) Determine which resources
are available.
- b) Configuring the Dolphin
I/O card to avoid conflicts.
- c) Installing the Dolphin I/O card and configuring
it in DOS or Windows.
- d) Configuring the peripheral
software or software setup to work with the Dolphin I/O card.
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- INSTALLING YOUR
NEW PORT(S) WITH WINDOWS 3.1
- Use MSD to determine
IRQs and Addresses of ports already installed
- a) Manually configure the
Dolphin I/O card.
- b) Power down the computer,
unplug all power sources, remove computers cover. Insert the
card in the appropriate bus slot, replace cover, reconnect power
and other necessary peripherals and power up system.
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- Serial Port(s)
- a) Go to the Control Panel
> Ports (Click on the port being installed) > Settings
> Advanced.
- b) Change the IRQ to match
the Dolphin I/O card.
- c) Click OK out of all
the screens and reboot the computer.
- d) Configure the software
for the peripheral being added.
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- Parallel
Port(s)
- a) Configure the software
for the peripheral being added.
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- INSTALLING YOUR
NEW PORT(S) WITH WINDOWS 95
- (This process
will have to be repeated for each port added. You must write
down the information (addresses, IRQs, Ports) from steps 1 &
2, this information will be needed later during the install)
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- 1. Determine which Addresses
and IRQs are available on the system
- a) Click on the Start Button
> Settings > Control Panel > System > Device Manager
>
- open the "Computer"
icon in the field box at the top. Here you will find all of the
IRQs, the ones that are
- not shown are
the available IRQs. To view the Addresses, click on the Input/Output
button.
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- 2. Determine which Com and Lpt ports that
are already in use
- a) Click on the Start Button
> Settings > Control Panel > System > Device Manager
>
- left click on
the "+" next to Ports. Here you will see the ports
that are in use, use this information along with the IRQ information
to configure the Dolphin I/O card. Without doing this step, you
are assured conflicts.
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- Adding New
Hardware
- a) Manually configure the
card following the instructions in the Manual.
- b) Power down the computer,
unplug all power sources, remove computers cover. Insert the
card in the appropriate bus slot, replace cover, reconnect power
and other necessary peripherals and power up the system.
- c) Click on the Start Button
> Settings > Control Panel > Add New Hardware > Next
> Ports > Next (For Serial Ports select Standard Communications
Port, For Parallel Ports select either Printer Port or ECP Port)
> Next > Next > Finish.
- d) Windows 95 will prompt
you to Restart the computer, select NO.
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- Adjusting
The Settings
a) Click on the Start Button
> Settings > Control Panel > System > Device Manager
> Ports
b) Double click on the new port listed, it might have
a yellow exclamation mark.
c) Click on the Resources tab. Make sure the "Use
Automatic Settings" checkbox is unchecked.
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- For Serial
Ports:
In the Resource Settings
dialog box, if the settings are different than what you want,
then change
the BASIC CONFIGURATION to BASIC CONFIGURATION 8 . This should
allow you to change the
IRQ and input/output range. If Basic Configuration 8 does not
work, please try all of the other
available Basic Configurations until it allows you to make the
required adjustments.
For Parallel Ports use Basic Configuration 1.
For ECP Printer Ports using DMA USE Basic Configuration 2.
For parallel port addresses other than the standard, use Basic
Configuration 3.
a) First double-click on the Input/Output Range, then change
it to the one you want.
b) Do the same with the IRQ range.
c) Click OK >OK and reboot.
d) Proceed with the software configuration.
ECP PRINTER PORTS
IN WINDOWS 95
Unlike standard parallel
ports, ECP Ports may use DMA Channels
a) Determining DMA Usage
Device Manager > Computer > Direct Memory Access (DMA)
b) To configure DMA for ECP ports use Basic Configuration
2.
ADDING PORTS
IN WINDOWS NT 4.0
Serial
Ports
Determining resource
usage:
Unicode Debug > Program > Administrative Tools > Windows
NT Diagnostic Tools\Resources
Adding Serial Ports:
Control Panel > Ports > Add
Enter the Addresses and IRQ to match the configuration of port
being installed.
Parallel
Ports
Determining resource
usage:
WinNT 4.0, like Win3.x, does not provide resource listings for
parallel ports.
Adding Parallel Ports
Control Panel > Printer
Installing New Printer
Double-click on Add Printer and click on the LPT (LPT1, LPT2,LPT3)
as necessary.
Existing Printer
Double-click on 'that' printer icon and click on the appropriate
LPT.
- Troubleshooting Conflicts:
- Ports are very straight-forward
devices. Any conflict which may occur will involve either the
Address, and/or the IRQ setting. Make sure that no two devices
are using the same IRQ and/or Address.
USING ALTERNATIVE
ADDRESSES FOR SERIAL AND PARALLEL PORTS
- Some models of Dolphin I/O cards
are capable of using alternative addresses. The Com Port settings
of Com5 or greater will only work in Win 95, NT or higher which
have support for the alternative addresses. Win3.x and DOS have
support only for com 1-4.
- Software or devices working
with Alternative Addresses, the com ports 5 and higher do not
use standardized addresses. Therefore the software or device
that is connected to it may not be programmed to use the same
address.
Example: Com5 on the 2S = 0250H
Win95 set on Com5 = 0250H
Modem Software Set on Com5 = 0350H
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- MS-DOS
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- Windows 3.X
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- Windows 95
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- Top Of Page / Back To General FAQs
/ Back To Windows 95 FAQs
- Port and
Address Assignment
- PCI Parallel Port Cards
- Before you install the Dolphin
PCI Parallel port card, make sure your computers on board BIOS
is set to EPP or Normal mode (see your computers owners manual
on instructions).
- All Dolphin ISA I/O Cards
- None of our ISA cards require
special drivers for DOS, Windows 3.X, 95 or NT. All ports are
configurable within the specific OS you are using. For more information
concerning port set up you can refer to your OS documentation.
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To General FAQs / Back To Windows 95 FAQs
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- I've installed
the ISA I/O card, but Windows didn't detect it when I restarted
my Computer?
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- To add
an ISA card to Windows 95, do the following:
- Click on Start
> Settings > Control Panel > Add New Hardware > Next
> Yes, Next > Next.
- Windows will
now search for any new hardware added to the system. If you set
the jumpers correctly on the I/O card, Windows will find the
card and install the ports. At the finish of the search, a details
tab will appear, click the tab to check and see what Windows
found. You will need to restart the computer.
- To check
the ports:
- Right click
on the My Computer icon on the desktop > left click on properties
> left click on the device manager tab > left click on
the + in the square box next to ports, the ports should be listed.
If not, make sure the settings on the card are correct.
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- Which IRQ's
will the Dolphin FASTPCI I/O card work with?
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- The Dolphin FASTPCI I/O cards
can be used with the following IRQ's:
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- 5, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14,
15
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- Known Issues
and Resolutions
- with Dolphin
FASTPCI Cards
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