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CONFIDENTIAL - (Digi International Inc. * Confidential when combined with the aggregated modules for this * product) OBJECT CODE ONLY SOURCE MATERIALS * * * All Rights Reserved * * US Government Users Restricted Rights - Use, duplication or * disclosure restricted by GSA ADP Schedule Contract with Digi International * Inc. *****************************************************************************/ Release Notes PN 93000236_M Digi RealPort Device Driver Version 3.5.0.0 AIX 4.X and 32 bit AIX5L Software Package PN 40001427_M 08/08/01 CONTENTS Section Description 1 Introduction 2 Supported Products 3 Enhancements 4 Bug Fixes 5 Known Limitations 6 Upgrading from Release 2.X to Release 3.X 7 PortServer Setup 8 Driver Installation 9 Device Configuration 10 stty-ncxa program 11 Transparent Printing 12 Error Logging 13 AIX 4.3.1 Patches 14 History 1. INTRODUCTION The Digi AIX RealPort (ncxa) driver makes the ports on Digi Ethernet-based Serial Products appear as though they are local AIX tty devices directly attached to the computer. When the AIX system boots, one ncxd daemon is spawned for each serial unit. Each daemon makes a single TCP/IP connection to its associated unit and sends all asynchronous serial data on this single connection. The daemon accesses the RealPort driver a through special parent adapter device set up by "smit". On most systems smit will assign /dev/sa2 for the first unit, /dev/sa3 for the second unit and so on. This is a privileged, exclusive access device used only by the daemon. The ports on Ethernet-based Serial Products can be accessed any time they are configured for RealPort operations and are not otherwise in use. The RealPort Service requires the TCP/IP driver to be installed and properly configured. 2. SUPPORTED PRODUCTS PortServer PortServer II PortServer TS 2, 4, 8, and 16 EtherLite 2, 160, and 162 (requires special firmware) 3. ENHANCEMENTS Added support for PortServer TS, EtherLite and Digi One products. Streamlined the configuration process for the purpose of speeding up the boot cycle. This was done to avoid the previously long boot process, that was seen on machines with a high RealPort device count. Updated the fastbaud table to include baud rates up to 921600. The fastbaud table of substitute baud rates is now: 0 - 0 50 - 57600 75 - 76800 110 - 115200 134 - 131657 150 - 153600 200 - 230400 300 - 460800 600 - 921600 1200 - N/A 1800 - N/A 2400 - 2400 4800 - 4800 9600 - 9600 19200 - 19200 38400 - 38400 4. BUG FIXES Fixed a problem where the driver was not properly displaying the correct device number for devices of sa100 and higher. Sped up device initialization at boot time. Devices entries to the /etc/inittab file now precede the tty entries so gettys don't error out with respawning too radidly messages. 5. KNOWN LIMITATIONS If a unit loses power it may be necessary to wait for up to 2 minutes before communication is re-established with that unit. This Driver requires AIX Version 4.1.5 or higher, and is not recommended with AIX 4.3.0. AIX 4.3.1 requires two patches to fix several bugs in the "xtiso" driver. (see below under "AIX 4.3.1 Patches") Power Management does NOT work with RealPort. If running RealPort, AIX's Power Management must be unconfigured. If not unconfigured, the RealPort driver will disable Power Management. You cannot define an EtherLite unit as both an EtherLite (stsdd) device and a PortServer (ncxadd) device. The EtherLite devices may require a firmware change to work with this driver. EtherLite RS-422 and RS-485 ports should always add CLOCAL to the run and login modes when defining ports. Specify RS-422 for EL2 RS-485 ports. This driver will work on AIX5 32 bit kernels, but not AIX5 64 bit kernels. 6. UPGRADING FROM RELEASE 2.X TO RELEASE 3.X **This is NOT necessary for first time installation or if **migrating from Version 3.1.0 (Version 3.X) or any later **revisions of the driver. One of the differences between existing AIX RealPort device drivers (version 2.x.x.x, also referred to as v2) and the new AIX RealPort driver package (version 3.x.x.x, also referred to as v3) is the minor device numbering scheme. As a result of this difference, existing configuration information (such as defined tty devices) will not directly be supported by the new driver. Without external tools, the only option for a system manager is to delete the existing configuration, replace the v2 driver with a v3 driver, and then reconfigure all devices. This manual process is the safest means available, but can become rapidly cumbersome as the number of devices grows. To minimize the impact of the minor numbering change, Digi has created tools to automate much of the migration process. These tools may be referred to as the "RealPort Migration Tools". Using these tools, most system administrators will be able to smoothly transition from the v2 drivers to the v3 drivers, as the names and configuration of existing devices will be preserved. The migration tools are ONLY useful for those customers moving an existing install-base from the version 2 to the version 3 driver. They are available from the Digi FTP site (ftp.dgii.com) in the same location as the RealPort device driver. The part number is "80006838", and release notes (which serve as a user guide) for the migration tools are available in the same location. If you have any questions about whether the migration procedure is required in your situation, please contact Digi technical support. 7. PORTSERVER SETUP The Digi PortServers are full featured terminal and communication servers whose configuration is detailed in the PortServer Manual. We note here the minimum needed for RealPort operation. First you must login as root on the PortServer. You can connect a 9600 baud 8N1 terminal to port 1, or (if you obtained an IP address through RARP or BOOTP) you can telnet to the box. The factory default root password is "dbps". Basic IP parameters must be set up before the PortServer will operate on the network. If you have not done this with RARP, BOOTP, or DHCP (PortServer III only), you must do it from the command line. Substitute your own IP address, net mask and (optionally) gateway address into the following PortServer command: set config ip=192.168.0.1 submask=255.255.255.0 gateway=192.168.0.254 The RealPort driver works best if the PortServer configuration for the ports is set to printers rather than as terminals. It works VERY POORLY if the devices are configured as terminals, for example. The following command sets up ports 1-16 as device type prn (printer). set port range=1-16 dev=prn If 8-pin RJ-45 plugs are used in the PortServer, the altpin option should be selected to make DCD available on one of the inner pins. The following command sets altpin on 16 ports. set flow range=1-16 altpin=on You can check the current configuration with: set config set flow range=1-16 set port range=1-16 8. DRIVER INSTALLATION You should have received a file named "nts.installp" or "4001427M.bin" with this file. Whe will refer to this file as {filename} below. Assuming you copied this file {filename} to your /tmp directory, you can install the driver from the command line with: installp -ad /tmp/{filename} all You may also install with "smit", using the following procedure: Select "Software Installation and Maintenance" Select "Install and Update Software" Select "Install/Update Selectable Software (Custom Install)" Select "Install/Update from All Available Software" When smit asks you for the "INPUT device / directory for software", enter "/tmp/{filename}", and hit ENTER. Then for "SOFTWARE to install" enter "all" and hit ENTER twice. 9. DEVICE CONFIGURATION Before you can use the devices on your unit, you must first configure each PortServer, and then configure each port on the unit. This is easiest to do with smit. Configure each unit as follows: Select "Devices" Select "Digi Ethernet-based Serial products" Select "Add a Digi Ethernet-based Serial product" Select the type of unit you have. Enter the "INTERNET ADDRESS" of your unit. If the network connection between you AIX system and the unit includes a WAN Link slower than 1 MBit, enter the bits-per-second "WAN Link Speed" in the field provided. This parameter is not needed if your AIX system connects to the unit over a high-speed LAN. Hit Enter to complete configuration. Configure each TTY as follows: Select "Devices" Select "TTY" Select "Add a TTY" Select "tty rs232 Asynchronous Terminals" Select a Digi Parent Adapter. Enter the desired "Port number". Modify other TTY parameters as desired. Hit Enter to complete configuration. Configure each printer as follows: Select "Printer/Plotter" Select "Printer/Plotter Devices" Select "Add a Printer/Plotter" Select "osp Other serial printer" Select "rs232" Select a Digi Parent Adapter. Enter the desired "Port number". Modify other printer/plotter parameters as desired. Hit Enter to complete configuration. 10. STTY-NCXA PROGRAM The stty-ncxa program is a Digi-special version of stty that allows you to access Digi extensions to standard AIX ports. This program is installed as: /usr/lbin/tty/stty-ncxa The RealPort driver differs from the documentation as follows: altpin The altpin option is set in the unit, and may not be changed from AIX. Altpin settings are configured on the unit itself. See "PORTSERVER SETUP" for more details. hupcl This option is ineffective, since carrier is always dropped by the unit when a port is closed. 11. TRANSPARENT PRINT If you configure a unit's port as a tty, and you ask for an associated transparent print port, the following two devices will be created: /dev/ttyN - Login Port /dev/ttyNp - Transparent Print port Where "N" is the tty port number assigned by "smit". If you configure a port as a printer, only one device will be created: /dev/lpN - Printer Port The Login ports and Transparent Print ports will not operate unless carrier (DCD) is present. The stty-ncxa command may be used to change this with the "forcedcd" option. Printer Ports normally require both DCD and Clear To Send (CTS). The Login and Transparent Print ports may be open at the same time. Data sent to the Login port goes out the port without modification, while data sent to the transparent print port is bracketed with printer-on and printer-off sequences before output. The stty-ncxa command can set the on-off sequences and adjust the print speed. The Login port receives all input data; reads to the print device always fail. 12. ERROR LOGGING Driver detected errors are logged to the error log, displayed with the AIX command "errpt". A limit of 100 messages is imposed. Daemon messages are written to the System Log. To direct these errors to a file, insert the following line in your /etc/syslog.conf file. *.info /var/adm/messages As ROOT, then run: touch /var/adm/messages chmod 0644 /var/adm/messages kill -1 `cat /etc/syslog.pid` The /var/adm/messages file can grow very large over a period of weeks or months, and should be periodically truncated to avoid wasting disk space. 13. AIX 4.3.1 PATCHES In AIX 4.3.0, IBM introduced a number of problems in the "xti" interface to the TCP protocol stack. According to the IBM APAR database (and our own experience) these may cause lost data and system crashes. The patch list to make 4.3.0 is very long, and Digi has not verified that the patch list does in fact solve the problems. Fortunately 4.3.1 requires only two patches to fix most of the problems in the "xti" interface. Currently these patches are available directly from IBM: http://service.boulder.ibm.com/aix/fixes/v4/os/bos.mp.4.3.1.1.bff http://service.boulder.ibm.com/aix/fixes/v4/os/bos.up.4.3.1.1.bff For help on installing fixes: http://service.software.ibm.com/rs6k/fixhelp.html 14. HISTORY Version 3.3.0 - January 7, 2000 Bug Fixes A problem with the driver removing all transparent print nodes (not just the associated nodes for that particular PortServer) has been resolved. The symptom of this error was the removal of all /dev/ttyXp nodes upon removal or unconfiguration of any configured PortServer device node. Version 3.2.0 - July 29, 1999 Bug Fixes Fixed a problem where the driver incorrectly sends a break while waiting for output data to drain. Fixed a system crash which occurs when a modem hangup signal is received. Fixed a problem where data was lost at the end of a printout. Removed incorrect assert() message that triggered occasionally at some sites. Enhancements Increased the size of transparent print packets sent from the host system to the Portserver. Version 3.1.0 - May 7, 1999 Enhancements Redesigned the driver to improve stability and add new features.