Release Notes PN 93000396_B User Diagnostics Diskette for PCI ClassicBoard and Neo Version 1.4 Bootable Diskette Image File 40002197_B.img 07/16/03 CONTENTS Section Description 1 Introduction a. Requirements b. Booting and Startup c. Running the "utest" Program Directly d. Running Multiple "utest" Invocations From Multiple Virtual Consoles e. If You Don't Have the Boot Diskette i. Making a diskette under Linux ii. Making a diskette under MSDOS, Windows 3.1 or Windows 95 iii. Making a diskette under newer Windows (NT, 2000, etc.) 2 Supported Products 3 Enhancements 4 Bug Fixes 5 Known Limitations 6 History 1. INTRODUCTION This is the bootable 1.44M floppy diskette image comprising the stand-alone Digi PCI ClassicBoard and Neo user diagnostics for use on x86 (Intel 386 or compatible and above) platforms. Booting the computer with a diskette made from this image loads a minimal OS kernel (Linux), loads the Digi "cpci" device driver, probes for ClassicBoard and Neo adapters and automatically runs the menu-driven "usertest" diagnostics program from which the user may run various typical hardware tests. All this is done in a temporary RAM disk without touching the system's hard disk. Thus the diagnostics are neither dependent on nor will they affect whatever operating system or files are installed on the hard disk. After running the diagnostics, remove the diagnostics floppy diskette and reboot to restore the system to its regular operating state. 1.a. Requirements ----------------- Minimum requirements to use this diskette are an Intel 386, compatible or better class computer with a floppy drive and 32 Megabytes of RAM. Booting this diskette creates a RAM disk and copies all the files to it. After booting you can remove the diskette from the drive. 1.b. Booting and Startup ------------------------ Booting the diskette loads the device driver, probes for Digi PCI ClassicBoard, Neo and built-in serial adapters, creates the device nodes and invokes the "usertest" menu system. Ports on the Digi adapters are named: Port1, Port2 etc. (which are synonyms for the native names: /dev/ttyCP0, /dev/ttyCP1...); built-in serial ports are named: COM1, COM2 (which are synonyms for the native names; /dev/ttyS0, /dev/ttyS1 etc.) You can select either Port-to-Port or Loopback tests. Loopback tests can be "external" using an external loopback plug or cable, or "internal" using the hardware's internal loopback mode. 1.c. Running the "utest" Program Directly ----------------------------------------- "usertest" is actually a shell program providing a menu-based interface to common options for the core test program: "utest". "utest" also supports many other test options. To run "utest" directly, exit from the "usertest" menu system. This results in a login prompt. Log in as "root" (no password). (Note for Linux aficionados: At this point you will be running the bash shell with vi-style command line and history editing enabled on a stripped down 2.2.19 kernel. "/bin/vi" is actually a link to Levee ("/bin/lev"), a tiny vi-like text editor. A scant few other standard Linux utilities are available in "/bin" and "/sbin".) Now you can run "utest" directly from the command line. To see all the program options, type "utest -h". If this report is too large for your screen, you can page through it (one line at a time using the spacebar or one screen at a time using the Enter key) with the "more" utility: "utest -h | more". Here's the current usage banner generated by "utest -h": usage: ./utest [options] -i ttyname -o ttyname Options: -v Display version number and quit -h Display this usage message -n # Repetition count (how many times to run the tests) (A count of -1 specifies an infinite test loop) -B Bidirectional -- perform tests in both directions -b # Baudrate -S Enable software flow control -H Enable hardware flow control -e Enable 'echo' -l # Pattern length for random patterns -L Enable internal UART loopback mode -m Perform modem line tests after each data test -E Some error messages go to stdout, with -E they will also be written to stderr (so stderr may be redirected to a file) -A Allow any keypress to abort tests -R Display summary report when finished -Ppattern By default the tests use random patterns but a particular pattern can be specified here in hex. E.g: -P0x4142430D0A specifies a 5 byte pattern corresponding to ASCII "ABC\r\n" Notes: 1. For modem (-m) tests, the input and output ports must be wired with signal and frame grounds straight through and: RxD -- TxD TxD -- RxD RTS -- CTS CTS -- RTS DTR -- DCD/DSR DCD/DSR -- DTR 2. The input and output ports can be one and the same if connected with an external loopback plug wired as above. "utest" sends test patterns from the input port (e.g: "-i /dev/ttyCP0") to the output port (e.g: "-o /dev/ttyCP1") and checks to make see if they arrive intact. Of course the ports must be inter-connected via, for example: a flipped serial cable or a Null-modem adapter. The port names can be any valid serial devices, so it's possible to inter-connect ports on the same Digi ClassicBoard or Neo adapter, between adapters or with other devices such as the built-in serial ports. Loopback tests can be made by specifying the same device name for input and output ports and by using either an external loopback plug or by specifying the "-L" "utest" flag to select internal UART loopback mode. By default, "utest" generates random data packets of a default length and performs a single transmit/receive test at the default port settings, but these defaults and behavior can be overridden with the command line options. If a pattern is specified via the -P option, it is used for each test iteration (the "-n" option allows you to specify the number of iterations). If no pattern is specified, a new random pattern is generated at each iteration. 1.d. Running Multiple utest Invocations From Multiple Virtual Consoles ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Multiple invocations of "utest" can be run simultaneously by running them from different consoles (Ctrl/Alt/F1 goes to console 1, Ctrl/Alt/F2 to console 2, etc.) or by detaching the invocations using the "&" operator. For example, you could put the following commands in a file and run it as a shell script with the output redirected to separate files: utest -b230400 -n100 -i /dev/ttyCP0 -o /dev/ttyCP1 >/tmp/x& utest -b115200 -n100 -P0x01020304 -i /dev/ttyCP2 -o /dev/ttyCP3 >/tmp/y& utest -b9600 -n500 -l100 -i /dev/ttyCP4 -o /dev/ttyS0 >/tmp/z& For example, if you put those lines in a file, "x.sh", you could start the three simultaneous tests with with "sh x.sh" or ". x.sh", then subsequently look at the three results files: /tmp/x, /tmp/y and /tmp/z. 1.e. If You Don't Have the Boot Diskette ---------------------------------------- If you don't have the boot diskette, you'll have to copy the image file to diskette using whatever facilities your OS has for performing raw write to devices. 1.e.i. Making a diskette under Linux ---------------------------------------- For example, if you have access to a Linux system with a regular HD 3.5" floppy drive (nominally 1.4 Megabytes) you can use "dd" to copy the image file. E.g: if you have the image in a file called "40002197_A.img", type: dd if=40002197_A.img of=/dev/fd0 When "dd" finishes (wait for the lights to go out on the floppy drive), your bootable user diagnostics diskette should be ready to try. 1.e.ii. Making a diskette under MSDOS, Windows 3.1 or Windows 95 ------------------------------------------------------------------ Alternatively, if you have access to an MSDOS or compatible system with a regular HD 3.5" floppy drive, you can use the "rawrite.exe" utility provided on Digi's web site at: http://www.digi.com or send a request to: mailto:support@digi.com Note: "rawrite" is a DOS utility and thus can only access files whose names follow the DOS "8.3" file naming standard, i.e: a basename consisting of up to 8 letters and/or numbers, followed by a "." (period), followed by up to 3 letters or numbers. Thus, "xyz.img" is a legal DOS name, but "40002197_A.img" is not. If the image file you want to write to diskette using "rawrite" does not conform to the "8.3" rule, you will need to rename it. One way to achieve this is to specify an "8.3" conforming name during the download process from Digi's web site using the "Save as" option of your web browser or ftp client program. "rawrite" is a self-extracting DOS program containing the "rawrite" executable ("rawrite3.com") and documentation ("rawrite3.txt"). Copy "rawrite.exe" to some working directory on your DOS or compatible system and run it: C:> rawrite This extracts "rawrite3.com" and "rawrite3.txt". Next, make a note of where you stored the diagnostics disk image file (e.g: "\temp\4002187A.img") and run "rawrite3": C:> rawrite3 The program will prompt you to "Enter source file name:" (enter the pathname to the image file as noted above) and to "Enter destination drive (A or B)". Select a drive letter, put a formatted 1.4M diskette in the drive and press the Enter key. "rawrite3" will transfer the image to your diskette, overwriting any previous contents. When "rawrite3" completes your bootable user diagnostics diskette should be ready to try. 1.e.iii. Making a diskette under newer Windows (NT, 2000, etc.) ----------------------------------------------------------------- If you have a Windows NT or Windows 2000 system, you can use the "ntrw" utility provided on Digi's web site at: http://support.digi.com/support/utilities/winnt/ntrw.exe Copy "ntrw.exe" and the user diagnostics diskette image to your Windows hard disk. For example, if you have copied ntrw.exe and the diskette image to "c:\temp\ntrw.exe" and "c:\temp\40002197_A.img" respectively, insert a blank floppy disk in the regular (3.5" HD) diskette drive and (from a DOS window) type: cd c:\temp ntrw 40002197_A.img a: This will write the contents of the image file to the floppy diskette. When the program completes, reboot your system from the new floppy to launch the user diagnostics. 2. SUPPORTED PRODUCTS Card Model Number of Ports -------------------------------------------------- Digi ClassicBoard (Corsair) 4 PCI 4 Digi ClassicBoard (Corsair) 8 PCI 8 Digi Neo 4 PCI 4 Digi Neo 8 PCI 8 Digi Neo 2 PCI (four versions: 2DB9, 2DB9PRI, 2RJ45, RJ45PRI) 2 3. ENHANCEMENTS o Added support for 2 port cards o Supports a maximum of 8 (rather than 4 as in previous versions) adapters. o Improved throughput performance o Use latest (V1.1.8-11) driver 4. BUG FIXES o Added code to workaround a FIFO count register debounce problem with new XR17D15* UARTs. o Fixed a buffer overflow problem activated when installing more than MAXBOARDS (currently set to 4) adapters. 5. KNOWN LIMITATIONS None. 6. HISTORY None.