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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, augmented by document number 6200088:
+ Merak Hardware Functional Specification. (IO8+/PCI is also
+ called Merak)
+
+
+ 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?
+
+
+Addresses and interrupts
+========================
+
+Address 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 PCI version doesn't have any dip switches. The BIOS assigns
+an IO address.
+
+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.
+
+The BIOS assigns the IRQ on the PCI version. You have no say in what
+IRQ to use in that case.
+
+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.
+
+The Specialix driver is slightly odd: It allows you to have the second
+or third card detected without having a first card. This has
+advantages and disadvantages. A slot that isn't filled by an ISA card,
+might be filled if a PCI card is detected. Thus if you have an ISA
+card at 0x250 and a PCI card, you would get:
+
+sx0: specialix IO8+ Board at 0x100 not found.
+sx1: specialix IO8+ Board at 0x180 not found.
+sx2: specialix IO8+ board detected at 0x250, IRQ 12, CD1865 Rev. B.
+sx3: specialix IO8+ Board at 0x260 not found.
+sx0: specialix IO8+ board detected at 0xd800, IRQ 9, CD1865 Rev. B.
+
+This would happen if you don't give any probe hints to the driver.
+If you would specify:
+
+ specialix=0x250,11
+
+you'd get the following messages:
+
+sx0: specialix IO8+ board detected at 0x250, IRQ 11, CD1865 Rev. B.
+sx1: specialix IO8+ board detected at 0xd800, IRQ 9, CD1865 Rev. B.
+
+ISA probing is aborted after the IO address you gave is exhausted, and
+the PCI card is now detected as the second card. The ISA card is now
+also forced to IRQ11....
+
+
+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 lose 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 driver will print a warning message when
+you are outside the official specs. The messages usually show up in
+the file /var/log/messages .
+
+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.
+
+I upgraded the crystal to 66Mhz on one of my Specialix cards. Works
+great! Contact me for details. (Voids warranty, requires a steady hand
+and more such restrictions....)
+
+
+(*) 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 told to operate in two different ways. The default
+behaviour is specialix.sx_rtscts = 0 where 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.sx_rtscts=1" 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 card-edge 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 ""
+
+If your system doesn't come with these devices preinstalled, bug your
+linux-vendor about this. They have had ample time to get this
+implemented by now.
+
+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)....
+
+If you have enough PCI slots, you can probably use more than 4 PCI
+versions of the card though....
+
+The PCI version of the card cannot adhere to the mechanical part of
+the PCI spec because the 8 serial connectors are simply too large. If
+it doesn't fit in your computer, bring back the card.
+
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+
+ Fixed bugs and restrictions:
+ - During initialization, 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?
+
+
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