Serial Port and Modem Configuration on AS4100

From: Jay Ponder <ponder_at_wustl.edu>
Date: Mon, 05 Apr 1999 15:45:30 -0500

 Dear Alpha Unix Managers List,

      We are just trading our ancient 2100 for a slightly less old 4100 on
 which I've just loaded 4.0E. The 2100 ran two modem lines setup for ppp
 off the two stock serial ports on the back of the box, tty00 and tty01.
 This worked like a charm, and now we'd like to do the same on the 4100.

      We seem to have some big (hopefully simple) problems that I haven't
 solved after scanning the archives dating back to early '96.

 (1) We do not have /dev/tty00 or /dev/tty01 (!). When I try to make
     them with "/dev/MAKEDEV tty01", etc., they do not get created. I've
     set the SRM console-level variables for COM2 (tty01?) as follows:

                  set COM2_FLOW hardware
                  set COM2_BAUD 57600
                  set COM2_MODEM on

     This does not solve the problem; after reboot I still don't get any
     /dev/tty00 or /dev/tty01 and can't MAKEDEV them. Is there some other
     SRM variable I have to set to get the machine to see the serial ports
     at boot time? We have other stuff set as before on the 2100, such as

     modem1:23:respawn:/usr/sbin/getty -h -t15 /dev/tty00 M115200 vt220
     modem2:23:respawn:/usr/sbin/getty -h -t15 /dev/tty01 M115200 vt220

     in /etc/inittab, and other stuff. But clearly I'm not getting that far.

 (2) Related to the above, I've seen in the archives that modems "don't work"
     on the COM1 port of the 4100's. When I try to set COM1_FLOW similar to
     COM2_FLOW above, I get some warning about overriding the embedded
     console. And when I try to set COM1_BAUD to something other than 9600,
     it refuses and tells me I need Serial ROM V2.0 or greater to support
     alternate baud rates. Is it possible to swap in a new ROM chip to get
     V2.0 or above, and does this solve the "problem" with modems on COM1?
     If it can be done, does anyone have a part number?

 (3) The 4100 has a "modem" port just to the right of COM1/COM2 and just
     below the parallel port. Can this "modem" port be used for a standard
     dial-in modem? Also there is a 12V power connector to the right of the
     COM ports and mouse/keyboard connectors; what is that for?

 (4) Does anyone know of a PCI multiport serial card that would give me
     a couple of extra serial ports functional for modems on the 4100?
     A DEC/Compaq part number or vendor name would be appreciated.

                               Thanks, Jay P.

--------
Jay W. Ponder Phone: (314) 362-4195
Biochemistry, Box 8231 Fax: (314) 362-7183
Washington University Medical School
660 South Euclid Avenue Email: ponder_at_dasher.wustl.edu
St. Louis, Missouri 63110 USA WWW: http://dasher.wustl.edu/
Received on Mon Apr 05 1999 - 20:43:46 NZST

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