Contents:
To install EasyConnection in a DOS environment,
perform the following:
Configuring the EasyConnection
Before installing the DOS Driver software, the
board(s) should be configured ready for installation. Up to eight boards
may be configured for installation into your system.
Note: To prevent static damage, avoid
excessive board handling.
To configure your hardware, perform the following:
Step 1.
For each board, choose an I/O address that will avoid clashes with
any other hardware you may have in your system.
EC8/64 and RapidAccess boards (excluding 8/64
PCI) require a memory address and an I/O address. They may optionally
be run in polled mode, requiring no interrupt. EC8/64 boards
require an interrupt and both a primary and secondary I/O address.
Multiple EC8/64 boards may share the same memory address, while the
multiple EC 8/32 boards .
Step 2. ISA boards DIP switch
settings.
Default DIP switch settings are shown below. A full description of
dipswitches is featured in the EasyConnection
Hardware Installation Reference .
Various DIP packages are used on Stallion
boards. On the lever-type package, the lever is pushed in the desired
direction (i.e. on or off). On the recessed variety you must press
down on the desired end (on or off).
Default I/O address (2A0h) DIP switch setting
for EC 8/32-AT:
ON ON ON ON OFF ON OFF ON
Default I/O address (2A0h) DIP switch setting
for EC 8/64-AT:
ON ON ON OFF ON OFF ON OFF
Make note of any installation parameters that
you set, such as the memory address, I/O address and interrupt for
each board, as they will also be required to install the DOS Driver
software.
Shared Interrupts on EISA/MCA Bus Machines.
Multiple EasyConnection boards are able to share the same interrupt
on EISA/MCA bus machines.
Installing the DOS
EasyConnection Driver
To install the DOS driver, perform the following:
Note:
If you are installing the EasyConnection RapidAccess
card with the Power Supply component, ensure that the card is inserted
into an available slot and that the Power Pack is plugged into both
the RA card and a power outlet before turning on the mains power to
the PC.
When removing an EasyConnection RapidAccess
card with Power Supply component, turn off the mains power before removing
the RA card or Power Supply.
Step 1.
Ensure that your EasyConnection board(s) are configured according
to the instruction given in the previous section.
Step 2.
Run the install batch file in the msdos\ata directory of the CD: install
<target drive spec> You must provide a target directory to
install into e.g. type install c:\stallion for drive C.
The C:\stallion directory must already exist.
Step 3.
INSTALL.BAT will copy the DOS Driver files to \STALLION\ATA on the
target drive specified.
Step 4.
Make an entry in your config.sys file in order to load the DOS Driver.
Multiple boards must be included in the single entry.
The driver entry in the CONFIG.SYS file must
be in the following format:
device
= <path><driver> [-a] [-i <intfce>]
[-r <rqsize>]
-b <brdtyp>, <mem>, <i/o>, <irq>, <slot>
Where :
<path> is the full path to the drive
eg. c:\stallion\ata\
<driver> is the driver required
for the board you have installed.
· atahost.exe - All EC 8/32
boards and EC 8/64 PCI
· atacdk.exe - RapidAccess and
all EC 8/64 boards except EC 8/64 PCI
<brdtyp> specifies the board type.
It must be one of: ec8/64-at, ec8/64-mc, ec8/64-ei, ec8/32-at, ec8/32-mc,
ec8/64-pc, easyio. The board type can be determined from the part
number on the board itself. See table in the Hardware
Installation Reference.
<mem> This may be either the Dual
Port RAM address of a EC8/64 or the secondary I/O address of a EC8/32-AT
and EC8/32-MC. This parameter should be set to 0 for EC8/64-PCI.
<i/o> is the primary I/O address
of the board. For ISA boards, refer to the DIP switch settings table
in Part D. For EISA boards, the I/O address is slot dependant eg.
slot 3 is I/O address 3000, and so on. For PCI boards, this parameter
should be set to 0.
<irq> is the interrupt request line
of the board. Possible values are: 0, 3,4,5,7,10,11,12,15. Use a value
of 0 for all EC8/64 boards including EC8/64-PCI.
<slot> is the slot size. This should
be set to 32 on EISA and PCI boards and 16 on all other board types.
Optional Driver Parameters
-s
Sets the start point for COM ports, eg, -4 starts at COM 5.
-a
Provides an optional alternate port naming convention. The default port
naming convention starts numbering ports from the next available COM
port after the machine's native ports. (i.e. If the machine has two
native ports, the port marked 0 on the multiport module would be named
COM3:)
When using the '-a' option, all Stallion com
ports will be named in the following manner: COM<b><p><nn>
where: <b> is the single digit board number, <p> is the single
digit module number, and <nn> is the two digit port number.
-i <intfce>
Provides the option of using one of the following INT14 interfaces,
where <intfce> is one of:
0 Standard BIOS interface,
1 Extended BIOS interface,
2 Stallion standard BIOS (Digiboard compatible),
3 Stallion extended BIOS (Digiboard compatible),
4 Fossil enhancements.
-r <rqsize>
Is only applicable to the EC8/32 and EasyIO boards. It provides the
option of specifying a ring queue size larger than the default to improve
performance.
The driver automatically calculates a value
at boot time by allocating the total reserved space to the maximum number
of ports supported by the board installed. eg. An EC8/32 board will,
by default, be given a ring queue size to allow for the maximum of 32
ports. If only 8 ports are present, specifying a <rqsize> of 256
will significantly improve the performance of the board.
The file CONFIG.ATA in the \STALLION\ATA directory
may be included in your CONFIG.SYS and has been provided as an example
of configuring a single EC8/64-AT board at memory address D0000 (hex),
I/O address 2A0 (hex) and no interrupt (polled mode). The file contains
the following example:
device=c:\stallion\ata\atacdk.exe -b ec8/64-at,d0000,2A0,0,16
Multiple boards simply require additional '-b
<board_info>' settings to be added to this device=<driver> entry.
Some examples for other board types are:
device=c:\stallion\ata\atahost.exe -b EC8/32-mc,280,2A0,10,16
device=c:\stallion\ata\atacdk.exe -b ec8/64-ei,D0000,2000,0,16
device=c:\stallion\ata\atahost.exe -b easyio,0,2A0,10,16
Note: it is also possible (although not
recommended) to load the ATA.EXE driver from the DOS command line or
a batch file using the same parameters described above. The driver may
then be unloaded by executing ATA.EXE with no parameters.
On EC 8/64-AT, ECRA PCI, EC 8/64-MC boards
only, the slave driver code must then be downloaded to each board.
The command required to perform the download is as follows:
sput -d <bootstrap> -o <slave> <brdnum>
Where :
-d
Indicates whole path and filename for bootstrap.
<bootstrap>
Full pathname to BOOT.SYS (eg. c:\stallion\ata\boot.sys)
-o
Indicates whole path and filename for slave.
<slave>
Full path to CDK.SYS or (eg. c:\stallion\ata\cdk.sys).
<brdnum>
The board number. (zero based, ie. first board is 0)
AUTOEXEC.ATA in the \STALLION\ATA directory
can be included in your AUTOEXEC.BAT and gives an example of the command
required to perform the download process. This file consists of the
line:
c:\stallion\ata\sput.exe
-d c:\stallion\ata\boot.sys
-o c:\stallion\ata\cdk.sys 0
Once the hardware is installed into your machine
and the system is rebooted, the above software changes will take effect.
