If you do not have the multiport (/M) version of PCBoard or you will not be using a multiport card, you should skip this section and proceed to Multiple Nodes Using Multitasking Software.

When you installed PCBoard, you were asked if you wanted to install the multiport driver. If you elected to install the multiport driver then you must insure that it is properly configured before you begin setting up multiple nodes. In your \COMMDRV directory you will find a program named DRVSETUP.EXE. This is the program which will create the setup file for the multiport driver. This setup file contains information about the serial ports that you want to make available to PCBoard.

NOTE: If you will be using a multiport card in conjunction with standard serial ports, you will not need to define the standard ports with the DRVSETUP program. Have PCBoard use the Asynchronous COMM driver (PCBSetup > Modem Information > Modem Setup) and enter the COM port you want to use. This will avoid the extra overhead of defining the COM port to be used with the multiport driver.

As mention previously, you need to use DRVSETUP.EXE to configure the multiport driver. This utility is in the \COMMDRV subdirectory on the same drive that you installed PCBoard on.

The syntax for DRVSETUP is as follows:

DRVSETUP config.dat

config.dat is the setup file that you want to create or edit. You may enter any valid DOS filename.

For example:

DRVSETUP ARNET4P.DAT

If the filename that you specify does not exist, it will be created. If it does exist, it will be loaded into the editor where you may make any necessary changes to the file.

To properly configure the multiport driver, load DRVSETUP as described in the previous section. When you do, you will see a screen which resembles the following:

Within the DRVSETUP editor, the following keyboard commands are valid:

The following describes each of the fields that are displayed on the screen of the DRVSETUP program:

This field represents the port number that you will be defining. This is the number that you will specify in PCBSetup > Modem Information > Modem Setup for the Comm Port if you answered C to the Comm Driver to use question. You cannot edit the contents of this field.

When this field is highlighted, you may press 2 to pick a list of supported card types. The following card types are available

|UART|If you will be using a standard serial port that has a 16550, 16450, or 8250 UART (e.g., COM1, COM2), select this option. If you plan on running multiple nodes, you should be using serial ports that are equipped with 16550 UARTs to prevent data loss. Each port that you define using this card type must have a unique base address and IRQ.|

In this field, enter the sub-port number you wish to use. If the card type that is defined requires that all ports have unique IRQs, you should enter 1 in this field. If the card type will allow you to use one IRQ for all of the ports, you will need to enter the appropriate sub-port number in this field.

How do you know what the sub-port number is? The sub-port number is most likely referred to as the port number on the card. This should not be confused with the port number field on the left side of the setup screen. For example, if you are using an Arnet SmartPort 8, you will have 8 different ports on the card. Enter the appropriate port number on the card into the sub-port number on the screen. The following is an example setup for an Arnet SmartPort 4 port card:

If you want to use a standard serial card in addition to an intelligent serial card, you can with the multiport driver. The following shows a configuration where COM2 is defined in the first entry, and the rest of the entries define the 4 ports on the Arnet card:

Notice the sub-port values remained the same for the ports referring to the Arnet serial board. When sub-port 1 is specified, it is referring to port 1 on the Arnet card and so on.

In this field, enter the base or i/o port address (in hexadecimal) which will be used for the port you are defining. The value you enter should also match the way you have configured your serial card. If it does not, you will not be able to communicate with the serial port.

When configuring your serial card, make sure it is configured to not conflict with any other devices or cards in your system. If it does, you will not be able to communicate with the serial port. Standard serial ports require that each COM port use a unique base address to operate properly. Refer to the documentation for your serial card for additional information on configuring the base addresses for your serial ports.

In this field, enter the IRQ that will be used for the serial port you are defining. Like the base address, you should refer to how your serial card is defined to get the value you should enter. Most of the multiport cards will allow you to use one IRQ for all of the ports on the card. Standard serial ports, however, require that each COM port use a unique IRQ to operate properly. Refer to the documentation for your serial card for more information on this subject.

It is critical that the IRQ that you select for use with your serial card does not conflict with any other devices in your system. For example, you cannot have two serial boards using the same IRQ nor can you have a network card and a serial card sharing the same IRQ. If you do, your system may become prone to lockups or will not function as you think it should.

NOTE: It is recommended that you do not use IRQ2 or IRQ9 for any of your devices if at all possible. These IRQs are known as the cascading interrupts because they are used to communicate with IRQs above 8. If you use IRQ2 or IRQ9 and you have devices which use IRQs above 8, you can run into some serious conflicts which may cause unpredictable operation of your computer.

Intelligent serial cards commonly use a 32 or 64 kilobyte segment in high memory for transferring data to and from the serial card. In this field, enter the starting address value for the segment you have configured the serial card to use.

When you have finished configuring DRVSETUP, configure your memory manager so it does not use the 32 or 64 kilobyte segment your intelligent serial card uses. Refer to the documentation for your memory manager for additional information on excluding memory.

The value you enter in this field will determine whether or not the multiport driver should provide a FOSSIL interface for the port you are defining. Valid options for this field are:

When you have finished configuring all the serial ports you want to define in DRVSETUP, press ESC to exit the editor, and when prompted if you want to save the changes, answer Y and press ENTER. Next, add the driver to your AUTOEXEC.BAT and test to make sure you have configured everything properly.

Once you have used DRVSETUP to configure the ports, you need to install the driver in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file. The program you need to execute is called COMMTSR.EXE. The syntax for COMMTSR is as follows:

COMMTSR -i filename.dat

The filename.dat parameter is the filename you defined earlier using DRVSETUP. Most likely you will not have COMMTSR and the data file stored in your root directory so you will need to add the drive and subdirectory where these files can be found as shown in the following example:

C:\COMMDRV\COMMTSR -i C:\COMMDRV\MYSETUP.DAT

NOTE: The -i parameter is case-sensitive and must be entered in lower-case. Otherwise, the driver will not load and will report that an invalid option was specified.

This line, which loads the multiport driver, should be entered towards the top of your AUTOEXEC.BAT file because the driver must be loaded before your multitasking software is loaded. The driver itself uses quite a bit of memory and may affect the configuration of your machine by leaving you less conventional memory available than before you installed the driver. You can load the driver high, but it is not recommended. If you must load the driver into high memory using your memory manager, make sure the driver is the first program run in your AUTOEXEC.BAT.

NOTE: If any drivers are included with your serial card, do not install them. The driver provided with the multiport version of PCBoard is the only driver you will need to install.

Once you have made the necessary changes, reboot your system to make sure your setup is correct and the multiport driver initializes properly. If you define four ports with DRVSETUP, the display you may see when the driver is initialized will resemble the following:

(COMMTSR) COMM-DRV v14.0 Copr (C) 1989-1993 Willies' Computer Software Co.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Houston, Texas (713) 498-4832
COMMDV00.DRV installed(GENERIC     1.01). ADR=171B:0000 SIZE=1118
Port #0 Installed successfully
Port #1 Installed successfully
Port #2 Installed successfully
Port #3 Installed successfully
Attaching to INT14H Handler
COMMDRV Installed START=1461:0000 END=1863:0100 MPX=C0

Notice that all 4 ports were Installed successfully. The multiport driver refers to ports 0 through 3, which PCBoard translates to ports 1 through 4 (because port 0 in PCBoard refers to a local login). If you receive any errors when the ports are attempting to be installed, double check your configuration, making sure all base addresses and IRQ settings are correct and reboot your system. If you still experience a problem, contact technical support for additional assistance.

When installing PCBoard, you should have been asked if you wanted to install the multiport driver. If you answered Y to that question, the install program properly configured PCBoard to operate with multiport driver. If you answered N to that question, you will need to change the following items in your PCBoard Configuration:

In PCBSetup > Modem Information > Modem Setup you will need to answer C to the Comm Driver to use question.

You will need to edit the PCBOARD line in your BOARD.BAT to read PCBOARDM instead.

PCBoard should now be ready to function properly with your multiport card. At this point, setup your first node and test to make sure that it is operating properly. Once you get one node setup, you may proceed to the next section which will discuss the steps that are necessary to add the rest of your nodes.