Selecting this menu option allows you to modify the setup of PCBoard in regards to the serial port you are using. Not only can you define the serial port you will be using, but there are options which control the behavior of PCBoard with your serial port.

There are three menu options that you can select. If you want to configure what serial port to use, the initialization string, or other items related to the setup of your modem then you should select the first menu option.

Selecting the second menu option will allow you to set numerous options that control how PCBoard interacts with your modem. Finally, the last menu option contains items that allow you to control access to the node you are configuring based on the connect speed of the caller.

When you installed PCBoard, the install program configured your modem with a program named PCBMODEM.EXE. This utility will configure numerous modems to operate properly with PCBoard. You should run PCBModem at least once to configure your modem properly.

As soon as PCBoard detects a ring coming in from the modem, it will countdown from the number that you enter in this field to 0. If PCBoard reaches 0 without being able to determine that a connection has been established, it will recycle and wait for the next call. Normally a good value to set for this field is between 30 and 45 seconds to catch all connections.

Standard PCBoard software supplies only one type of comm driver and that is Asynchronous. If you have the standard PCBoard software, you should enter A in this field. If you attempt to enter any other answer, PCBoard will not operate properly.

If you have the multiport version of PCBoard (sometimes referred to as the /M version), you can select any of the comm drivers to use. The following describes each comm driver:

Enter the number of the comm port to be used by PCBoard. If you enter a comm port of 0, no modem will be used by PCBoard and local logins will be used for all calls.

If you have configured PCBoard to use the async comm driver, the numbers 1 and 2 correspond to COM1 and COM2 in your machine. Any number higher than 2 will require that you supply a base address and IRQ value to define the port. If you enter a port higher than 2, your hardware must be configured for whatever values you enter for the base address and IRQ. If they do not, PCBoard will either refuse to load, or will not be able to properly communicate with your comm port. Refer to the Troubleshooting section of the PCBoard chapter for additional details.

If you have configured PCBoard to use COMM-DRV, enter the corresponding port number that you defined in DRVSETUP. For example, if you want to use the port 2 defined in this sample DRVSETUP

enter 2 in the comm port field because that is what is defined as the port number in DRVSETUP.

If you selected the FOSSIL comm driver instead, enter the port number as it is defined in your external communications driver that provides the FOSSIL interface.

In this field, enter the speed you wish for PCBoard to initially open your serial port. Normally you will want to set this to the maximum port rate speed that your modem supports. The valid options are 300, 1200, 2400, 4800, 9600, 19200, 38400, 57600, and 115200.

Sometimes, your modem may be able to support a faster port rate speed then your serial and computer hardware may be able to keep up with. If this is the case, you will experience data loss (some bytes will be lost when transferred). To resolve this, you can lower the opening port rate speed or upgrade your computer hardware.

NOTE: If you enter an opening port rate speed of 19200 or higher, PCBoard will force the port speed to be locked regardless of how you have set the Lock in Opening Baud Rate.

A locked port speed tells the modem to communicate at the rate you entered for the opening port speed. When the communications port is not locked, PCBoard will always communicate at the same speed as the caller is connected at.

A locked port rate will have no effect unless you are using a modem that is capable of error-correction (e.g., V.42, MNP) and an error-correction connection is established. With an error-correcting connection, the actual throughput of all data transferred can be increased by up to 20% because the start and stop bits are stripped out. In addition, most error-correcting modems also support data compression of ASCII text (such as display screens) very well.

If you enable this option, you need to be sure that your modem is also configured to expect a locked port rate (sometimes referred as a fixed DTE speed or a fixed DTE link). If both the software and hardware are not configured to communicate at a locked port rate, you will see garbage characters on the remote screen when calling in.

This field contains the initializing string that PCBoard should send to the modem when it first loads and whenever it recycles to the call-waiting screen. The string that you enter in this field will vary between modems because most modems have different command sets and default values. The best thing to do is to use PCBModem to properly configure your modem for use with PCBoard. Instructions for PCBModem can be found in the Utilities chapter of this manual. If your modem is not listed in PCBModem, contact the technical support staff to get your modem configured properly with PCBoard.

There are two special characters that you can use in your initialization string to simulate a carriage return (pressing R) and to incorporate a brief pause in your initialization string.

If you enter these two characters in your initialization string, PCBoard will send a carriage return and continue sending the rest of the initialization string. Some modems have a problem with long initialization strings. Use the carriage returns to break up a long initialization string.

For example:

ATM0^MATH0^MATS0=0

would send the following to your modem:

ATM0 ENTER
ATH0 ENTER
ATS0=0 

If you enter this character in your initialization string, PCBoard will pause 1/2 of one second every time it encounters this character. This would be useful to manually slow down the speed at which the modem initialization string is sent.

If you run communications programs on the same modem that you use for your system, you need to be careful to restore the modem to all of the proper settings because your communications program has an initialization string as well. One initialization string that you could use would be ATZ^MATM0H0. This string will reset the modem, turn off the speaker, and put the phone line back on hook (if it was off hook). Be forewarned, however, that some modems have a problem with sending ATZ in the initialization string and may report a modem reset error.

An incorrect initialization string that does not generate an OK from the modem will result in PCBoard issuing a modem reset error. If you experience this error, refer to the Troubleshooting section in the PCBoard chapter of this manual for additional instructions.

Sometimes PCBoard will want to take the phone off-hook to make the phone line busy. PCBoard will send the off-hook string that you enter in this field at the following times:

Selecting User - Busy, Sysop - Busy, or DOS-Busy from the call waiting screen.

Enabling the Modem Off-Hook During Recycle will force the phone to be off-hook from the time carrier is dropped until the initialization string is sent.

Recycling the node using the 15 sysop command.

NOTE: Some modems have built in limits as to how long they will stay off-hook. When this time expires, they will go back on hook (allowing your phone to ring). In this type of situation there is nothing that PCBoard can do to keep the phone line busy as this is a built in function of the modem.

CTS/RTS refers to a type of flow control called hardware flow control which restricts or enables the flow of data. When data cannot be received or sent by one side of the connection it will attempt to restrict the flow of data via the hardware flow control signals provided by the RS-232 serial interface. In other words, flow control is necessary to guarantee that modem and computer buffers are not caused to overflow by incoming or outgoing data.

Normally you will want to answer N to this question unless your modem or serial card does not support CTS/RTS flow control. For high speed communications it is essential that you do not disable flow control or you risk losing data over the connection.

NOTE: For high speed communications it is essential that you answer N to this question or risk data loss over the modem.

Valid options for this field are:

While PCBoard is receiving an upload file (via an internal transfer protocol) it will normally shut down the RTS signal while it writes to disk to avoid data loss.

If you are using a FastComm 9600 modem, you should answer Y in this field.

PCBoard has to assume certain aspects about the connection due to the way the FastComm modem operates. If you are not using a FastComm 9600 modem, leave this field set to N.

PCBoard gives you the opportunity to reinitialize the serial port and modems every five minutes while idling at the call waiting screen. This may be beneficial if you experience unexplained modem reset errors. Valid options are:

NOTE: In some modems this can help keep the modem from getting modem reset errors while other modems will instead be more prone to such errors. Experiment with this setting if you are getting modem reset errors during recycles.

After a caller hangs up you can automatically have PCBoard send the standard ATZ to your modem to initialize the power-on defaults of your modem. This might be useful if your modem experiences unexplained modem reset errors.

Valid options for this field are:

NOTE: In some modems this can help keep the modem from getting modem reset errors while other modems will instead be more prone to such errors. Experiment with this setting if you are getting modem reset errors during recycles.

Normally after PCBoard disconnects a caller, it will leave the phone on-hook.

Those callers calling in will get a ring. This is usually desirable because PCBoard recycles very quickly under normal circumstances. At most, callers may get two to three rings before the modem answers the phone. If you wish, you can configure PCBoard to make the phone busy until it is ready for the next caller.

Valid options are:

NOTE: In some modems this can help keep the modem from getting modem reset errors while other modems will instead be more prone to such errors. Experiment with this setting if you are getting errors during recycles.

Some modems can get confused if you attempt to recycle the system too quickly resulting in modem reset errors. Setting a value of 1 or higher can help slow down the recycle process and give your modem more time to be reset without experiencing a modem reset error.

In addition, this value can be used to 'tune' the speed with which PCBoard recycles. On buffered modems, a higher setting will insure that all data gets transmitted. If your remote callers are not receiving all of the information before carrier is dropped, try increasing the value entered in this field.

If you are running in any kind of environment where PCBoard is directly connected to a cable and not directly connected to a modem (e.g., a PAD, packet-switch network, X.25) you need to inform PCBoard via this field.

Valid options are:

NOTE: It is important that the CTS/RTS, RD/SD and CD/DTR signals be wired properly if you select Y for this field.

When the Carrier Detect (CD) signal goes out, it generally indicates that the connection has been broken and that the caller has disconnected. However, some modems will drop the CD signal while auto-bauding (changing baud rates) in search of a more efficient speed. This is generally caused by changing line noise conditions.

Valid options for this field are:

When selecting the DOS - Not Busy button on the call waiting screen, this option controls whether the DTR signal is left on or not.

Valid option are:

Normally, PCBoard waits for RING to be sent from the modem and then sends ATA to the modem to answer the phone. This proves to be the most reliable method for answering the phone. If you desire, you can choose to have PCBoard watch the ring detect line as signaled by the serial card.

Valid options are:

This setting allows you to customize the number of times you want the phone to ring before PCBoard tells the modem to pick it up.

For example, you may be in an environment where the phone is normally used for voice calls but at night you want to be able to dial into the system. By setting this value a high number most voice callers will hang up before PCBoard answers the phone.

NOTE: For CallerID detection to work, you must set this number to at least 2 since CallerID is passed in between the 1st and 2nd ring.

After an incoming phone call is detected, there are four possible outcomes. They are:

• The countdown will run to completion without establishing a connection (no handshaking, or handshaking failed to complete)
• A NO CARRIER message will be issued by the modem before the connection is ever completed (aborted handshaking sequence)
• A connection will be established but carrier is lost before the caller logs into the system
• A connection is established and the caller successfully logs into the system

Some of the early 16550 UART chips are buggy. The bug is most often seen when data output gets behind where it should be and only proceeds when typing more characters. If the command prompt is incomplete, but gradually, one character at a time, becomes more complete as you type a command, then you likely have one of the buggy 16550 UARTs.
Valid options for this field are:

NOTE: Setting Force NON-16550A Usage to N will generally make the problem go away, but you lose access to the FIFO buffers. A better solution is to replace the defective UART chip.

Some multi-tasking environments, such as OS/2 or Windows, use device drivers to virtualize the comm port. In the process of doing so, they may hide the 16550A UART, making it appear to be a 16450 UART when accessed by a DOS application.
Valid options for this field are:

PS/2s and other Micro Channel based machines have the ability to share interrupts among different hardware devices. This setting will not work unless the IRQ is being shared with software that is loaded before the multitasker.

Valid options are:

NOTE: Sharing interrupts slows down processing. Therefore, it is recommended that you only use this option when necessary.

The majority of PC communications will communicate at 8,N,1 which refers to 8 data bits, no parity, and 1 stop bit. However, some of your callers may use the less frequently used 7 data bits, even parity and 1 stop bit (7,E,1).

You can set a minimum speed that a caller must have to log into your system.

For example, if you want to let only users who have are able to connect at 1200 or higher then you would enter 1200 in this field. The next three fields on this screen determine if you will allow slower speeds and if so, at what time during the day lower connection speeds will be allowed.

Sometimes you may want to allow callers to connect at a slower speed than the one entered in the Lowest Desired Baud field. PCBoard will give you the ability to let users connect at a slower speed but only during a specific time during the day.

In this field you can specify the beginning time (hhmm format) when users can call in at a slower speed then what is defined by the Lowest Desired Baud field. All times you enter must be done in 24 hour format. If you answered N to the Allow Lower Speeds, the starting and ending times are ignored.

In this field you can specify the ending time (hhmm format) when users can call in at a slower speed then what is defined by the Lowest Desired Baud field. All times you enter must be done in 24 hour format. If you answered N to the Allow Lower Speeds, the starting and ending times are ignored.

If you enter any security level other than 0 in this field, users that have an equal or greater than security level will be able to login to the system regardless of the time of the login. The security level override is valid regardless of the Allow Lower setting.