DOC HOME SITE MAP MAN PAGES GNU INFO SEARCH PRINT BOOK
 
Configuring serial ports

Configuring serial ports

A serial port must be configured before you set up a serial device (such as a modem or printer) for your computer. It provides a pathway for serial data to pass between your computer and a serial device. A serial port can be used for a variety of purposes, such as connecting modems and login terminals to the computer, attaching printers and mice, or forming a serial network over UUCP with other computers.

In SCO® UnixWare® there are four serial ports:

More information can be found in ``Serial device node naming conventions''.

Each serial port must be configured correctly, connected to the device with which it is to communicate, and the driver must also be configured. The driver sends data to the serial port by writing a character at a time to the serial port's buffer. The port receives the character, converts it into a signal which can be passed along a serial cable, and sends it to the receiving device. See asyc(7) for information on the serial driver in UnixWare.

The ports (on most computers and terminals) have a DTE (Data Terminal Equipment) configuration. The serial ports on most modems are configured as DCE (Data Circuit-terminating Equipment). The COM1 and COM2 ports are DTE.

A serial board may contain several serial ports and may come with its own driver (an intelligent board). A board may either be plugged into an expansion slot on the motherboard of your computer, or built into the motherboard itself.


NOTE: No dumb serial boards are currently supported in UnixWare unless the board duplicates the standard COM ports.

Serial boards are configured using the Device Configuration Utility. The IRQ and I/O address parameters can be configured. See ``UARTs'' for more information.

This topic provides a brief introduction to those aspects of serial communications which can be configured using the Serial Manager. It then shows you how to use the Serial Manager to configure serial ports.


© 2004 The SCO Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
UnixWare 7 Release 7.1.4 - 22 April 2004