The first step is to change your kernel so that it knows you
have a BocaBoard. Unfortunately, this is not a part of the configure script;
you must go in and modify the source by hand. In the older versions of the
kernel, this consists of putting the following line at the beginning of
linux/drivers/char/serial.c:
As of some kernel version or another, this has changed. To make
it work with newer kernels, search for the
in
serial.c, and change the value to
#define BOCA_FLAGS ASYNC_BOOT_AUTOCONF
|
You can then recompile your kernel using the instructions
included with the source tree. I recommend running the new kernel from a floppy
until you're very sure it works; otherwise, the procedure for getting back your
system is mind-numbing at best.
At least to me, digging into my kernel and re-compiling it was
quite a stressful venture! Relax; as long as you copy it to a floppy, your new
kernel is completely harmless. It won't bite! Honest! :-)
The default address on both the card and the Linux software for
the configuration is 0x100; leave that alone. Set the IRQ on the card to Linux
default of 12. If you want to change the IRQ, you will have to search for
"BOCA_FLAGS" in the file. You will find lines like this:
{ BASE_BAUD, 0x100, 12, BOCA_FLAGS }, /* ttyS16
*/
{ BASE_BAUD, 0x108, 12, BOCA_FLAGS }, /* ttyS17
*/ |
You can change the IRQ from 12 by changing the 12 to any valid
IRQ. I have not tried this, however.
Once you have compiled your new kernel, switch off the machine
and install the card. Then, turn your machine on with the new kernel floppy in
the drive. If the installation succeeded, you should see all sorts of strange
stuff about 16550 UARTS being connected to ttyS16-ttyS32. The system will then
come up normally.
The odds are pretty good that you don't actually have entries in
/dev for those lines. Remember that they start at 16 and go on to 32. If you
look at the source code, you'll see why; support for other cards is included in
the code for lower line numbers. Creating them is pretty simple, once you know
the trick.
To create entries for dial-out lines (where you call out), type:
n = 64 + {line number}. The C indicates that this is a character
mode device. For example, to create the first couple of lines on your board,
type:
#mknod /dev/cua16 c 4 80
#mknod /dev/cua17 c 4 81 |
To create dial-in lines (where users call you), type:
where N is the same as described above. For example, to create
the first couple of lines on your BocaBoard, type:
#mknod /dev/ttyS16 c 5 80
#mknod /dev/ttyS17 c 5 81 |
It is recommended that you create both dial in and dial out
lines for each port, so that you have maximum flexibility. It turns out to be
very handy to call another line of your system by activating one of your lines
as dial-out and calling your main number. I've done this already and it works
great! It's most useful for checking how things look "on the other side of the
fence"; I used it to find out how my software looked at 2400bps. (It's slower
than the Linux console. A LOT slower, in fact).
Once you've finished with this, you can add entries to your
inittab file in the same way as you would for a standard ttySx entry, and the
modems or terminals should come up!
