
                           ͵ Help Document #5 ͻ
                   TOPIC: RoboBOARD/FX & DigiBOARD        
                     FOR: RoboBOARD/FX 1.00               
                   REVISED: October 26th, 1993. (Rel #1)    
                                                                        
                 ĺ
                                                      
                  Ordering/Info: 1(819)682-9737 9am-5pm EST 
                  Tech Support: 1(819)682-6670 9am-5pm EST 
                              FAX: 1(819)685-0994             
                             BBS: 1(819)682-7771 (4 lines)   
                                                      
                           ͼ
 
               Copyright (c) 1993, Hamilton TeleGraphics Inc.
      RoboBOARD and TEL-FX are trademarks of Hamilton TeleGraphics Inc.


ͻ
 PREFACE 
ͼ

  Welcome to the RoboBOARD technical notes. These notes are provided
  for your benefit to help you trouble shoot your problems and provide 
  you with a broader understanding of RoboBOARD/FX. 

  This document as well as others written by HTG are revised regularly. 
  If you do not find a solution to your problem in this document, call 
  the RoboBOARD WORLD HQ BBS and check for a newer version, or call us 
  on our Tech line at 819-682-6670.
  
  All RoboBOARD/FX Technical notes are dated and given a release number
  to aid you in your quest for current information.
    
ͻ
 About The DigiBOARD 
ͼ

   Installing a DigiBOARD with RoboBOARD/FX is fairly easy, however it 
   requires that you follow a few simple steps. The main focus of this
   particular Document is the DigiBOARD PC/8i. However other boards have
   very similar installation the PC/8i has a large 64k addressing space
   WE MUST think about.
   
   This document briefly covers these steps and shows some sample screen
   captures from the DigiBOARD XIDOSCFG program to help you through your
   installation.

   Most if not all of the information contained in this text file can be
   found (along with other helpful information) in your DigiBOARD manuals.
   These manuals should be kept at hand.

ͻ
 Installing the DigiBOARD 
ͼ

   There are a few things that should be done when installing your  
   DigiBOARD. First you should find a nice open slot toward the outside
   of your case. This will prevent air from being blocked from other cards 
   due to the massive size of the DigiBOARD PC/8i.

   The first thing to do is convert your PC/8i DigiBOARD from a 128K
   board to a 64K board. This sounds like a loss, however it is an
   impossibility for a Dos machine to address this much memory. However
   we can usually address 64K without problems. DigiBOARD has also
   found ways to do this same process in just 8K of memory, but this
   is not available in all cards yet.

   To convert to a 64K window you must have pins 2 & 3 of JUMPER J2
   bridged, and Jumpers 2 & 3 of JUMPER J3 bridged.

   The next thing to do is set DIP SWITCH bank 1 (or DS1 in you DigiBOARD
   manual). First lets set switches 1-8, which configure the memory
   segment your DigiBOARD will use. This is very important that nothing
   else use this segment (for more info consult DigiBOARD's manual or
   tech support). We suggest setting this address to D000, this is usually
   free. If you are using QEMM386 or EMM386 (and likely you are) you will
   have to add:

       X=D000-DFFF

   to the command line in your CONFIG.SYS. Re-Run OPTIMIZE or MEMMAKER to
   account for this change. You will also have to select an I/O address
   we suggest the default at 200h, this is usually very sufficient. The
   following examples show the settings for dips 1-8 (segment selection) 
   and 9-11 (I/O address):

         ͵DS1 (SW 1-8)ͻ  ͵DS1 (SW 9-11)ͻ
                                                             
          Ŀ    Ŀ 
          ߳ܳ߳߳ܳܳܳܳ    ߳߳ܳ 
               
           1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A B      1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A B  
                                                             
           Set the memory segment     Set I/O port address   
           to D000                    to 200h                
         ͼ  ͼ
   
   Next select an open interupt for your DigiBOARD PC/8i. Usually 5
   is a good choice because it is usually unused and is closest to
   interupt 0 (therefor faster). Here is a list of common Interupt
   uses on most PC computers:

          IRQ  0  - System Time
          IRQ  1  - Keyboard
          IRQ  2  - Cascades to IRQ 9 on most PC's (may be open).
          IRQ  3  - COM2/COM4 handler
          IRQ  4  - COM1/COM3 handler
          IRQ  5  - LPT2 (likely doesn't exist and is Free)
          IRQ  6  - Floppy Disk
          IRQ  7  - LPT1 (May exist or be a Sound Card).
          IRQ  8  - Real-Time Clock
          IRQ  9  - Redirect from IRQ 2
          IRQ 10  - Reserved * in other words free to play with
          IRQ 11  - Reserved * likely open.
          IRQ 12  - Reserved * likely open.
          IRQ 13  - Math Co-pro * Only on machines with Co-Pro.
          IRQ 14  - HD controller
          IRQ 15  - Reserved * likely open.
         
   After you have selected an IRQ we must set it on the DigiBOARD. You
   can set the IRQ using DIP SWITCH bank 2 (or DS2 in the DigiBOARD
   manual). The following example shows the setting for IRQ 5:

                             ͵DS2ͻ
                                                
                              Ŀ 
                              ߳߳ܳ߳߳߳߳߳ 
                               
                               1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8  
                                                
                               Select IRQ 5     
                             ͼ

ͻ
 Main XIDOS Config 
ͼ

   This screen shot is from the main XIDOSCFG screen, on it you can see
   the settings for a DigiBOARD configured as suggested above, if you have
   problems making these changes yourself, please consult the DigiBOARD
   manuals or DigiBOARD technical support:


                   DigiCHANNEL CONFIGURATION PARAMETERS

   Board  Type  Window  Memory     I/O     IRQ    # Brd    Start   Driver
     #           Size   Window     Port     #     Chnls    Chnl#   Support
 
     1   PC/Xi    64k   D0000h     0200     5        8       1      EBIOS
 

Configuration Selections :                                  Use Arrow Keys  
Q)uit   C)hannel Parameters   O)ptions   A)dd Board   R)emove Board

Enter Selection :

ͻ
 Channel Parameters (Port Settings) 
ͼ

   The following shows the port options for a DigiBOARD PC/8i set up for
   8 14400bps modems. Notice the flow control. Setting Baud to 19200 will
   barely effect modem throughput and may be suggested.


                             BOARD 1 PARAMETERS
            CHANL     BAUD    MODE      RX FLOW          TX FLOW
        
              1      38400    8,N,1     RTS/DTR          DSR/CTS
              2      38400    8,N,1     RTS/DTR          DSR/CTS
              3      38400    8,N,1     RTS/DTR          DSR/CTS
              4      38400    8,N,1     RTS/DTR          DSR/CTS
              5      38400    8,N,1     RTS/DTR          DSR/CTS
              6      38400    8,N,1     RTS/DTR          DSR/CTS
              7      38400    8,N,1     RTS/DTR          DSR/CTS
              8      38400    8,N,1     RTS/DTR          DSR/CTS

Q)uit   S)et All                                      Use Arrow Keys    
Select Parameter :

ͻ
 Channel Parameters (Flag Settings) 
ͼ

   Make sure the Character ready flags are on:


Board 1 Character Ready Flag Status


      Chnl  1 : Enabled         Chnl  2 : Enabled
      Chnl  3 : Enabled         Chnl  4 : Enabled
      Chnl  5 : Enabled         Chnl  6 : Enabled
      Chnl  7 : Enabled         Chnl  8 : Enabled


Change :

  T)oggle One Channel   E)nable All Channels   D)isable All Channels   Q)uit

Enter Selection :

ͻ
 Closing 
ͼ

   This should get you started with your DigiBOARD PC/8i or other DigiBOARD
   products. RoboBOARD/FX has been tested with the PC/8i and PC/2i series
   DigiBOARDs. In both cases the Boards and RoboBOARD/FX ran flawlessly and
   excellently.
