Net.arcxir

Xircom Pocket Arcnet Adapter II network driver (QNX)

Syntax:

Net.arcxir -n phys_nid [-i irq] [-l log_net_id]
           [-p io_port] [-r media_rate] [-s] [-v] &

Options:

-i irq

Use this interrupt line with the parallel port. By default, interrupts aren't used. The first and second parallel ports are typically associated with interrupts 7 and 5, respectively.

-l log_net_id

("el") Connect to this logical network (default is 1).

-n phys_nid

Program the Xircom adapter to be this physical node ID. You must specify this node ID for the driver to function, and the ID must be unique for the Arcnet network to function.

-p io_port

Use this I/O port base, specified as a hexadecimal number without a leading 0x (default is 378, the address of the first parallel port on most machines). If the default value fails, you can try 278, usually the address of the second parallel port.

If your parallel port is on a TTL monochrome video card, the address may be 3BC.

-r media_rate

Advertise this bit-transmission rate (default is 2500000). The Network Manager (Net) uses this information only when multiple network drivers are running.

-s

Terminate the driver if SIGPWR is set as a result of a shutdown command. By default, the driver doesn't terminate after a shutdown command; this behavior helps ensure an orderly termination of the virtual circuits.

-v

Be verbose: print out hardware info on the console when starting up.

Description:

The Net.arcxir network driver communicates directly with a Xircom Pocket Arcnet Adapter II, which plugs into a parallel port of your computer. The driver provides the Network Manager (Net) with reliable data transfer over an Arcnet network.

You must specify a physical node ID with the -n option since Net.arcxir doesn't use the parameters programmed by Xircom's DOS software.

By default, Net.arcxir assumes that the Xircom adapter is connected to the first parallel port and that interrupts aren't used. The driver conservatively polls the parallel port, which always works.

If your parallel port hardware supports interrupts (and most do, but may not have the jumpers configured to enable them), you can increase performance by specifying the -i option.

Usually the first parallel port drives IRQ 7 and the second parallel port drives IRQ 5, but check your computer's documentation and parallel port hardware's jumper configuration to be certain.

Examples:

Use the first (and probably the only) parallel port; don't use interrupts, and program the adapter to be physical node 1:

    Net.arcxir -n 1 &

Use the first parallel port and IRQ 7 (for better performance), programming the adapter to be physical node 12:

    Net.arcxir -n 12 -i 7 &

Use the second parallel port and polling instead of interrupts; program the adapter to be physical node 3:

    Net.arcxir -n 3 -p 278  &

Use the second parallel port and IRQ 5; program the adapter to be physical node 2:

    Net.arcxir -n 2 -p 278 -i 5 &

Files:

Net.arcxir closes its standard input, standard output and standard error immediately after initialization.

Error messages are displayed via the qnx_display_*() functions, not through standard error.

Signals:

The Net.arcxir driver ignores SIGPWR unless the -s option is specified.

Exit status:

Net.arcxir terminates only upon encountering errors during initialization or upon getting a signal (i.e. being killed).

0

Net.arcxir has shut down successfully and cleanly deregistered from Net.

>0

An error occurred during initialization.

See also:

Net, Net.*, netinfo, shutdown

Installation & Configuration