Subject: Serial Port Misery
To: Stefan Arentz <arentz@aladdin.rotterdam.luna.net>
From: David Gilbert <dgilbert@jaywon.pci.on.ca>
List: port-sparc
Date: 03/29/1996 20:22:05
>>>>> "Stefan" == Stefan Arentz <arentz@aladdin.rotterdam.luna.net> writes:

Stefan> Hi, I'm still having problems with the serial ports on my
Stefan> Sparc 1. Connected a Macintosh as a terminal, which works fine
Stefan> on our other Sparc stations.

Stefan> The problem is strange, when I try to use tip to configure the
Stefan> modem, both the Rx and Tx leds are flashing and won't stop
Stefan> until I power cycle the modem.

	I had this happen before.  My solution was to turn off echo on
the modem.  While some getty's (like the one with Hylafax) can handle
a modem inteligently, the stock getty on UNIX expects the modem to be
silent, responding only to DTR and asserting CD for a connection.
With my Sun4/260, the modem could 'chatter' with the system fast
enough to lock it up if I didn't prevent it by turning off the echo.

Stefan> A few days back I also had the strange phenomona of modem leds
Stefan> flashing when my disk was active. That seems to went away when
Stefan> I compiled a new kernel, but it may have something to do with
Stefan> my current problems.

	I havn't seen this problem.  However, when the system actually
gets disk access, it might slow down the chattering 'as if' it were
flashing with the disk...

Dave.

-- 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
|David Gilbert, PCI, Richmond Hill, Ontario.  | Two things can only be     |
|Mail:      dgilbert@jaywon.pci.on.ca         |  equal if and only if they |
|http://www.pci.on.ca/~dgilbert               |   are precisely opposite.  |
---------------------------------------------------------GLO----------------