Compaq 281862-002 manual Cable Requirement, Communication Requirements, 2Direct Connections

7-2Direct Connections

Cable Requirement

For proper communication, IRC requires a null-modem cable with a complete set of modem control signals. The exact wiring diagram for this cable is shown in Appendix B. Cables are occasionally labeled as “null-modem” which do not conform to this diagram. Check with your cable vendor to ensure that the cable meets the requirements shown in Appendix B. Cables that differ from this specification may not function correctly.

Communication Requirements

For proper operation, both IRC and the terminal must be configured and operate compatibly. The following communication attributes are important for proper out-of-band access:

■Managed Server Serial Port Configuration — For a direct-connect configuration, one of the server’s integrated serial ports is used as the communication device. Verify that the desired port is enabled and configured correctly. See “Configuring an external modem or direct connection” in Chapter 2 for more details. One suggested configuration is using integrated serial port B configured as COM2, IRQ3.

■IRC Configuration — Make sure you have configured IRC’s communication device as direct connect. Also ensure that the COM port and interrupt settings match the serial port selected above. In direct- connect configurations, it is recommended that the serial port sharing options be set to dedicated, making the selected serial port into a dedicated out-of-band management port. Configure and note the baud rate and communication settings, as the terminal needs to mirror these settings to gain access.

■Terminal Communication Settings — Configure the terminal to match to communication settings specified for IRC. This includes the communication baud rate, number of data bits, whether a 7-bit parity mode is selected, and the number of stop bits. If the terminal is not configured correctly, you can not obtain a login prompt from IRC.

■ Flow Control — Configure the terminal for hardware flow control. An improper flow control setting could result in the loss of characters, causing the terminal to display incomplete or garbled information, especially during peak video activity.