5.1 Command Line Options
The QSP-200/300 Client Driver for OS/2 supports two methods of configuration: using "system assigned" resources and using "user assigned" resources. Both options provide full PCMCIA compliance and functionality (including "Hot-swapping") but each has some advantages and disadvantages as discussed in the following sections.
5.1.1 Configuring With "System Assigned" Resources
Allowing the OS/2 Plug-and-Play system to assign the hardware resources to the QSP-200/300 is the ideal choice when only OS/2 programs will access the serial ports. When configuring the hardware, the user simply specifies a list of COM port numbers. When a QSP-200/300 is inserted into a PCMCIA socket, the client driver will configure the card as a series of COM ports, starting with the lowest available port number in the list.
Configuring a QSP-200/300 with system assigned resources can be a problem, however, if DOS and/or Windows applications will be accessing the serial ports. This is because most DOS applications write directly to the communications hardware and the Windows' Control Panel also wants to know the hardware configuration of the serial ports. In these cases, the user may want to configure the QSP-200/300 with "user assigned" resources.
Example 1
DEVICE=C:\QSP-200\QSP200.SYS COM3
In example 1, the Client Driver will attempt to configure the QSP-200/300 as COM3 through COM6. If COM3, 4, 5, or 6 already exists in the system, the QSP-200/300 will not be configured. Furthermore, only one QSP-200/300 can be installed in this system.
Example 2
DEVICE=C:\QSP-200\QSP200.SYS COM7 COM3
In example 2, the Client Driver will attempt to configure the QSP-200/300 as COM3 through COM6. If COM3, 4, 5, or 6 already exists in the system, the Client Driver will attempt to configure the QSP-200/300 as COM7 through COM10. If COM7, 8, 9, or 10 already exist in the system, the QSP-200/300 will not be configured. Up to two QSP-200/300s can be installed in this system.
