UARTMON.EXE 
 
                           Version 1.2 
                          Feb. 18, 1991 
 
                For monitoring installed serial ports. 
 
               Copyright 1991  Unitech Associates, Inc. 
                           P.O. Box 566 
                      Newark, Delaware 19715 
 
 
AUTHOR: Dale S. Hoover (CIS 73300,3712)

 
DESCRIPTION: 
 
    This program is designed to monitor the UARTS associated with
    serial ports ( COM1-COM4 ).  It is intended to be use simultaneous
    with an application using the UART.  It should not interfere in the
    monitoring mode although the menus allow the end user to change the
    baud rate, data_bits, stop_bits, and parity.  Certain combinations 
    of data_bits, stop_bits, and parity are not valid and are inhibited
    in the menus.  Because the intended use is to monitor the serial port
    the serial ports are not opened and the interrupts of are not 
    modified, tested, or chained.  If no application is using the UART
    then the monitor will not reflect valid information ( i.e. the UART 
    needs to be initialized by an application other than the monitor. )

PRINCIPLE:

    In the BIOS DATA AREA of system memory there is a list of serial
    port addresses in the 4 words beginning at 0000:0400.  Most systems
    use the default 3F8 for COM1 and 2F8 for COM2.  There is no
    standard for COM3 and COM4, so you need to make sure the BIOS
    DATA AREA correctly reflects the right addresses for COM3 and
    COM4 if your machine has these ports.  Windows uses default
    addresses as listsed below but these can be altered using the
    COMxBase=XXXh directive in the SYSTEM.INI file. ( see SYSINI2.TXT
    in you {WINDOWS} directory).
              
    Default Windows 3.0 :           Changed using :

           COM1=3F8h                COM1Base = xxxh;
           COM2=2F8h                COM2Base = xxxh;
           COM3=2E8h                COM3Base = xxxh;
           COM4=2E0h                COM4Base = xxxh;

    If you encounter any problems with accessing serial ports it would
    be a good idea to verify the addresses stored in the BIOS DATA AREA.
    This can be accomplished using the "Ports" menu.  There is an option
    IO_Address which shows the IO_Address as determined from WINDOWS
    default setting or values that are read from the BIOS.  If a COMx 
    address shows "default" as the source then the BIOS does not know 
    the address.  It is still possible that software (including WINDOWS 
    APPS...) can function if it is written to bypass the BIOS DATA AREA 
    values for the UART IO address.  If a COMx address shows the source 
    as bios then the value for that port was determined from a read of
    the BIOS DATA AREA.

    Once the IO address is known for a given UART it is a simple task
    to investigate the UART registers to determine the status of the
    various RS232 lines.  The monitor gets a WM_TIMER message every
    200 msecs and update the screen with any changes in the UART
    status.  

    As a utility this can be very useful when first connecting
    a new serial device.  Basically this is a WINDOWS "BREAKOUT Box".

HOW TO USE THE PROGRAM:

    Just run it and read the results.  

DISTRIBUTION: 
 
    UARTMON.EXE and this document are provided free by Unitech
    Associates, Inc., Newark, Delaware.  They may be copied and
    distributed provided no money is charged for them and they are 
    not modified.  Although the program has been extensively tested,
    Unitech Associates, Inc. provides no warranty concerning its
    usefulness on all systems and UA, Inc. accepts no responsibility
    or liability for any mishap resulting from its use.


Questions or comments can be answered by :


    Dale S. Hoover ( CompuServe ID #73300,3712 )

    or at :

         Dale S. Hoover
         Vice President
         Unitech Associates, Inc.
         P.O. Box 566
         Newark, DE   19715