American Megatrends, Inc.
AMIDebug
™ Rx – User Manual
Copyright ©2017
American Megatrends Inc. ● Public Document
Page 16 of 36
Using AMIDebug Rx VCOM Functionality
USB Virtual COM (VCOM) Terminal
AMIDebug Rx uses a text terminal interface to retrieve stored data and configure the device. This
interface allows flexible configuration options without the need for specialized software. The VCOM
Terminal is enabled when the OPTION SWITCH is set to checkpoint mode (RIGHT position).
The VCOM Terminal user interface works with terminal programs such as
Ayera TeraTerm
and
Microsoft HyperTerminal. AMI recommends using
Ayera TeraTerm
for any of the VCOM functionality
that uses XMODEM
4
transfers.
VCOM allows AMIDebug Rx users to retrieve stored information such as checkpoint sessions, UEFI
debug strings and checkpoint string files.
Configuring the Device (Microsoft Windows)
AMIDebug Rx uses a
“Silicon Labs CP210x USB to
UART” under Microsoft Windows XP & Vista to map
the device to a COM port address. This driver is
available via Microsoft
Update, so the “Found New
Hardware Wizard” can connect to the Internet and
install the proper driver. If prompted to connect to
Windows Update, use the “Yes, this time only” option
to automatically locate and load the device driver.
The Silicon Labs CP210x USB to UART driver can also be downloaded and installed manually.
The driver can be found in the supplemental files download located here:
https://www.ami.com/download-license-
agreement/?DownloadFile=AMI_Debug_Rx_Supplemental_Files_Version_3.4.1.zip
Once the driver loads, the VCOM port will
appear as a standard COM port under
Microsoft Windows systems. Use the Device
Manager to determine the COM port number
(COM4, COM5, COM6, etc.). The AMIDebug
Rx
VCOM port is associated with the “CP210x
4
Due to differences between the Microsoft HyperTerminal XMODEM implementation and the standard XMODEM
protocol, the AMI
Debug Rx “upload” VCOM command is not compatible with HyperTerminal. Other terminal
programs will support AMIDebug Rx using XMODEM, including Ayera TeraTerm.
