Athena IIII User Manual Rev A.00
www.diamondsystems.com
Page
38
Note: Console Redirection only works for text-based interaction. If the OS enables video and starts
using direct video functions (which would be the case with a Linux X-terminal or Windows, for example),
Console Redirection has no effect and video is then required.
10. SYSTEM I/O
10.1
Ethernet
Athena III provides a Gigabit Ethernet port derived from an Intel 82574ITMAC/PHY connected via PCIe from the
Tunnel Creek I/O hub. A gigabit magnetic chip and header complete the circuit.
The Athena III Software CD includes Ethernet drivers for Windows XP, Windows CE, and Linux. The latest
drivers can
also be downloaded from National Semiconductor’s website, listed in the Additional Information
section of this document. (Search for “DP83815” to locate the product folder on the website).
A DOS utility program is provided for testing the chip and accessing the configuration EEPROM. Each board is
factory-configured for a unique MAC address using this program. To run the program, boot the computer to DOS
because the program will not run properly in a DOS window. In normal operation this program is not required.
Additional software support includes a packet driver with software to allow a full TCP/IP implementation.
10.2
Serial Ports
Athena III contains four serial ports. Each port is capable of transmitting at speeds up to 115.2Kbaud. Ports
COM1 and COM2 are built into the standard chipset, which are standard 16550 UARTs with 16-byte FIFOs.
Ports COM3 and COM4 are derived from an Exar 16C2850 dual UART chip and include 128-byte FIFOs. These
ports may be operated at speeds to 1.5Mbaud with installation of high-speed drivers, as a custom option.
The serial ports use the following default system resources.
Port
I/O Address Range
IRQ
COM1
0x3F8 - 0x3FF
4
COM2
0x2F8 - 0x2FF
3
COM3
0x3E8 - 0x3EF
3,4,5,6,9
COM4
0x2E8 - 0x2EF
3,15
The COM1 and COM2 settings may be changed in the system BIOS. Select the
Advanced
menu, followed by
I/O
Device Configuration,
to modify the base address and interrupt level.
The addresses of COM3 and COM4 are fixed. The IRQ settings for COM3 and COM4 are selected using jumper
block J10. COM3 can use IRQ3, IRQ4, IRQ5, IRQ6 or IRQ9, and COM4 can use IRQ3 or IRQ15, as described in
the Board Configuration section of this document.
Note:
Once these jumper selections are made, the user must update the Serial Port IRQ settings to
match these selections. The IRQ settings are NOT auto detected in the same way as the address
settings.