Are mouse/keyboard on COM1? (vjp2)

  • Thread starter Vasos Panagiotopoulos
  • Start date
V

Vasos Panagiotopoulos

On a 1995 GW2K p5-75, I had the modem on COM4 for ten years, I never
really used the other comm ports. I somehow had the impression the ps/
2 were COM1. (Doesn't make total sence, I know) I think I only could
find the COM2 connection, that's why I thought this.

Ok, why now? Because I realised the reason W98 (dual boot with win3.11/
DOS6.22) never saw the SCM Smart Card
I was able to use from DOS was becaus eof IRQ. I played with IRQ and I
lost the com4 modem. Restart to pure DOS and the modem is fine. But
I've also never been able to connect a Palm pilot to COM2, nor a
camera. No, wait, I did once connect another (horrible) camera to
Win98 but I hadn't told Win98 about the PCMCIA reader yet and as best
I recall I used this port. I will try to run Kermit (term emulator) on
COM2 in a few hours to se eif it talks to the Palm Pilot.

Any other suggestions?
 
T

Tim Slattery

Vasos Panagiotopoulos <vasjpan2@gmail.com> wrote:

>On a 1995 GW2K p5-75, I had the modem on COM4 for ten years, I never
>really used the other comm ports. I somehow had the impression the ps/
>2 were COM1. (Doesn't make total sence, I know) I think I only could
>find the COM2 connection, that's why I thought this.
>
>Ok, why now? Because I realised the reason W98 (dual boot with win3.11/
>DOS6.22) never saw the SCM Smart Card
>I was able to use from DOS was becaus eof IRQ. I played with IRQ and I
>lost the com4 modem. Restart to pure DOS and the modem is fine. But
>I've also never been able to connect a Palm pilot to COM2, nor a
>camera.

It's been a long time, but I remember that you cannot use COM2 and
COM4 at the same time. (The same holds for COM1 and COM3). The reason
is that COM2 and COM4 both use IRQ4, and COM1 and COM3 both use IRQ3.
So if your modem is on COM4 you are not going to be able to put
anything else on COM2.

Thank God for USB!!

--
Tim Slattery
MS MVP(Shell/User)
Slattery_T@bls.gov
http://members.cox.net/slatteryt
 
M

MEB

"Tim Slattery" <Slattery_T@bls.gov> wrote in message
news:8ikrj3l8copep28o1ce7bl4d99otfko7ia@4ax.com...
| Vasos Panagiotopoulos <vasjpan2@gmail.com> wrote:
|
| >On a 1995 GW2K p5-75, I had the modem on COM4 for ten years, I never
| >really used the other comm ports. I somehow had the impression the ps/
| >2 were COM1. (Doesn't make total sence, I know) I think I only could
| >find the COM2 connection, that's why I thought this.
| >
| >Ok, why now? Because I realised the reason W98 (dual boot with win3.11/
| >DOS6.22) never saw the SCM Smart Card
| >I was able to use from DOS was becaus eof IRQ. I played with IRQ and I
| >lost the com4 modem. Restart to pure DOS and the modem is fine. But
| >I've also never been able to connect a Palm pilot to COM2, nor a
| >camera.
|
| It's been a long time, but I remember that you cannot use COM2 and
| COM4 at the same time. (The same holds for COM1 and COM3). The reason
| is that COM2 and COM4 both use IRQ4, and COM1 and COM3 both use IRQ3.
| So if your modem is on COM4 you are not going to be able to put
| anything else on COM2.
|
| Thank God for USB!!
|
| --
| Tim Slattery
| MS MVP(Shell/User)
| Slattery_T@bls.gov
| http://members.cox.net/slatteryt

Tim is correct as far as the statement goes, however, even in DOS there
were ways to allow sharing of IRQs or changing of Irqs/ports, though
generally via a TSR or an environment modification program. Some more
successful than others. Comsetr, Comsw, Dosports, Fix16550, are some of the
programs that come to mind.
If the BIOS was capable of reassigning ports, addresses and Irqs, then that
was the preferred method.

The PS2 IRQ and address is nowhere near those generally used for COM Ports,
and is also generally reserved for that usage whether actually used or not.

Potentially, you may have lost your modem usage in 9X because the software
for the modem needs to be reset to the proper Port, IRQ, and address. Often,
when using older programs, that may have required uninstalling then
re-installing the software and/or driver, OR, if possible via the Control
Panel > Device Manager > Modem > Settings > Resources > and changing from
there AND Control Panel > Ports > Com [whatever] > Resources > reset to the
proper IRQ and address, though it also seemed that if you wished the Com
Port change to "stick" in the registry, it was best to just remove the ports
and let Windows re-install them properly.
One more aspect, was that some of those older programs would install
themselves [actually their settings] in the Win.ini and/or System.ini files,
which would need changed either manually, or via the software itself.

Another aspect, particularly when using USR/3Com modems, was that these
generally take control of a Port but reassign that port within the software
and registry. To correct them, DID require uninstalling, using the proper
cleanup tool [from USR/3Com], and re-installing.
Several other modems also required this same
de-installation/re-installation to work properly.
After this re-installation, one would need to re-detect the modems in such
programs as fax programs, and other like communications progs.

One of the supposed enhancements in 98SE verses plain 98 and in particular
95, was the purported ability to better handle Irqs and addressing. However,
when using older modems and software, one still needed to separate the Ports
[not shared] if one expected to have relatively stable usage.

--
MEB
http://peoplescounsel.orgfree.com
________
 
F

Franc Zabkar

On Fri, 16 Nov 2007 12:29:04 -0500, Tim Slattery <Slattery_T@bls.gov>
put finger to keyboard and composed:

>Vasos Panagiotopoulos <vasjpan2@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>>On a 1995 GW2K p5-75, I had the modem on COM4 for ten years, I never
>>really used the other comm ports. I somehow had the impression the ps/
>>2 were COM1. (Doesn't make total sence, I know) I think I only could
>>find the COM2 connection, that's why I thought this.
>>
>>Ok, why now? Because I realised the reason W98 (dual boot with win3.11/
>>DOS6.22) never saw the SCM Smart Card
>>I was able to use from DOS was becaus eof IRQ. I played with IRQ and I
>>lost the com4 modem. Restart to pure DOS and the modem is fine. But
>>I've also never been able to connect a Palm pilot to COM2, nor a
>>camera.
>
>It's been a long time, but I remember that you cannot use COM2 and
>COM4 at the same time. (The same holds for COM1 and COM3). The reason
>is that COM2 and COM4 both use IRQ4, and COM1 and COM3 both use IRQ3.
>So if your modem is on COM4 you are not going to be able to put
>anything else on COM2.
>
>Thank God for USB!!

I have an internal hardware modem on COM2/IRQ9 and a motherboard
serial port on COM4/IRQ3. Both COM ports are "real", not "virtual", ie
they both show up in Device Manager under Ports (COM & LPT) and both
can be accessed in real DOS mode.

- Franc Zabkar
--
Please remove one 'i' from my address when replying by email.
 
V

Vasos Panagiotopoulos

Thanks to all. If I recall when I got the SCM PCMCIA reader I used
some sort of utility to
comment on and off the relevant parts of autoexec and config. I am
suspecting I need to just live with
DOS access to pCMCIA and disable it from Win98 entirely. I've bene
trying to use this COM2
port for Palm Pilot for several years and at least the mystery seems
solved.
(I have to actually do it to be sure,tho). Many thanks.
 
V

vjp2.at@at.BioStrategist.dot.dot.com

Well, one problem was it was COM1 not COM2 and I may not even have a COM2.

I used a treminal emulator (Kermit) to look at each port and the one
responding to the Pilot was COM1. THen I ran the Pilot software form
Win3 fine. But My modem access in W98 died. I then went back and
reinstalled my SCM/PCMCIA by windows defaults, and setting "Basic
Configuration 0" on SCM, PCMCIA ***AND*** Modem settings, and I got my
modem back. But I'm getting my NetZero install is "corrupted:. I seem
to recall the last time windows told me something was corrupted, it
was really some thing else wa slocked out or set wrong. But i don't recall.


- = -
Vasos Panagiotopoulos, Columbia'81+, Reagan, Mozart, Pindus, BioStrategist
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/vjp2/vasos.htm
---{Nothing herein constitutes advice. Everything fully disclaimed.}---
[Homeland Security means private firearms not lazy obstructive guards]
[Urb sprawl confounds terror] [Remorse begets zeal] [Windows is for Bimbos]
 
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