5
Using the MPAC-100 with Syncdrive
Syncdrive is a synchronous communications software driver package designed
to aid users of Quatech synchronous communication hardware in the development of
their application software. Syncdrive is included free of charge with all Quatech
MPA-series synchronous communication products. The MPAC-100 is
backward-compatible with software written for Quatech ISA-bus synchronous adapters
and it operates with Syncdrive.
Syncdrive, however, is not aware of the plug-and-play nature of PCI cards. A
Syncdrive application will expect to see the MPAC-100 at a specific base address and a
specific IRQ. When using Syncdrive with PCI cards, it is necessary to obtain the base
address and IRQ assigned to the card by using the QTPCI.EXE software utility
previously discussed.
For DOS, Windows 3.1, or OS/2, QTPCI.EXE must be used to obtain the base
address and IRQ needed by the Syncdrive application before the application tries to
use the card.
Under Windows 95/98, the card is automatically configured. To find the
settings, click the right mouse button on the My Computer icon and select Properties.
Select the Device Manager tab and double-click the card's entry under the "Synchronous
Communication" section. Select the Resources tab to see the card's base address and
IRQ. Use these settings with the Syncdrive application. Windows 95/98 may allow
changes to the settings if the "Use Automatic Settings" box is unchecked.
Syncdrive does not receive notifications of card insertion or card
removal events. Therefore it cannot support hot swapping without the user taking
some kind of action to force the Syncdrive application to initialize a newly-inserted
card.
A future release of Syncdrive may permit automatic configuration by retrieving
hardware settings from the MPAC-100. For now, the user should consider the
QTPCI.EXE program, it reflects the location (base address and IRQ) the card is in before
the Syncdrive application is started.
Quatech MPAC-100 User's Manual
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