Net.arcxir

Xircom Pocket Arcnet Adapter II network driver (QNX)

Syntax:

Net.arcxir -n phys_nid [-i irq] [-l log_net_id]
           [-p io_port] [-r media_rate] [-s] [-v] &

Options:

-i irq: Use this interrupt line with the parallel port. By default, interrupts aren't used. The first and second parallel ports are typically associated with interrupts 7 and 5, respectively.
-l log_net_id: ("el") Connect to this logical network (default is 1).
-n phys_nid: Program the Xircom adapter to be this physical node ID. You must specify this node ID for the driver to function, and the ID must be unique for the Arcnet network to function.
-p io_port: Use this I/O port base (default is 0x378, the address of the first parallel port on most machines). If the default value fails, you can try 0x278, usually the address of the second parallel port.
If your parallel port is on a TTL monochrome video card, the address may be 0x3BC.
-r media_rate: Advertise this bit-transmission rate (default is 2500000). The Network Manager (Net) uses this information only when multiple network drivers are running.
-s: Terminate the driver if SIGPWR is set as a result of a shutdown command. By default, the driver doesn't terminate after a shutdown command; this behavior helps ensure an orderly termination of the virtual circuits.
-v: Be verbose: print out hardware info on the console when starting up.

Examples:

Use the first (and probably the only) parallel port; don't use interrupts:

    Net.arcxir &

Use the first parallel port and IRQ 7 (for better performance):

    Net.arcxir -i 7 &

Use the second parallel port; interrupts don't work, so use polling:

    Net.arcxir -p 278  &

Use the second parallel port and IRQ 5:

    Net.arcxir -p 278 -i 5 &

Description:

The Net.arcxir network driver communicates directly with a Xircom Pocket Arcnet Adapter II, which plugs into a parallel port of your computer. The driver provides the Network Manager (Net) with reliable data transfer over an Arcnet network.

By default, Net.arcxir assumes that the Xircom adapter is connected to the first parallel port and that interrupts aren't used. The driver conservatively polls the parallel port, which always works.

If your parallel port hardware supports interrupts (and most do), you can increase performance by specifying the -i option.

The Rundos DOS emulation package reduces the polling frequency of Net.arcxir and thus reduces the driver's network transfer rate. If you're running Rundos, you should specify the -i option.

Usually the first parallel port drives IRQ 7 and the second parallel port drives IRQ 5, but check your computer's documentation and configuration to be certain.

You must specify a physical node ID with the -n option since Net.arcxir doesn't use the parameters programmed by Xircom's DOS software.

To install:	You should:
multiple network cards in one machine	specify a unique logical network ID with the `-l` option to every network driver
multiple Xircom cards in one machine	specify a unique I/O address with the `-p` option to every invocation of `Net.arcxir`

Exit status:

Net.arcxir terminates only upon encountering errors during initialization or opon getting a signal (i.e. being killed).

0: Net.arcxir has shut down successfully and cleanly deregistered from Net.
>0: An error occurred during initialization.

Files:

Net.arcxir closes its standard input, standard output and standard error immediately after initialization.

Error messages are displayed via the qnx_display_*() functions, not through standard error.