Re: Recommendations for a serial port card you can actually BUY?
On Mon, Oct 09, 2006 at 06:29:43PM -0400, John Baldwin wrote:
On Thursday 05 October 2006 16:21, Karl Denninger wrote:
On Thu, Oct 05, 2006 at 12:08:22PM -0700, Jeremy Chadwick wrote:
On Thu, Oct 05, 2006 at 10:19:25AM -0500, Karl Denninger wrote:
Hi folks;
Ok, one of my pet peeves is coming around to bite me again.
{snip}
I know serial I/O is passe for many, but some of us have applications
that
actually require it, and can't rationally be moved to anything else due
to external hardware considerations.
I saw your first e-mail, but I am puzzled as my one rp(4) card works fine
(granted,
I haven't used it in the past 4-5 months, but it was on a machine running
RELENG_6
and served as the serial console for my test machines that I used almost
daily). I
know of at least one other person for whom rp(4) worked fine on 6.x as I
fixed both
6.x and 5.x to properly handle multiple rp(4) cards in a single box (the
names for
the two cards were clashing in devfs at first).
Have you tried the rp(4) driver from the vendor's website btw? The patch that
ambrisko@ sent you is an attempt to merge in their changes to the driver in
FreeBSD, but it would be good to know if their driver works ok.
The driver on their site shows OBSOLETE as its status, with nothing
current to replace it.
Among the PCI cards only Comtrol appears to be really in the market with
anything current, and driver support in FreeBSD doesn't exist - despite the
claim in the Hardware Notes that its supported, it in fact hasn't worked
properly since 6.0.
IMHO either FreeBSD's team needs to find a fix for these things or take 'em
out of the supported hardware list so that when people go looking they don't
waste time (and potentially quite a bit of money) buying something that
doesn't function.
While you certainly aren't having a good experience, there are
counter-examples,
so I don't think you can claim that the hardware is completely unsupported.
Under 6.x? No.
A serial console does not require that the port actually work properly -
only that it kinda works. Try a fax application, or something that
actually uses VMIN/VTIME, select() and poll(), and you'll get a surprise!
BTW, this is not uncommon among smart board drivers. MANY have had
problems over the years, going back to my days of Xenix, with the concept of
PROPERLY implementing serial I/O.
I have found an apparent solution - a FTDI-chipset-based 8 port USB serial
adapter with deep fifos and claims of full modem control. We'll see once it
gets here whether it behaves or not.
--
--
Karl Denninger ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) Internet Consultant Kids Rights Activist
http://www.denninger.netMy home on the net - links to everything I do!
http://scubaforum.org Your UNCENSORED place to talk about DIVING!
http://genesis3.blogspot.comMusings Of A Sentient Mind
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Re: Recommendations for a serial port card you can actually BUY?
Karl Denninger wrote: What options do I have in the FreeBSD universe here guys? This is a real no-BS production application that has hundreds of deployed instances, and it is in no way obsolete or something I intend to stop supporting. The following has worked fine for me for 3+ years. I usually just go to ebay and search on moxa 8 port and buy some more when I need them. They are PCI based, here's the output from my console server. [EMAIL PROTECTED]:2:0: class=0x070002 card=0x chip=0x01801407 rev=0x00 hdr=0x00 vendor = 'Lava Computer Manufacturing Inc' device = 'Lava Octopus PCI Ports 1-4' class= simple comms subclass = UART [EMAIL PROTECTED]:2:1: class=0x070002 card=0x chip=0x01811407 rev=0x00 hdr=0x00 vendor = 'Lava Computer Manufacturing Inc' device = 'Lava Octopus PCI Ports 5-8' class= simple comms subclass = UART [EMAIL PROTECTED]:4:0: class=0x070080 card=0x chip=0x16801393 rev=0x02 hdr=0x00 vendor = 'Moxa Technologies Co Ltd' device = 'C168H/PCI Smartio' class= simple comms subclass = UART puc0: Lava Computers Octo A port 0xecf8-0xecff,0xece8-0xecef,0xecd8-0xecdf,0xecc8-0xeccf irq 20 at device 2.0 on pci0 puc0: [FAST] uart0: 16550 or compatible on puc0 uart0: [FAST] uart1: 16550 or compatible on puc0 uart1: [FAST] uart2: 16550 or compatible on puc0 uart2: [FAST] uart3: 16550 or compatible on puc0 uart0: [FAST] uart1: 16550 or compatible on puc0 uart1: [FAST] uart2: 16550 or compatible on puc0 uart2: [FAST] uart3: 16550 or compatible on puc0 uart3: [FAST] puc1: Lava Computers Octo B port 0xecf0-0xecf7,0xece0-0xece7,0xecd0-0xecd7,0xecc0-0xecc7 irq 20 at device 2.1 on pci0 puc1: [FAST] uart4: 16550 or compatible on puc1 uart4: [FAST] uart5: 16550 or compatible on puc1 uart5: [FAST] uart6: 16550 or compatible on puc1 uart6: [FAST] uart7: 16550 or compatible on puc1 uart7: [FAST] puc2: Moxa Technologies, C168H/PCI port 0xec00-0xec7f,0xe8c0-0xe8ff,0xecb0-0xecbf irq 17 at device 4.0 on pci0 puc2: [FAST] uart8: 16550 or compatible on puc2 uart8: [FAST] uart9: 16550 or compatible on puc2 uart9: [FAST] uart10: 16550 or compatible on puc2 uart10: [FAST] uart11: 16550 or compatible on puc2 uart11: [FAST] uart12: 16550 or compatible on puc2 uart12: [FAST] uart13: 16550 or compatible on puc2 uart13: [FAST] uart14: 16550 or compatible on puc2 uart14: [FAST] uart15: 16550 or compatible on puc2 uart15: [FAST] -- othermark atkin901 at nospam dot yahoo dot com (!wired)?(coffee++):(wired); ___ freebsd-stable@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-stable To unsubscribe, send any mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Recommendations for a serial port card you can actually BUY?
At 11:48 AM 10/10/2006, othermark wrote: uart0: 16550 or compatible on puc0 uart0: [FAST] uart1: 16550 or compatible on puc0 BTW, why use uart instead of sio ? ---Mike ___ freebsd-stable@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-stable To unsubscribe, send any mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Recommendations for a serial port card you can actually BUY?
othermark wrote: Karl Denninger wrote: What options do I have in the FreeBSD universe here guys? This is a real no-BS production application that has hundreds of deployed instances, and it is in no way obsolete or something I intend to stop supporting. The following has worked fine for me for 3+ years. I usually just go to ebay and search on moxa 8 port and buy some more when I need them. I realize that you may not want ebay'd cards for your production systems. It looks like they still sell pretty much the same card, but with 'das blinkin lights' and are now 3.3v compatible so you can use them in pci-x slots: http://www.moxa.com/product/CP_168U_V2.htm -- othermark atkin901 at nospam dot yahoo dot com (!wired)?(coffee++):(wired); ___ freebsd-stable@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-stable To unsubscribe, send any mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Recommendations for a serial port card you can actually BUY?
Mike Tancsa wrote: At 11:48 AM 10/10/2006, othermark wrote: uart0: 16550 or compatible on puc0 uart0: [FAST] uart1: 16550 or compatible on puc0 BTW, why use uart instead of sio ? because the box runs on -current, which has switched to uart. The box has been running various instances of -current since 5-current however, so the sio driver should still work fine. -- othermark atkin901 at nospam dot yahoo dot com (!wired)?(coffee++):(wired); ___ freebsd-stable@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-stable To unsubscribe, send any mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Recommendations for a serial port card you can actually BUY?
On Thursday 05 October 2006 16:21, Karl Denninger wrote:
On Thu, Oct 05, 2006 at 12:08:22PM -0700, Jeremy Chadwick wrote:
On Thu, Oct 05, 2006 at 10:19:25AM -0500, Karl Denninger wrote:
Hi folks;
Ok, one of my pet peeves is coming around to bite me again.
{snip}
I know serial I/O is passe for many, but some of us have applications
that
actually require it, and can't rationally be moved to anything else due
to external hardware considerations.
I saw your first e-mail, but I am puzzled as my one rp(4) card works fine
(granted,
I haven't used it in the past 4-5 months, but it was on a machine running
RELENG_6
and served as the serial console for my test machines that I used almost
daily). I
know of at least one other person for whom rp(4) worked fine on 6.x as I fixed
both
6.x and 5.x to properly handle multiple rp(4) cards in a single box (the names
for
the two cards were clashing in devfs at first).
Have you tried the rp(4) driver from the vendor's website btw? The patch that
ambrisko@ sent you is an attempt to merge in their changes to the driver in
FreeBSD, but it would be good to know if their driver works ok.
FreeBSD's USB support has always been somewhat deficient. For example,
apcupsd can't talk to their UPSs over the USB bus, even though the software
itself knows how, because FreeBSD doesn't know what a UPS is and throws up
its hands when you plug it in. I wasn't aware that the USB to Serial
converters would work - I can try them, but there are a lot of those out
there that don't work right even under Windows - expecting them to under
FreeBSD might be asking too much.
I agree that the USB support can be tricky at times. apcupsd does now work
with apcupsd on 6.1 and later though. I use it on my server at home.
I gave up on Specialix a number of years ago after similar problems showed
up in some of their drivers for a different OS and they were unwilling to
fix them. Digi has always been pretty solid, but they are passe' now and
while I have a nice stock of ISA interface cards, finding motherboards
with ISA slots is rapidly becoming impossible.
I was trying to get the si(4) driver to support the newer adapters recently,
but wasn't able to finish that before the person decided to use rp(4) cards
instead.
Among the PCI cards only Comtrol appears to be really in the market with
anything current, and driver support in FreeBSD doesn't exist - despite the
claim in the Hardware Notes that its supported, it in fact hasn't worked
properly since 6.0.
IMHO either FreeBSD's team needs to find a fix for these things or take 'em
out of the supported hardware list so that when people go looking they don't
waste time (and potentially quite a bit of money) buying something that
doesn't function.
While you certainly aren't having a good experience, there are counter-examples,
so I don't think you can claim that the hardware is completely unsupported.
--
John Baldwin
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Re: Recommendations for a serial port card you can actually BUY?
Karl Denninger [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Uh, if you unplug a working serial device's USB cable, you've got bigger problems :) So you think? USB is hotplug, and it doesn't have to be a port in use that you're unplugging. If you plug and unplug ONLY ONE, it should ID in the same place, since there's a hole. If you plug / unplug more than one, I can live with the penalty being a required reboot. After all, these are NOT supposed to be tampered with while the machine is running! OK, that makes things easier. Perhaps un-/reloading the kernel driver modules (if compiled as module) is sufficient anyways -- the module will probably reprobe everything upon reload; OTOH you can check usbd and devd and things if you can pin devices to certain ordering. -- Matthias Andree ___ freebsd-stable@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-stable To unsubscribe, send any mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Recommendations for a serial port card you can actually BUY?
On Sun, Oct 08, 2006 at 04:14:44PM +0200, Matthias Andree wrote: Karl Denninger [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Uh, if you unplug a working serial device's USB cable, you've got bigger problems :) So you think? USB is hotplug, and it doesn't have to be a port in use that you're unplugging. I realize that but my point is that if you unplug a serial port that has a process connected to it you're going to yank its file descriptor out from under it, and it will not be pleased about that! If you plug and unplug ONLY ONE, it should ID in the same place, since there's a hole. If you plug / unplug more than one, I can live with the penalty being a required reboot. After all, these are NOT supposed to be tampered with while the machine is running! OK, that makes things easier. Perhaps un-/reloading the kernel driver modules (if compiled as module) is sufficient anyways -- the module will probably reprobe everything upon reload; OTOH you can check usbd and devd and things if you can pin devices to certain ordering. I'm likely going to have a shell script that runs at boot and creates a local device directory with symlinks to the ucom ports involved, based on their physical location. This way Device #1 that is connected to USB Serial Adapter #1 can always open /ldev/usb-serial1 and GET the first USB serial device (plugged into the first physical USB port), no matter in what order they identify. -- -- Karl Denninger ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) Internet Consultant Kids Rights Activist http://www.denninger.netMy home on the net - links to everything I do! http://scubaforum.org Your UNCENSORED place to talk about DIVING! http://genesis3.blogspot.comMusings Of A Sentient Mind ___ freebsd-stable@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-stable To unsubscribe, send any mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Recommendations for a serial port card you can actually BUY?
Karl Denninger [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Much of the latter hardware is still only available in a serial interface, no matter the cost. It is not high-data-rate by any means (typically 4800 or 9600 bps) but it is what it is. Personally, I've seen lots of 14k4 fax stuff deployed, but then again, doesn't matter much. Anyways, in that previous life when I bought my hardware (for FreeBSD 4.X that was), there have been FourPort-compatible cards (not original AST, but third-party with the same register layout and functionality, including interrupt vector registers that FreeBSD 4.x couldn't use, but Linux) -- I got the ISA variant, there have also been PCI specimen but haven't tried them. I'm not sure how I would configure the PCI stuff for FreeBSD though, I've only ever used ISA and the instructions the vendor (VSCom) shipped were for Linux's setserial(8)... Serial over IP will not work for either. Serial-via-USB might, and I will look into that, but I suspect I'm going to get in trouble with that one, especially if I have to toggle control signals (e.g. DTR, etc) or support hardware flow control (and for the fax servers, you DO need it if you expect things to work correctly.) I'd be less concerned about those than about issues with getting things to work in real-time, or perhaps USB hub quality... USB isn't meant for that type of real-time thing, but for commodity. It doesn't matter if your keypress arrives a ms sooner or later, but it does matter for your serial bytes. Buying several different USB-to-RS232-converters isn't an issue financially anyways if you're ready to spend 500 dollars - these cost perhaps 10 a piece. Only you're often not sure you're getting the same hardware next time you order the same article number, because this stuff is often made in Indonesia or China or some place like that and brands seem to do some kind of manufacturer hopping there, and it's not sure that the manuf' sticks to the specs... ask Techsolo about USB 2.0 hubs. its hands when you plug it in. I wasn't aware that the USB to Serial converters would work - I can try them, but there are a lot of those out there that don't work right even under Windows - expecting them to under FreeBSD might be asking too much. It's a matter of trying them -- there are examples of cheapo hardware where FreeBSD seems to work better. Not that it helps your issue, but the Windows 2000 drivers (all versions I could find, RATech and Edimax) for RATech 2500 WLAN chips for instance is plain growse and next to unusable; the Linux driver is flakey, the FreeBSD 6.1 driver however is rock solid (but unusable, among other IEEE 802.11 stuff, under 6.0...) -- Matthias Andree ___ freebsd-stable@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-stable To unsubscribe, send any mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Recommendations for a serial port card you can actually BUY?
Karl Denninger [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: I think there may be another option. Here's the boot message, with just USB related things: usb0: Intel 82801EB (ICH5) USB controller USB-A on uhci0 usb0: USB revision 1.0 usb1: Intel 82801EB (ICH5) USB controller USB-B on uhci1 usb1: USB revision 1.0 usb2: Intel 82801EB (ICH5) USB controller USB-C on uhci2 usb2: USB revision 1.0 usb3: Intel 82801EB (ICH5) USB controller USB-D on uhci3 usb3: USB revision 1.0 usb4: EHCI version 1.0 usb4: companion controllers, 2 ports each: usb0 usb1 usb2 usb3 usb4: Intel 82801EB/R (ICH5) USB 2.0 controller on ehci0 usb4: USB revision 2.0 Now, isn't this in fact invarient? That is, isn't the probe on the bus going to be the same across boots? This is effectively inheriting PCI order, so unless you're changing PCI configuration, these are in fact stable. We can then get which device is on which port with Fs:/disk/karl usbdevs -v ...until the moment one is un- and re-plugged, right? At least my two USB printers (easily told apart from the vendor ID) like to rearrange their ordering frequently on Linux... -- Matthias Andree ___ freebsd-stable@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-stable To unsubscribe, send any mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Recommendations for a serial port card you can actually BUY?
Andrew Gordon wrote this message on Fri, Oct 06, 2006 at 14:25 +0100:
Competent USB devices have serial numbers in them, although the current
FreeBSD USB system doesn't provide easy access to the data (the
kernel collects it as part of the device discovery, but AFAIR doesn't do
anything with it). I solved my problems in a different way (below).
I have grown to like how MacOSX uses the serial number for it's tty
devices.. it lets me leave it attached to the device, and know when
I plug it in, I know what tip device to us
So, I decided to add this feature to FreeBSD.. The way the tty handles
serial numbers should change, but this is a first cut... This should
work for tty based USB device assuming that it has a serial number...
-bash-2.05b$ ls /dev/*.F*
/dev/cua.FTC9S0NT /dev/cua.FTC9S0NT.lock /dev/tty.FTC9S0NT.init
/dev/cua.FTC9S0NT.init /dev/tty.FTC9S0NT /dev/tty.FTC9S0NT.lock
-bash-2.05b$ ls /dev/*U0*
/dev/cuaU0 /dev/cuaU0.lock /dev/ttyU0.init
/dev/cuaU0.init /dev/ttyU0 /dev/ttyU0.lock
I have attached the patch...
Comments welcome...
--
John-Mark Gurney Voice: +1 415 225 5579
All that I will do, has been done, All that I have, has not.
//depot/vendor/freebsd/src/sys/dev/usb/ucom.c#46 -
/home/jmg/p4/world/src/sys/dev/usb/ucom.c
--- /tmp/tmp.916.0 Sat Oct 7 03:31:28 2006
+++ /home/jmg/p4/world/src/sys/dev/usb/ucom.c Sat Oct 7 03:18:43 2006
@@ -150,6 +150,7 @@
int
ucom_attach(struct ucom_softc *sc)
{
+ char serial[USB_MAX_STRING_LEN];
struct tty *tp;
int unit;
@@ -167,8 +168,9 @@
tp-t_ioctl = ucomioctl;
DPRINTF((ucom_attach: tty_attach tp = %p\n, tp));
-
- ttycreate(tp, TS_CALLOUT, U%d, unit);
+ usbd_get_string(sc-sc_udev,
+ usbd_get_device_descriptor(sc-sc_udev)-iSerialNumber, serial);
+ ttycreateserial(tp, TS_CALLOUT, serial, U%d, unit);
DPRINTF((ucom_attach: ttycreate: ttyU%d\n, unit));
return (0);
//depot/vendor/freebsd/src/sys/dev/usb/ucomvar.h#8 -
/home/jmg/p4/world/src/sys/dev/usb/ucomvar.h
//depot/vendor/freebsd/src/sys/dev/usb/uftdi.c#24 -
/home/jmg/p4/world/src/sys/dev/usb/uftdi.c
--- /tmp/tmp.916.1 Sat Oct 7 03:31:28 2006
+++ /home/jmg/p4/world/src/sys/dev/usb/uftdi.c Sat Oct 7 03:11:16 2006
@@ -190,13 +190,11 @@
usbd_interface_handle iface;
usb_interface_descriptor_t *id;
usb_endpoint_descriptor_t *ed;
- char *devinfo;
const char *devname;
int i;
usbd_status err;
struct ucom_softc *ucom = sc-sc_ucom;
DPRINTFN(10,(\nuftdi_attach: sc=%p\n, sc));
- devinfo = malloc(1024, M_USBDEV, M_WAITOK);
ucom-sc_dev = self;
ucom-sc_udev = dev;
@@ -222,9 +220,7 @@
iface = uaa-iface;
}
- usbd_devinfo(dev, 0, devinfo);
/* USB_ATTACH_SETUP;*/
- printf(%s: %s\n, devname, devinfo);
id = usbd_get_interface_descriptor(iface);
ucom-sc_iface = iface;
@@ -350,14 +346,12 @@
#endif
DPRINTF((uftdi: in=0x%x out=0x%x\n, ucom-sc_bulkin_no,
ucom-sc_bulkout_no));
ucom_attach(sc-sc_ucom);
- free(devinfo, M_USBDEV);
USB_ATTACH_SUCCESS_RETURN;
bad:
DPRINTF((uftdi_attach: ATTACH ERROR\n));
ucom-sc_dying = 1;
- free(devinfo, M_USBDEV);
USB_ATTACH_ERROR_RETURN;
}
//depot/vendor/freebsd/src/sys/kern/tty.c#106 -
/home/jmg/p4/world/src/sys/kern/tty.c
--- /tmp/tmp.916.2 Sat Oct 7 03:31:28 2006
+++ /home/jmg/p4/world/src/sys/kern/tty.c Sat Oct 7 03:30:05 2006
@@ -2877,15 +2877,45 @@
* XXX: implement the init and lock devices by cloning.
*/
-int
+static int ttycreate_internal(struct tty *tp, int flags, const char *tty,
const char *ser);
+
+int
+ttycreateserial(struct tty *tp, int flags, const char *ser, const char *fmt,
...)
+{
+ char namebuf[SPECNAMELEN - 3]; /* XXX space for tty */
+ va_list ap;
+ int i;
+
+ va_start(ap, fmt);
+ i = vsnrprintf(namebuf, sizeof namebuf, 32, fmt, ap);
+ va_end(ap);
+ KASSERT(i sizeof namebuf, (Too long tty name (%s), namebuf));
+
+ return ttycreate_internal(tp, flags, namebuf, ser);
+}
+
+int
ttycreate(struct tty *tp, int flags, const char *fmt, ...)
{
char namebuf[SPECNAMELEN - 3]; /* XXX space for tty */
+ va_list ap;
+ int i;
+
+ va_start(ap, fmt);
+ i = vsnrprintf(namebuf, sizeof namebuf, 32, fmt, ap);
+ va_end(ap);
+ KASSERT(i sizeof namebuf, (Too long tty name (%s), namebuf));
+
+ return ttycreate_internal(tp, flags, namebuf, NULL);
+}
+
+static int
+ttycreate_internal(struct tty *tp, int flags, const char *tty, const char *ser)
+{
struct cdevsw *csw = NULL;
int unit = 0;
- va_list ap;
struct cdev *cp;
- int i, minor, sminor, sunit;
+ int minor, sminor, sunit;
Re: Recommendations for a serial port card you can actually BUY?
Karl Denninger wrote: I wasn't aware that the USB to Serial converters would work - I can try them, but there are a lot of those out there that don't work right even under Windows - expecting them to under FreeBSD might be asking too much. A local vendor sells a generic adaptor[1] that uses the Prolific Tech PL-2303HX chip supported by uplcom(4). I use them for APC Smart-UPS and MGE Evolution (both utalk and SHUT) with NUT and the terminal end of serial console connections. The funny thing is that they work better in FreeBSD--Windows' serial device auto-detection is convinced my servers are Wacom tablets. The Windows bug is worked around by connecting the adaptor first, then connecting the adaptor to the serial device after Windows has finished its plug-and-play spasm. 1: http://store.pchcables.com/usbtorsseca.html -- Darren Pilgrim ___ freebsd-stable@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-stable To unsubscribe, send any mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Recommendations for a serial port card you can actually BUY?
Darren Pilgrim wrote: Karl Denninger wrote: I wasn't aware that the USB to Serial converters would work - I can try them, but there are a lot of those out there that don't work right even under Windows - expecting them to under FreeBSD might be asking too much. I've had good luck with the Dynex USB-to-serial converter (uplcom-based) I got at my local Best Buy. It works well with FreeBSD and Linux both; I've used it with Cisco routers and several xscale-based Linux devices. Marty ___ freebsd-stable@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-stable To unsubscribe, send any mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Recommendations for a serial port card you can actually BUY?
On 5 October 2006, at 20:33, Greg Black wrote: I find that apcaccess gives much less info from the USB port than it does from the RS232 port (on the same hardware) and apctest (which I want to use to set eprom values) doesn't work at all. This is very irritating, as I'd like to use my only serial port for a remote console. Can't you write the EEPROM and then switch to USB? For now, I've gone back to using the serial port. But I'd love the USB to work fully. Greg ___ freebsd-stable@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-stable To unsubscribe, send any mail to freebsd-stable- [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- hackmiester (Hunter Fuller) svinx yknow when you go to a party, and everyones hooked up except one guy and one girl svinx and so they look at each other like.. do we have to? svinx intel nvidia must be lookin at each other like that right now Phone Voice: +1 251 589 6348 Fax: Call the voice number and ask. Email General chat: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Large attachments: [EMAIL PROTECTED] SPS-related stuff: [EMAIL PROTECTED] IM AIM: hackmiester1337 Skype: hackmiester31337 YIM: hackm1ester Gtalk: hackmiester MSN: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Xfire: hackmiester ___ freebsd-stable@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-stable To unsubscribe, send any mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Recommendations for a serial port card you can actually BUY?
On Sat, Oct 07, 2006 at 10:45:38AM +0200, Matthias Andree wrote: Karl Denninger [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: I think there may be another option. Here's the boot message, with just USB related things: usb0: Intel 82801EB (ICH5) USB controller USB-A on uhci0 usb0: USB revision 1.0 usb1: Intel 82801EB (ICH5) USB controller USB-B on uhci1 usb1: USB revision 1.0 usb2: Intel 82801EB (ICH5) USB controller USB-C on uhci2 usb2: USB revision 1.0 usb3: Intel 82801EB (ICH5) USB controller USB-D on uhci3 usb3: USB revision 1.0 usb4: EHCI version 1.0 usb4: companion controllers, 2 ports each: usb0 usb1 usb2 usb3 usb4: Intel 82801EB/R (ICH5) USB 2.0 controller on ehci0 usb4: USB revision 2.0 Now, isn't this in fact invarient? That is, isn't the probe on the bus going to be the same across boots? This is effectively inheriting PCI order, so unless you're changing PCI configuration, these are in fact stable. We can then get which device is on which port with Fs:/disk/karl usbdevs -v ...until the moment one is un- and re-plugged, right? At least my two USB printers (easily told apart from the vendor ID) like to rearrange their ordering frequently on Linux... Uh, if you unplug a working serial device's USB cable, you've got bigger problems :) If you plug and unplug ONLY ONE, it should ID in the same place, since there's a hole. If you plug / unplug more than one, I can live with the penalty being a required reboot. After all, these are NOT supposed to be tampered with while the machine is running! -- -- Karl Denninger ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) Internet Consultant Kids Rights Activist http://www.denninger.netMy home on the net - links to everything I do! http://scubaforum.org Your UNCENSORED place to talk about DIVING! http://genesis3.blogspot.comMusings Of A Sentient Mind ___ freebsd-stable@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-stable To unsubscribe, send any mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Recommendations for a serial port card you can actually BUY?
... So what do I buy to replace this thing? Well, looking at the serial hardware claimed supported, I seem to have a problem finding anything I can actually purchase! I don't need real high performance - a 16550 based multiport card is fine. I also don't want a $1500 solution - this isn't a $1500 problem. $500 seems reasonable. I have some 'gadgets' that 'bridge' serial and ip, which though not that cheep (about 100$), opens a whole new perspective. my 5 cents. danny ___ freebsd-stable@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-stable To unsubscribe, send any mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Recommendations for a serial port card you can actually BUY?
Bob Johnson wrote: I have used USB-to-serial converters with no problem. All the control signals (at least the ones my applications need) seem to work correctly. I have one with a Prolific PL-2303 chipset: ucom0: Prolific Technology Inc. USB-Serial Controller, rev 1.10/3.00, addr 5 It works great for standard serial communication, but not for what I want to use it for : read 'ticks' from my geiger counter. A 'normal' 16550A serial port chip does that just fine. regards, Hans Lambermont ___ freebsd-stable@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-stable To unsubscribe, send any mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Recommendations for a serial port card you can actually BUY?
On Thu, Oct 05, 2006 at 05:04:41PM -0400, Bob Johnson wrote: I have used USB-to-serial converters with no problem. All the control signals (at least the ones my applications need) seem to work correctly. I don't remember any brands or models off hand, I bought what was cheap as I needed them and they all worked. Cheap means under $20 delivered (for one port). Speaking of USB-to-serial converters... anybody know which chipset Moxa's UPort 1610-16 [1] and similar products are based on? Anybody know if they work with FreeBSD? Regards, Brix [1]: http://www.moxa.com/product/USB_to_Serial_Hubs.htm -- Henrik Brix Andersen [EMAIL PROTECTED] pgp5TdxOoWKVG.pgp Description: PGP signature
Re: Recommendations for a serial port card you can actually BUY?
The FTDI devices keep the device descriptors etc. in an EEPROM, so my approach to the 'which port is which' problem was to change the textual part of the descriptor - usbdevs -d then immediately tells you what is going on. The EEPROM is writable over the USB connection - I have a program to do so if anybody wants it. Yes please - I also use the devices, and this would be very handy. thanks, -pete. ___ freebsd-stable@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-stable To unsubscribe, send any mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Recommendations for a serial port card you can actually BUY?
On Thu, 5 Oct 2006, Karl Denninger wrote: On Thu, Oct 05, 2006 at 05:04:41PM -0400, Bob Johnson wrote: I have used USB-to-serial converters with no problem. All the control signals (at least the ones my applications need) seem to work correctly. I don't remember any brands or models off hand, I bought what was cheap as I needed them and they all worked. Cheap means under $20 delivered (for one port). Interesting. Now, what happens when you reboot? Do they come back in random order? That won't work! I need to know that port 2 will BE Port 2 the next time the machine comes up Competent USB devices have serial numbers in them, although the current FreeBSD USB system doesn't provide easy access to the data (the kernel collects it as part of the device discovery, but AFAIR doesn't do anything with it). I solved my problems in a different way (below). As already mentioned in this thread, USB serial adapters fall into the 'too cheap' category (the purchase cost isn't worth mentioning, but you have no idea what will arrive when you order one). IMO, it's worth standardising on one adapter type (hence one device driver) and spending a bit more time/money on the purchasing. I standardized on adapters using the FTDI chips (www.ftdichip.com, they sell their own adapters but these chips are widely used and I've usually bought mine elsewhere). FTDI have been through about 3 generations of these chips while remaining driver compatible. When I started (several years ago), the uftdi driver wasn't up to the job for the sort of reasons you mention (control of handshakes, real-time control), but for my applications it was convenient to avoid using uftdi and simply address the devices with the ugen driver - giving me direct control over the handshakes, the FIFO timeout behaviour etc. I believe that uftdi has since improved and may now be the right way to go if your applications want a tty-style interface (I don't use it much, having as above written all my serious applications another way). The FTDI devices keep the device descriptors etc. in an EEPROM, so my approach to the 'which port is which' problem was to change the textual part of the descriptor - usbdevs -d then immediately tells you what is going on. The EEPROM is writable over the USB connection - I have a program to do so if anybody wants it. ___ freebsd-stable@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-stable To unsubscribe, send any mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Recommendations for a serial port card you can actually BUY?
On Fri, Oct 06, 2006 at 11:33:13AM +1000, Greg Black wrote: On 2006-10-05, Brooks Davis wrote: On Thu, Oct 05, 2006 at 07:09:56PM -0500, Karl Denninger wrote: On Thu, Oct 05, 2006 at 04:04:47PM -0500, Brooks Davis wrote: On Thu, Oct 05, 2006 at 03:21:44PM -0500, Karl Denninger wrote: FreeBSD's USB support has always been somewhat deficient. For example, apcupsd can't talk to their UPSs over the USB bus, even though the software itself knows how, because FreeBSD doesn't know what a UPS is and throws up its hands when you plug it in. This is false for at least the APC SmartUPS the machine I'm sending this from is connected to. I wouldn't be suprised if it was true once, but it isn't today. ugen0: American Power Conversion Smart-UPS 750 FW:651.12.D USB FW:4.2, rev 1.10/0.06, addr 2 Does apcupsd connect to it? I tried this back on 5.x and it failed miserably. It identified the unit, but wouldn't talk to it. Yes. I get notifications of power failures and can query status. I don't know what you guys are doing right, but it doesn't work right for me on $ uname -srm FreeBSD 6.1-RELEASE amd64 I do get some results: this is the console when it's connected: ugen1: American Power Conversion Smart-UPS 750 FW:651.12.I USB FW:7.3, rev 1.10/0.06, addr 6 I find that apcaccess gives much less info from the USB port than it does from the RS232 port (on the same hardware) and apctest (which I want to use to set eprom values) doesn't work at all. This is very irritating, as I'd like to use my only serial port for a remote console. For now, I've gone back to using the serial port. But I'd love the USB to work fully. I don't seem to need the other features. This is not a FreeBSD issue since FreeBSD just knows enough to not try to do anything to the device, it's an apcupsd issue or possibly a weakness in APCs USB implementation. -- Brooks pgpXggZQTKeqM.pgp Description: PGP signature
Re: Recommendations for a serial port card you can actually BUY?
On Fri, Oct 06, 2006 at 01:10:37AM -0400, Matt Emmerton wrote: Karl Denninger wrote: So. I have an application that requires six serial ports, and would like ten. 5.x FreeBSD versions are being EOL'd per the announcement, forcing me to move to 6.x. The Comtrol driver for the Smart Rocketport boards is broken in 6.x, and the PR appears to be one that will sit and rot. What options do I have in the FreeBSD universe here guys? This is a real no-BS production application that has hundreds of deployed instances, and it is in no way obsolete or something I intend to stop supporting. Well, you could find (or hire) someone to fix the driver in 6.x, which would save you the cost of re-deploying hardware. (I'm assuming that the PR is a statement of brokenness, and not one that has a patch that fixes the problem.) Correct; the PR is (my) statement of brokenness Fixing the driver would require knowing what has changed that broke it. I've not found any such concise statement of what has changed internally in the kernel interfaces in the past... does such a thing exist? -- -- Karl Denninger ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) Internet Consultant Kids Rights Activist http://www.denninger.netMy home on the net - links to everything I do! http://scubaforum.org Your UNCENSORED place to talk about DIVING! http://genesis3.blogspot.comMusings Of A Sentient Mind ___ freebsd-stable@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-stable To unsubscribe, send any mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Recommendations for a serial port card you can actually BUY?
On Fri, Oct 06, 2006 at 02:25:31PM +0100, Andrew Gordon wrote: On Thu, 5 Oct 2006, Karl Denninger wrote: On Thu, Oct 05, 2006 at 05:04:41PM -0400, Bob Johnson wrote: I have used USB-to-serial converters with no problem. All the control signals (at least the ones my applications need) seem to work correctly. I don't remember any brands or models off hand, I bought what was cheap as I needed them and they all worked. Cheap means under $20 delivered (for one port). Interesting. Now, what happens when you reboot? Do they come back in random order? That won't work! I need to know that port 2 will BE Port 2 the next time the machine comes up Competent USB devices have serial numbers in them, although the current FreeBSD USB system doesn't provide easy access to the data (the kernel collects it as part of the device discovery, but AFAIR doesn't do anything with it). I solved my problems in a different way (below). I think there may be another option. Here's the boot message, with just USB related things: usb0: Intel 82801EB (ICH5) USB controller USB-A on uhci0 usb0: USB revision 1.0 usb1: Intel 82801EB (ICH5) USB controller USB-B on uhci1 usb1: USB revision 1.0 usb2: Intel 82801EB (ICH5) USB controller USB-C on uhci2 usb2: USB revision 1.0 usb3: Intel 82801EB (ICH5) USB controller USB-D on uhci3 usb3: USB revision 1.0 usb4: EHCI version 1.0 usb4: companion controllers, 2 ports each: usb0 usb1 usb2 usb3 usb4: Intel 82801EB/R (ICH5) USB 2.0 controller on ehci0 usb4: USB revision 2.0 Now, isn't this in fact invarient? That is, isn't the probe on the bus going to be the same across boots? We can then get which device is on which port with Fs:/disk/karl usbdevs -v Controller /dev/usb0: addr 1: full speed, self powered, config 1, UHCI root hub(0x), Intel(0x), rev 1.00 port 1 addr 2: low speed, self powered, config 1, Smart-UPS 1500 FW:601.3.D USB FW:1.5(0x0002), American Power Conversion(0x051d), rev 0.06 port 2 powered Controller /dev/usb1: addr 1: full speed, self powered, config 1, UHCI root hub(0x), Intel(0x), rev 1.00 port 1 addr 2: full speed, power 100 mA, config 1, USB-Serial Controller(0x2008), Prolific Technology Inc.(0x0557), rev 3.00 port 2 powered Controller /dev/usb2: addr 1: full speed, self powered, config 1, UHCI root hub(0x), Intel(0x), rev 1.00 port 1 powered port 2 powered Controller /dev/usb3: addr 1: full speed, self powered, config 1, UHCI root hub(0x), Intel(0x), rev 1.00 port 1 powered port 2 powered Controller /dev/usb4: addr 1: high speed, self powered, config 1, EHCI root hub(0x), Intel(0x), rev 1.00 port 1 powered port 2 powered port 3 powered port 4 powered port 5 powered port 6 powered port 7 powered port 8 powered Now, where the problem comes in is that THIS line doesn't reference an attached port. That sucks, but might not be hard to fix: ucom0: Prolific Technology Inc. USB-Serial Controller, rev 1.10/3.00, addr 2 So is there any way to discover what port a UCOM device is attached to? If so, bingo - you've got it. I think I can get this from the usb(8) driver - going to code something up to see if it works -- -- Karl Denninger ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) Internet Consultant Kids Rights Activist http://www.denninger.netMy home on the net - links to everything I do! http://scubaforum.org Your UNCENSORED place to talk about DIVING! http://genesis3.blogspot.comMusings Of A Sentient Mind ___ freebsd-stable@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-stable To unsubscribe, send any mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Recommendations for a serial port card you can actually BUY?
At 01:53 PM 10/6/2006, Karl Denninger wrote: Now, where the problem comes in is that THIS line doesn't reference an attached port. That sucks, but might not be hard to fix: If there is just one USB *serial* device, it will always be /dev/ttyU0. It doesnt matter if you have 1 or 3 other USB devices (ugen0, uhid0, uhid1) ucom0: Prolific Technology Inc. USB-Serial Controller, rev 1.10/3.00, addr 2 So is there any way to discover what port a UCOM device is attached to? If so, bingo - you've got it. You dont need to... It will always be ttyU0 in the above case if you just have one *serial* usb device. ---Mike ___ freebsd-stable@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-stable To unsubscribe, send any mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Recommendations for a serial port card you can actually BUY?
On Fri, Oct 06, 2006 at 02:27:21PM -0400, Mike Tancsa wrote: At 01:53 PM 10/6/2006, Karl Denninger wrote: Now, where the problem comes in is that THIS line doesn't reference an attached port. That sucks, but might not be hard to fix: If there is just one USB *serial* device, it will always be /dev/ttyU0. It doesnt matter if you have 1 or 3 other USB devices (ugen0, uhid0, uhid1) ucom0: Prolific Technology Inc. USB-Serial Controller, rev 1.10/3.00, addr 2 So is there any way to discover what port a UCOM device is attached to? If so, bingo - you've got it. You dont need to... It will always be ttyU0 in the above case if you just have one *serial* usb device. ---Mike Yes, I understand that. I might have anywhere up to eight though! I think it still works, as I can get the full list with the hub attachments, and THOSE should be invarient (that is, they correspond to a port on the machine, assuming we're talking all on-bus ports (e.g. no expanders) # usbdevs -v -d Controller /dev/usb0: addr 1: full speed, self powered, config 1, UHCI root hub(0x), Intel(0x), rev 1.00 uhub0 port 1 addr 2: low speed, self powered, config 1, Smart-UPS 1500 FW:601.3.D USB FW:1.5(0x0002), American Power Conversion(0x051d), rev 0.06 ugen0 port 2 powered Controller /dev/usb1: addr 1: full speed, self powered, config 1, UHCI root hub(0x), Intel(0x), rev 1.00 uhub1 port 1 addr 2: full speed, power 100 mA, config 1, USB-Serial Controller(0x2008), Prolific Technology Inc.(0x0557), rev 3.00 ucom0 port 2 powered Controller /dev/usb2: addr 1: full speed, self powered, config 1, UHCI root hub(0x), Intel(0x), rev 1.00 uhub2 port 1 powered port 2 powered Controller /dev/usb3: addr 1: full speed, self powered, config 1, UHCI root hub(0x), Intel(0x), rev 1.00 uhub3 port 1 powered port 2 powered Controller /dev/usb4: addr 1: high speed, self powered, config 1, EHCI root hub(0x), Intel(0x), rev 1.00 uhub4 port 1 powered port 2 powered port 3 powered port 4 powered port 5 powered port 6 powered port 7 powered port 8 powered Since /dev/usb0 - /dev/usbx should not move from boot to boot (that is, being that they're either on the PCI bus directly or on the motherboard, they should always probe in the same order) I can thus discover which COM port was assigned to which physical port, since the /dev/usbx ports are in fact physical sockets. Given that I can create a directory full of symlinks with invarient names (e.g. /ldev/usbtty0) pointing to the correct ports via a shell script. This doesn't work if you plug and unplug some of the devices while the machine is running (since the script wouldn't know to run again) but it should for the case where the devices are connected at the time of boot. -- -- Karl Denninger ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) Internet Consultant Kids Rights Activist http://www.denninger.netMy home on the net - links to everything I do! http://scubaforum.org Your UNCENSORED place to talk about DIVING! http://genesis3.blogspot.comMusings Of A Sentient Mind ___ freebsd-stable@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-stable To unsubscribe, send any mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Recommendations for a serial port card you can actually BUY?
Hi folks; Ok, one of my pet peeves is coming around to bite me again. I filed [kern/103137: Rocketport driver is broken in 6.x] a few weeks ago after fruitlessly trying to get the Comtrol Rocketport driver to actually behave under 6.x. Its fine under 5.x, but under 6.x it fails badly, either radically delaying input characters or in some cases sending multiple copies upstream to the application (!) The misbehavior is grossly increased by doing such horiffic things as using select(2) and poll(2) on an I/O stream associated with a port. My original posting here drew an unofficial patch that did not improve things at all. Barf. Ok, so that card is no longer supported (even though it is listed as supported! I've heard nothing about the listing of it being supported being removed from the hardware list, and according to the web version, it still there! Supported it ain't when it doesn't work at all!) So what do I buy to replace this thing? Well, looking at the serial hardware claimed supported, I seem to have a problem finding anything I can actually purchase! I don't need real high performance - a 16550 based multiport card is fine. I also don't want a $1500 solution - this isn't a $1500 problem. $500 seems reasonable. The Rocketport 550 looked promising, as its just a bunch of 16550s on the PCI bus, and so should work. Guess what? Comtrol EOL'd the entire 550 line several months ago. They are now unobtanium, and their replacements are all smart cards - which gets me right back where I started! I can't find any evidence that any of the other 4 or 8-port versions claimed to work under the puc() driver are actually in production either - I've been unable to find any of THOSE for sale online or otherwise. I have several Digiboards, and the Digi driver worked last time I looked at it (back in the 5.x days), but they're ISA. Useless in today's machines which are increasingly ISA-slot devoid (including all of my present line of servers!) So. I have an application that requires six serial ports, and would like ten. 5.x FreeBSD versions are being EOL'd per the announcement, forcing me to move to 6.x. The Comtrol driver for the Smart Rocketport boards is broken in 6.x, and the PR appears to be one that will sit and rot. What options do I have in the FreeBSD universe here guys? This is a real no-BS production application that has hundreds of deployed instances, and it is in no way obsolete or something I intend to stop supporting. I know serial I/O is passe for many, but some of us have applications that actually require it, and can't rationally be moved to anything else due to external hardware considerations. -- -- Karl Denninger ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) Internet Consultant Kids Rights Activist http://www.denninger.netMy home on the net - links to everything I do! http://scubaforum.org Your UNCENSORED place to talk about DIVING! http://genesis3.blogspot.comMusings Of A Sentient Mind ___ freebsd-stable@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-stable To unsubscribe, send any mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Recommendations for a serial port card you can actually BUY?
I would recommend staying with FreeBSD-5. ___ freebsd-stable@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-stable To unsubscribe, send any mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Recommendations for a serial port card you can actually BUY?
On Thu, Oct 05, 2006 at 10:19:25AM -0500, Karl Denninger wrote:
Hi folks;
Ok, one of my pet peeves is coming around to bite me again.
{snip}
I know serial I/O is passe for many, but some of us have applications that
actually require it, and can't rationally be moved to anything else due
to external hardware considerations.
This is in no way flame-bait, nor does it have any negative
implications -- as a fellow SA I'm just curious.
What exactly are you using serial cards for in this day and age?
A serial console server (a la Cyclades TS)? Or is there something
that's more mission-critical (for lack-of better term).
I guess my question is: what are you using these cards for, and
can whatever the goal is be accomplished by some alternate hardware
(serial-via-USB adaptors/hubs, serial-over-IP, etc.)?
BTW -- I completely agree with you about the cost of these cards,
especially so in 2006. There is absolutely no justified explanation
for such a card costing US$1500, or even US$500. These are ICs and
basic PCBs that at most cost US$20 per device -- the profit mark-up
is appalling.
--
| Jeremy Chadwick jdc at parodius.com |
| Parodius Networkinghttp://www.parodius.com/ |
| UNIX Systems Administrator Mountain View, CA, USA |
| Making life hard for others since 1977. PGP: 4BD6C0CB |
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Re: Recommendations for a serial port card you can actually BUY?
On Thu, Oct 05, 2006 at 12:08:22PM -0700, Jeremy Chadwick wrote:
On Thu, Oct 05, 2006 at 10:19:25AM -0500, Karl Denninger wrote:
Hi folks;
Ok, one of my pet peeves is coming around to bite me again.
{snip}
I know serial I/O is passe for many, but some of us have applications that
actually require it, and can't rationally be moved to anything else due
to external hardware considerations.
This is in no way flame-bait, nor does it have any negative
implications -- as a fellow SA I'm just curious.
Fair enough.
What exactly are you using serial cards for in this day and age?
A serial console server (a la Cyclades TS)? Or is there something
that's more mission-critical (for lack-of better term).
I guess my question is: what are you using these cards for, and
can whatever the goal is be accomplished by some alternate hardware
(serial-via-USB adaptors/hubs, serial-over-IP, etc.)?
Two things:
1. Fax servers running traditional fax modems. There's a HUGE installed
base of fax modems that run on POTS lines and there's simply no
justification for moving to something like a channelized T1 system
for people who need a half-dozen ports (but not 20+!)
2. Embedded control systems. There is some hardware either is RS232 or,
for floor automation type stuff, is RS-422/485. The latter is easily
converted to using a little dongle, but it requires a 232 port on the
computer end and that port must actually work correctly.
Both of these applications are timing critical or they don't work at all.
Much of the latter hardware is still only available in a serial interface,
no matter the cost. It is not high-data-rate by any means (typically 4800
or 9600 bps) but it is what it is.
Serial over IP will not work for either. Serial-via-USB might, and I will
look into that, but I suspect I'm going to get in trouble with that one,
especially if I have to toggle control signals (e.g. DTR, etc) or support
hardware flow control (and for the fax servers, you DO need it if you expect
things to work correctly.)
FreeBSD's USB support has always been somewhat deficient. For example,
apcupsd can't talk to their UPSs over the USB bus, even though the software
itself knows how, because FreeBSD doesn't know what a UPS is and throws up
its hands when you plug it in. I wasn't aware that the USB to Serial
converters would work - I can try them, but there are a lot of those out
there that don't work right even under Windows - expecting them to under
FreeBSD might be asking too much.
The problem that is nailing me particularly hard right now is the second one
- I have embedded control systems that I speak to over a RS-232 interface
(the devices are actually '485 on a common bus but talked to via a 232/485
converter) and it simply does not work on 6.x using the Comtrol driver
at all. 100ms delays and the like are one thing - we're talking about
delays in characters reaching the application of one second or more, and in
some cases either characters or entire frames (e.g. a burst of characters)
are being repeated! When you're trying to manage a synchronous polling
protocol this sort of error makes the software on the other end throw up in
a really ugly way, since it looks like there's a fault in the equipment on
the other end or the wire has been compromised.
With FreeBSD 5.x being EOL'd this is now turning into a critical problem.
I can't in good conscience put packages out there that have been EOL'd nor
offer meaningful support on them. While 5.4 has been reasonably stable for
some time, that is now declared a dead release. 5.5 is similarly on that
road. The only right path forward is into the 6.x world, but I can't get
there from where I am now unless this problem can be resolved.
BTW -- I completely agree with you about the cost of these cards,
especially so in 2006. There is absolutely no justified explanation
for such a card costing US$1500, or even US$500. These are ICs and
basic PCBs that at most cost US$20 per device -- the profit mark-up
is appalling.
I don't mind the $500 cards (the $1500 ones are another matter!) I very much
mind that it appears I can't find a board on the market today that works!
For FreeBSD to not differentiate between hardware in their lists that is
actually deliverable today and that which is historical is problematic
when one tries to go shopping. If you look at the current serial hardware
list you will see a LOT of stuff that simply isn't made any more - and very
little that is.
I gave up on Specialix a number of years ago after similar problems showed
up in some of their drivers for a different OS and they were unwilling to
fix them. Digi has always been pretty solid, but they are passe' now and
while I have a nice stock of ISA interface cards, finding motherboards
with ISA slots is rapidly becoming impossible.
Among the PCI cards only Comtrol appears to be really in the market with
anything current, and driver support in
Re: Recommendations for a serial port card you can actually BUY?
At 11:19 AM 10/5/2006, Karl Denninger wrote: So what do I buy to replace this thing? Well, looking at the serial hardware claimed supported, I seem to have a problem finding anything I can actually purchase! I don't need real high performance - a 16550 based multiport card is fine. I also don't want a $1500 solution - this isn't a $1500 problem. $500 seems reasonable. I use a lot of 4 port Lava cards on RELENG_6. They are about $80 CDN. I have also used the PCI cards and USB FTDI based adaptors in the past at http://www.byterunner.com/ puc1: Lava Computers Quattro-PCI serial port port 0xbc00-0xbc07,0xb800-0xb807 irq 17 at device 2.0 on pci1 sio5: Lava Computers Quattro-PCI serial port on puc1 sio5: type 16550A sio5: unable to activate interrupt in fast mode - using normal mode sio6: Lava Computers Quattro-PCI serial port on puc1 sio6: type 16550A sio6: unable to activate interrupt in fast mode - using normal mode puc2: Lava Computers Quattro-PCI serial port port 0xc400-0xc407,0xc000-0xc007 irq 17 at device 2.1 on pci1 sio7: Lava Computers Quattro-PCI serial port on puc2 sio7: type 16550A sio7: unable to activate interrupt in fast mode - using normal mode sio8: Lava Computers Quattro-PCI serial port on puc2 sio8: type 16550A sio8: unable to activate interrupt in fast mode - using normal mode I have one box where 2 4 port cards live together (zoo.freebsd.org) [zoo]% uname -a FreeBSD zoo.freebsd.org 6.1-STABLE FreeBSD 6.1-STABLE #6: Fri Aug 18 06:16:39 EDT 2006 [EMAIL PROTECTED]:/usr/obj/usr/src/sys/ZOO i386 [zoo]% puc0: Lava Computers Quattro-PCI serial port port 0xdf00-0xdf07,0xde00-0xde07 irq 20 at device 0.0 on pci2 sio4: Lava Computers Quattro-PCI serial port on puc0 sio4: type 16550A sio4: unable to activate interrupt in fast mode - using normal mode sio5: Lava Computers Quattro-PCI serial port on puc0 sio5: type 16550A sio5: unable to activate interrupt in fast mode - using normal mode puc1: Lava Computers Quattro-PCI serial port port 0xdd00-0xdd07,0xdc00-0xdc07 irq 20 at device 0.1 on pci2 sio6: Lava Computers Quattro-PCI serial port on puc1 sio6: type 16550A sio6: unable to activate interrupt in fast mode - using normal mode sio7: Lava Computers Quattro-PCI serial port on puc1 sio7: type 16550A sio7: unable to activate interrupt in fast mode - using normal mode puc2: Lava Computers Quattro-PCI serial port port 0xdb00-0xdb07,0xda00-0xda07 irq 21 at device 1.0 on pci2 sio8: Lava Computers Quattro-PCI serial port on puc2 sio8: type 16550A sio8: unable to activate interrupt in fast mode - using normal mode sio9: Lava Computers Quattro-PCI serial port on puc2 sio9: type 16550A sio9: unable to activate interrupt in fast mode - using normal mode puc3: Lava Computers Quattro-PCI serial port port 0xd900-0xd907,0xd800-0xd807 irq 21 at device 1.1 on pci2 sio10: Lava Computers Quattro-PCI serial port on puc3 sio10: type 16550A sio10: unable to activate interrupt in fast mode - using normal mode sio11: Lava Computers Quattro-PCI serial port on puc3 sio11: type 16550A sio11: unable to activate interrupt in fast mode - using normal mode ---Mike ___ freebsd-stable@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-stable To unsubscribe, send any mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Recommendations for a serial port card you can actually BUY?
On 10/5/06, Karl Denninger [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: [...] I know serial I/O is passe for many, but some of us have applications that actually require it, and can't rationally be moved to anything else due to external hardware considerations. [...] Serial over IP will not work for either. Serial-via-USB might, and I will look into that, but I suspect I'm going to get in trouble with that one, especially if I have to toggle control signals (e.g. DTR, etc) or support hardware flow control (and for the fax servers, you DO need it if you expect things to work correctly.) I have used USB-to-serial converters with no problem. All the control signals (at least the ones my applications need) seem to work correctly. I don't remember any brands or models off hand, I bought what was cheap as I needed them and they all worked. Cheap means under $20 delivered (for one port). FreeBSD's USB support has always been somewhat deficient. For example, apcupsd can't talk to their UPSs over the USB bus, even though the software itself knows how, because FreeBSD doesn't know what a UPS is and throws up its hands when you plug it in. I wasn't aware that the USB to Serial converters would work - I can try them, but there are a lot of those out there that don't work right even under Windows - expecting them to under FreeBSD might be asking too much. I've had no problem getting them to work in FreeBSD. I've had some trouble getting them to work in WIndows. YMMV, but they are so dirt cheap that the time it takes to test one will likely be more significant than the cost of the device. man uplcom will give you an idea of what chipsets to look for, although determining the chipset in one of those things is frequently impossible. The uvscom driver seems to support another chipset, but none of my devices use it so I don't know how well it works. At the moment I can't tell you what version of FreeBSD I'm using these under, probably 5.3, maybe 6.0. It isn't reachable to me from where I am. - Bob ___ freebsd-stable@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-stable To unsubscribe, send any mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Recommendations for a serial port card you can actually BUY?
On Thu, Oct 05, 2006 at 03:21:44PM -0500, Karl Denninger wrote: FreeBSD's USB support has always been somewhat deficient. For example, apcupsd can't talk to their UPSs over the USB bus, even though the software itself knows how, because FreeBSD doesn't know what a UPS is and throws up its hands when you plug it in. This is false for at least the APC SmartUPS the machine I'm sending this from is connected to. I wouldn't be suprised if it was true once, but it isn't today. ugen0: American Power Conversion Smart-UPS 750 FW:651.12.D USB FW:4.2, rev 1.10/0.06, addr 2 -- Brooks pgp7xaOqphxz8.pgp Description: PGP signature
Re: Recommendations for a serial port card you can actually BUY?
On Thu, Oct 05, 2006 at 03:21:44PM -0500, Karl Denninger wrote: FreeBSD's USB support has always been somewhat deficient. Yes. For example, apcupsd can't talk to their UPSs over the USB bus, even though the software itself knows how, because FreeBSD doesn't know what a UPS is and throws up its hands when you plug it in. apcupsd works with FreeBSD 4.11-STABLE and later. It uses ugen(4) interface to talk with UPS. It has no problems with my BackUPS CS 500. Do not try it with 4.11-RELEASE, though - it won't work. Eugene Grosbein ___ freebsd-stable@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-stable To unsubscribe, send any mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Recommendations for a serial port card you can actually BUY?
Hello! On Thu, 5 Oct 2006, Karl Denninger wrote: The problem that is nailing me particularly hard right now is the second one - I have embedded control systems that I speak to over a RS-232 interface (the devices are actually '485 on a common bus but talked to via a 232/485 converter) and it simply does not work on 6.x using the Comtrol driver at all. 100ms delays and the like are one thing - we're talking about delays in characters reaching the application of one second or more, and in What makes me wonder is whether delays you're seeing have the same nature as recent watchdog timeouts on various Gbit NICs observed by many RELENG_6 users (interrupt processing scheduling problem I suspect), or they're strictly rp(4)-specific. With FreeBSD 5.x being EOL'd this is now turning into a critical problem. I can't in good conscience put packages out there that have been EOL'd nor offer meaningful support on them. While 5.4 has been reasonably stable for some time, that is now declared a dead release. 5.5 is similarly on that road. The only right path forward is into the 6.x world, but I can't get there from where I am now unless this problem can be resolved. If I were you, I'd try to prepare easy-repeatable test case so developer (or just curious and clever person) who has Comtrol Serial Port Card could recreate the problem. And no, I don't have either hardware or time available. [ Cost considerations are totally skipped cause they're irrelevant to software regressions like the one you're seeing... ] Sincerely, Dmitry -- Atlantis ISP, System Administrator e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] nic-hdl: LYNX-RIPE ___ freebsd-stable@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-stable To unsubscribe, send any mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Recommendations for a serial port card you can actually BUY?
Brooks Davis wrote: On Thu, Oct 05, 2006 at 03:21:44PM -0500, Karl Denninger wrote: FreeBSD's USB support has always been somewhat deficient. For example, apcupsd can't talk to their UPSs over the USB bus, even though the software itself knows how, because FreeBSD doesn't know what a UPS is and throws up its hands when you plug it in. This is false for at least the APC SmartUPS the machine I'm sending this from is connected to. I wouldn't be suprised if it was true once, but it isn't today. ugen0: American Power Conversion Smart-UPS 750 FW:651.12.D USB FW:4.2, rev 1.10/0.06, addr 2 The uhid driver used to grab the APC USB device, but I think someone added a quirk in 6.1 to stop it so the ugen driver would get it instead. Guy -- Guy Helmer, Ph.D. Chief System Architect Palisade Systems, Inc. ___ freebsd-stable@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-stable To unsubscribe, send any mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Recommendations for a serial port card you can actually BUY?
On Thu, Oct 05, 2006 at 05:04:41PM -0400, Bob Johnson wrote: On 10/5/06, Karl Denninger [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: [...] I know serial I/O is passe for many, but some of us have applications that actually require it, and can't rationally be moved to anything else due to external hardware considerations. I have used USB-to-serial converters with no problem. All the control signals (at least the ones my applications need) seem to work correctly. I don't remember any brands or models off hand, I bought what was cheap as I needed them and they all worked. Cheap means under $20 delivered (for one port). Interesting. Now, what happens when you reboot? Do they come back in random order? That won't work! I need to know that port 2 will BE Port 2 the next time the machine comes up -- -- Karl Denninger ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) Internet Consultant Kids Rights Activist http://www.denninger.netMy home on the net - links to everything I do! http://scubaforum.org Your UNCENSORED place to talk about DIVING! http://genesis3.blogspot.comMusings Of A Sentient Mind ___ freebsd-stable@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-stable To unsubscribe, send any mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Recommendations for a serial port card you can actually BUY?
On Thu, Oct 05, 2006 at 04:04:47PM -0500, Brooks Davis wrote: On Thu, Oct 05, 2006 at 03:21:44PM -0500, Karl Denninger wrote: FreeBSD's USB support has always been somewhat deficient. For example, apcupsd can't talk to their UPSs over the USB bus, even though the software itself knows how, because FreeBSD doesn't know what a UPS is and throws up its hands when you plug it in. This is false for at least the APC SmartUPS the machine I'm sending this from is connected to. I wouldn't be suprised if it was true once, but it isn't today. ugen0: American Power Conversion Smart-UPS 750 FW:651.12.D USB FW:4.2, rev 1.10/0.06, addr 2 Does apcupsd connect to it? I tried this back on 5.x and it failed miserably. It identified the unit, but wouldn't talk to it. -- -- Karl Denninger ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) Internet Consultant Kids Rights Activist http://www.denninger.netMy home on the net - links to everything I do! http://scubaforum.org Your UNCENSORED place to talk about DIVING! http://genesis3.blogspot.comMusings Of A Sentient Mind ___ freebsd-stable@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-stable To unsubscribe, send any mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Recommendations for a serial port card you can actually BUY?
On Fri, Oct 06, 2006 at 12:22:09AM +0300, Dmitry Pryanishnikov wrote: Hello! On Thu, 5 Oct 2006, Karl Denninger wrote: The problem that is nailing me particularly hard right now is the second one - I have embedded control systems that I speak to over a RS-232 interface (the devices are actually '485 on a common bus but talked to via a 232/485 converter) and it simply does not work on 6.x using the Comtrol driver at all. 100ms delays and the like are one thing - we're talking about delays in characters reaching the application of one second or more, and in What makes me wonder is whether delays you're seeing have the same nature as recent watchdog timeouts on various Gbit NICs observed by many RELENG_6 users (interrupt processing scheduling problem I suspect), or they're strictly rp(4)-specific. It might be. I am NOT having problems with em0 however, and I DO have it in the box With FreeBSD 5.x being EOL'd this is now turning into a critical problem. I can't in good conscience put packages out there that have been EOL'd nor offer meaningful support on them. While 5.4 has been reasonably stable for some time, that is now declared a dead release. 5.5 is similarly on that road. The only right path forward is into the 6.x world, but I can't get there from where I am now unless this problem can be resolved. If I were you, I'd try to prepare easy-repeatable test case so developer (or just curious and clever person) who has Comtrol Serial Port Card could recreate the problem. And no, I don't have either hardware or time available. Its easy for me to do that, but so far nobody has picked up the PR. -- -- Karl Denninger ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) Internet Consultant Kids Rights Activist http://www.denninger.netMy home on the net - links to everything I do! http://scubaforum.org Your UNCENSORED place to talk about DIVING! http://genesis3.blogspot.comMusings Of A Sentient Mind ___ freebsd-stable@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-stable To unsubscribe, send any mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Recommendations for a serial port card you can actually BUY?
On Thu, Oct 05, 2006 at 07:09:56PM -0500, Karl Denninger wrote: On Thu, Oct 05, 2006 at 04:04:47PM -0500, Brooks Davis wrote: On Thu, Oct 05, 2006 at 03:21:44PM -0500, Karl Denninger wrote: FreeBSD's USB support has always been somewhat deficient. For example, apcupsd can't talk to their UPSs over the USB bus, even though the software itself knows how, because FreeBSD doesn't know what a UPS is and throws up its hands when you plug it in. This is false for at least the APC SmartUPS the machine I'm sending this from is connected to. I wouldn't be suprised if it was true once, but it isn't today. ugen0: American Power Conversion Smart-UPS 750 FW:651.12.D USB FW:4.2, rev 1.10/0.06, addr 2 Does apcupsd connect to it? I tried this back on 5.x and it failed miserably. It identified the unit, but wouldn't talk to it. Yes. I get notifications of power failures and can query status. -- Brooks pgpukGQDBDeJP.pgp Description: PGP signature
Re: Recommendations for a serial port card you can actually BUY?
At 08:09 PM 10/5/2006, Karl Denninger wrote: ugen0: American Power Conversion Smart-UPS 750 FW:651.12.D USB FW:4.2, rev 1.10/0.06, addr 2 Does apcupsd connect to it? I tried this back on 5.x and it failed miserably. It identified the unit, but wouldn't talk to it. I literally have 150+ remote FreeBSD boxes with them and they succeed fantastically... They are configured to shut down the box and power to the UPS outlets on power failure with 25% battery left. All the notification hooks work as expected. They have been working for me since the 5.x days. I have a few in the field running on 5.4 boxes (May 2005) without issue. (ugen0: APC Back-UPS ES 725 FW:802.n2.D USB FW:n2, rev 1.10/1.06, addr 2) [ps0006]# apcaccess APC : 001,034,0908 DATE : Thu Oct 05 20:28:56 EDT 2006 HOSTNAME : ps0006.sentex.ca RELEASE : 3.10.18 VERSION : 3.10.18 (21 July 2005) freebsd UPSNAME : RAPIDS CABLE: USB Cable MODEL: Back-UPS ES 500 UPSMODE : Stand Alone STARTTIME: Wed Jun 14 11:00:07 EDT 2006 STATUS : ONLINE LINEV: 120.0 Volts LOADPCT : 12.0 Percent Load Capacity BCHARGE : 100.0 Percent TIMELEFT : 29.9 Minutes MBATTCHG : 25 Percent MINTIMEL : -1 Minutes MAXTIME : 0 Seconds LOTRANS : 088.0 Volts HITRANS : 139.0 Volts ALARMDEL : 30 seconds BATTV: 13.6 Volts NUMXFERS : 19 XONBATT : Mon Sep 25 10:53:00 EDT 2006 TONBATT : 0 seconds CUMONBATT: 173 seconds XOFFBATT : Mon Sep 25 10:53:02 EDT 2006 STATFLAG : 0x0208 Status Flag MANDATE : 2005-10-13 SERIALNO : JB0542018502 BATTDATE : 2000-00-00 NOMBATTV : 12.0 FIRMWARE : 24.B1.D USB FW:B1 APCMODEL : Back-UPS ES 500 END APC : Thu Oct 05 20:28:57 EDT 2006 [ps0006]# usbdevs addr 1: UHCI root hub, VIA addr 2: Back-UPS ES 500 FW:824.B1.D USB FW:B1, APC addr 1: UHCI root hub, VIA addr 1: UHCI root hub, VIA addr 1: UHCI root hub, VIA addr 1: EHCI root hub, VIA [ps0006]# ___ freebsd-stable@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-stable To unsubscribe, send any mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Recommendations for a serial port card you can actually BUY?
On 2006-10-05, Brooks Davis wrote: On Thu, Oct 05, 2006 at 07:09:56PM -0500, Karl Denninger wrote: On Thu, Oct 05, 2006 at 04:04:47PM -0500, Brooks Davis wrote: On Thu, Oct 05, 2006 at 03:21:44PM -0500, Karl Denninger wrote: FreeBSD's USB support has always been somewhat deficient. For example, apcupsd can't talk to their UPSs over the USB bus, even though the software itself knows how, because FreeBSD doesn't know what a UPS is and throws up its hands when you plug it in. This is false for at least the APC SmartUPS the machine I'm sending this from is connected to. I wouldn't be suprised if it was true once, but it isn't today. ugen0: American Power Conversion Smart-UPS 750 FW:651.12.D USB FW:4.2, rev 1.10/0.06, addr 2 Does apcupsd connect to it? I tried this back on 5.x and it failed miserably. It identified the unit, but wouldn't talk to it. Yes. I get notifications of power failures and can query status. I don't know what you guys are doing right, but it doesn't work right for me on $ uname -srm FreeBSD 6.1-RELEASE amd64 I do get some results: this is the console when it's connected: ugen1: American Power Conversion Smart-UPS 750 FW:651.12.I USB FW:7.3, rev 1.10/0.06, addr 6 I find that apcaccess gives much less info from the USB port than it does from the RS232 port (on the same hardware) and apctest (which I want to use to set eprom values) doesn't work at all. This is very irritating, as I'd like to use my only serial port for a remote console. For now, I've gone back to using the serial port. But I'd love the USB to work fully. Greg ___ freebsd-stable@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-stable To unsubscribe, send any mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Recommendations for a serial port card you can actually BUY?
What's your config like? I hooked the USB back up and it identified, but when I told it to use USB and specified the device, it panics (the software, not the machine) with a complaint about not being able to talk to the UPS. Works perfectly on a serial port... -- -- Karl Denninger ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) Internet Consultant Kids Rights Activist http://www.denninger.netMy home on the net - links to everything I do! http://scubaforum.org Your UNCENSORED place to talk about DIVING! http://genesis3.blogspot.comMusings Of A Sentient Mind On Thu, Oct 05, 2006 at 08:35:32PM -0400, Mike Tancsa wrote: At 08:09 PM 10/5/2006, Karl Denninger wrote: ugen0: American Power Conversion Smart-UPS 750 FW:651.12.D USB FW:4.2, rev 1.10/0.06, addr 2 Does apcupsd connect to it? I tried this back on 5.x and it failed miserably. It identified the unit, but wouldn't talk to it. I literally have 150+ remote FreeBSD boxes with them and they succeed fantastically... They are configured to shut down the box and power to the UPS outlets on power failure with 25% battery left. All the notification hooks work as expected. They have been working for me since the 5.x days. I have a few in the field running on 5.4 boxes (May 2005) without issue. (ugen0: APC Back-UPS ES 725 FW:802.n2.D USB FW:n2, rev 1.10/1.06, addr 2) [ps0006]# apcaccess APC : 001,034,0908 DATE : Thu Oct 05 20:28:56 EDT 2006 HOSTNAME : ps0006.sentex.ca RELEASE : 3.10.18 VERSION : 3.10.18 (21 July 2005) freebsd UPSNAME : RAPIDS CABLE: USB Cable MODEL: Back-UPS ES 500 UPSMODE : Stand Alone STARTTIME: Wed Jun 14 11:00:07 EDT 2006 STATUS : ONLINE LINEV: 120.0 Volts LOADPCT : 12.0 Percent Load Capacity BCHARGE : 100.0 Percent TIMELEFT : 29.9 Minutes MBATTCHG : 25 Percent MINTIMEL : -1 Minutes MAXTIME : 0 Seconds LOTRANS : 088.0 Volts HITRANS : 139.0 Volts ALARMDEL : 30 seconds BATTV: 13.6 Volts NUMXFERS : 19 XONBATT : Mon Sep 25 10:53:00 EDT 2006 TONBATT : 0 seconds CUMONBATT: 173 seconds XOFFBATT : Mon Sep 25 10:53:02 EDT 2006 STATFLAG : 0x0208 Status Flag MANDATE : 2005-10-13 SERIALNO : JB0542018502 BATTDATE : 2000-00-00 NOMBATTV : 12.0 FIRMWARE : 24.B1.D USB FW:B1 APCMODEL : Back-UPS ES 500 END APC : Thu Oct 05 20:28:57 EDT 2006 [ps0006]# usbdevs addr 1: UHCI root hub, VIA addr 2: Back-UPS ES 500 FW:824.B1.D USB FW:B1, APC addr 1: UHCI root hub, VIA addr 1: UHCI root hub, VIA addr 1: UHCI root hub, VIA addr 1: EHCI root hub, VIA [ps0006]# ___ freebsd-stable@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-stable To unsubscribe, send any mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] %SPAMBLOCK-SYS: Matched [EMAIL PROTECTED], message ok ___ freebsd-stable@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-stable To unsubscribe, send any mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Recommendations for a serial port card you can actually BUY?
At 09:49 PM 10/5/2006, Karl Denninger wrote: What's your config like? I hooked the USB back up and it identified, but when I told it to use USB and specified the device I think it says in the docs not to specify the device. , it panics (the software, not the machine) with a complaint about not being able to talk to the UPS. UPSNAME STATN UPSCABLE usb UPSTYPE usb DEVICE LOCKFILE /var/spool/lock ONBATTERYDELAY 7 BATTERYLEVEL 25 MINUTES -1 TIMEOUT 0 ANNOY 10 ANNOYDELAY 10 NOLOGON disable KILLDELAY 2 NETSERVER on NISIP 127.0.0.1 NISPORT 3551 EVENTSFILE /var/log/apcupsd.events EVENTSFILEMAX 100 UPSCLASS standalone UPSMODE disable STATTIME 600 STATFILE /var/log/apcupsd.status LOGSTATS off DATATIME 600 FACILITY local2 UPSNAME STN SENSITIVITY H WAKEUP 010 SLEEP 000 RETURNCHARGE 00 BEEPSTATE T SELFTEST 336 ___ freebsd-stable@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-stable To unsubscribe, send any mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Recommendations for a serial port card you can actually BUY?
At 09:49 PM 10/5/2006, Karl Denninger wrote: What's your config like? I hooked the USB back up and it identified, but when I told it to use USB and specified the device, it panics (the software, not the machine) with a complaint about not being able to talk to the UPS. Works perfectly on a serial port... From the documentation at http://www.apcupsd.org/manual/Configuration_Examples.html#SECTION000131000 If you have a USB UPS, and you have apcupsd version 3.10.7 (3.10.17a for *BSD) or higher, the essential elements of your apcupsd.conf file should look like the following: ## apcupsd.conf v1.1 ## UPSCABLE usb UPSTYPE usb DEVICE LOCKFILE /var/lock UPSCLASS standalone UPSMODE disable Notice that we have not specified a device. In doing so, apcupsd will try all the well known USB ports. We strongly recommend you use this (empty device address) form unless you have a good reason to do otherwise. -- -- Karl Denninger ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) Internet Consultant Kids Rights Activist http://www.denninger.netMy home on the net - links to everything I do! http://scubaforum.org Your UNCENSORED place to talk about DIVING! http://genesis3.blogspot.comMusings Of A Sentient Mind On Thu, Oct 05, 2006 at 08:35:32PM -0400, Mike Tancsa wrote: At 08:09 PM 10/5/2006, Karl Denninger wrote: ugen0: American Power Conversion Smart-UPS 750 FW:651.12.D USB FW:4.2, rev 1.10/0.06, addr 2 Does apcupsd connect to it? I tried this back on 5.x and it failed miserably. It identified the unit, but wouldn't talk to it. I literally have 150+ remote FreeBSD boxes with them and they succeed fantastically... They are configured to shut down the box and power to the UPS outlets on power failure with 25% battery left. All the notification hooks work as expected. They have been working for me since the 5.x days. I have a few in the field running on 5.4 boxes (May 2005) without issue. (ugen0: APC Back-UPS ES 725 FW:802.n2.D USB FW:n2, rev 1.10/1.06, addr 2) [ps0006]# apcaccess APC : 001,034,0908 DATE : Thu Oct 05 20:28:56 EDT 2006 HOSTNAME : ps0006.sentex.ca RELEASE : 3.10.18 VERSION : 3.10.18 (21 July 2005) freebsd UPSNAME : RAPIDS CABLE: USB Cable MODEL: Back-UPS ES 500 UPSMODE : Stand Alone STARTTIME: Wed Jun 14 11:00:07 EDT 2006 STATUS : ONLINE LINEV: 120.0 Volts LOADPCT : 12.0 Percent Load Capacity BCHARGE : 100.0 Percent TIMELEFT : 29.9 Minutes MBATTCHG : 25 Percent MINTIMEL : -1 Minutes MAXTIME : 0 Seconds LOTRANS : 088.0 Volts HITRANS : 139.0 Volts ALARMDEL : 30 seconds BATTV: 13.6 Volts NUMXFERS : 19 XONBATT : Mon Sep 25 10:53:00 EDT 2006 TONBATT : 0 seconds CUMONBATT: 173 seconds XOFFBATT : Mon Sep 25 10:53:02 EDT 2006 STATFLAG : 0x0208 Status Flag MANDATE : 2005-10-13 SERIALNO : JB0542018502 BATTDATE : 2000-00-00 NOMBATTV : 12.0 FIRMWARE : 24.B1.D USB FW:B1 APCMODEL : Back-UPS ES 500 END APC : Thu Oct 05 20:28:57 EDT 2006 [ps0006]# usbdevs addr 1: UHCI root hub, VIA addr 2: Back-UPS ES 500 FW:824.B1.D USB FW:B1, APC addr 1: UHCI root hub, VIA addr 1: UHCI root hub, VIA addr 1: UHCI root hub, VIA addr 1: EHCI root hub, VIA [ps0006]# ___ freebsd-stable@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-stable To unsubscribe, send any mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] %SPAMBLOCK-SYS: Matched [EMAIL PROTECTED], message ok ___ freebsd-stable@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-stable To unsubscribe, send any mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Recommendations for a serial port card you can actually BUY?
Hi, Karl Denninger wrote: So. I have an application that requires six serial ports, and would like ten. 5.x FreeBSD versions are being EOL'd per the announcement, forcing me to move to 6.x. The Comtrol driver for the Smart Rocketport boards is broken in 6.x, and the PR appears to be one that will sit and rot. What options do I have in the FreeBSD universe here guys? This is a real no-BS production application that has hundreds of deployed instances, and it is in no way obsolete or something I intend to stop supporting. I know serial I/O is passe for many, but some of us have applications that actually require it, and can't rationally be moved to anything else due to external hardware considerations. I do serial I/O a bit. I use USB to RS232 and USB to RS485/RS422 devices. There are a bunch of vendors, they are cheap and seem to work well. I have also seen (but not used) 4 port versions of these things, and I wouldn't be surprised if you could find an eight port version as well. Regards, Jan Mikkelsen ___ freebsd-stable@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-stable To unsubscribe, send any mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Recommendations for a serial port card you can actually BUY?
Karl Denninger wrote: So. I have an application that requires six serial ports, and would like ten. 5.x FreeBSD versions are being EOL'd per the announcement, forcing me to move to 6.x. The Comtrol driver for the Smart Rocketport boards is broken in 6.x, and the PR appears to be one that will sit and rot. What options do I have in the FreeBSD universe here guys? This is a real no-BS production application that has hundreds of deployed instances, and it is in no way obsolete or something I intend to stop supporting. Well, you could find (or hire) someone to fix the driver in 6.x, which would save you the cost of re-deploying hardware. (I'm assuming that the PR is a statement of brokenness, and not one that has a patch that fixes the problem.) -- Matt Emmerton ___ freebsd-stable@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-stable To unsubscribe, send any mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
