Verify ChiliPORTS software is running.

Check the Windows NT Event Log

Verify operation of ChiliPORTS ports.

Verify that ChiliPORTS software is running.

The entries in the list of devices are in alphabetical order. Highlight the ChiliPORTS Driver entry by clicking on it. Its Status field should say Started, and its Startup field should say Automatic. If these settings are correct, click on Close and return to the Control Panel. If the settings are wrong, first change the Startup field to Automatic if necessary by clicking on the Startup button. Then start the ChiliPORTS driver manually by clicking on the Start button. When the Status field has changed to Started, click the Close button and return to the Control Panel.

Once you've confirmed that the ChiliPORTS device driver is started, you can do the same thing for the ChiliPORTS Service. From the Control Panel, double click on the Services icon to see this dialog box:

Scroll down to the ChiliPORTS Service entry and highlight it. Make sure its Status is Started and its Startup is Automatic. If not, click on the Startup button to change it to Automatic, then click on the Start button. When the Status field has changed to Started, click the Close button and return to the Program Manager Group.

Check the Windows NT Event Log

The ChiliPORTS software logs all notable events, both normal and abnormal, in the Windows NT Event Log. You can review this log by double clicking on Administrative Tools in the Program Manager Group. Then double click on the Event Viewer icon in the Administrative Tools Group, and you'll see this dialog box:

This list shows all logged events on your system; ChiliPORTS events are mixed in with other system events, and can be identified by the word "Chili" in the Source column. The list is in chronologic order, with the most recent event at the top. Scan down to the most recent ChiliPORTS event, and double click on it. You'll see a form like this:

The above example shows a normal event logged when the ChiliPORTS service started up while the system was booting. What you are looking for is the existence of any recent abnormal events, such as a report that the RAM on the ChiliPORTS card has become corrupted. Scan down through the list of events, double-clicking on every ChiliPORTS event, to see if any problems have been reported.

Verify operation of ChiliPORTS ports.

The serial port test is performed using the terminal emulation facilities built into Windows NT. From the Program Manager Group, double click on the Accessories icon. From the Accessories Group, select and open two Terminal sessions by double clicking twice on the Terminal icon . Select one of the two sessions and click on Settings, then click on Communications. From the Connector list box choose the first port to be tested (e.g. COM7, which is ChiliPORTS Port #5). Now select the other terminal session, and repeat the same steps to choose the second port to be tested (e.g. COM9, which is ChiliPORTS Port #7). Your screen will look something like this:

Note: In Windows NT 3.5, the Terminal program incorrectly displays only ports COM1 through COM9. We expect that this program will be corrected to show all available ports in a future release of Windows NT.

In order to communicate between these two terminal sessions over two serial ports, all settings except Connector must be identical in both sessions. So make any changes you like to the settings in the first session, then duplicate these settings in the second session. When both are identical, click on OK in each session.

Next, connect the special 8-inch diagnostic loopback cable that is included with your ChiliPORTS card between the two ports you are testing (in this example, they are ChiliPORTS Ports #5 and #7).

To test data transmit/receive functionality, select the first terminal session and start typing on the keyboard. The characters you type should appear in the window of the second session. When that's done, select the second session and start typing on the keyboard. The characters you type should appear in the window of the first session. This demonstrates that each of the two ports being tested can send and receive data.

By moving the loopback cable to a different pair of ports and changing the Connector settings in the two terminal sessions to reflect the new connection, you can repeat the above test on any set of ports.

---

Copyright 1996 Consensys Computers Inc. All rights reserved.

web@consensys.com
(905) 940 2900 ChiliPORTS Sales
(905) 940 2903 ChiliPORTS Sales Fax

---