Owner`s manual

Page 1-5Introducing the Eagle Series Computer
Front Panel Status Display
The status display on the front panel lets you know what is going on inside the computer
even when no messages appear on your terminal. Some normal functions of the
machine (e.g., clearing memory when the computer boots) cause codes to appear on
the display, as do certain system errors.
In addition, the self test uses the status display to let you know how it is progressing,
and if any errors have occurred. The self test checks the major hardware components in
the computer for proper operation, including memory, disk controllers and drives,
interval timer, and the serial I/O ports.
For information on all meaningful codes that can appear on the front panel display, see
Chapter 8, "Status Display Codes." For information on using the self test, see the self
test user’s guide that accompanied this owner’s manual.
Serial I/O Capability
Your computer can support as few as four or as many as 60 asynchronous serial I/O
ports, depending on the model:
The Eagle 100’s main electronics board, the AM-137, includes eight on-board RS-232
serial ports. All eight serial ports use standard DB-9 connectors. The on-board serial
ports use a driver called AM318.IDV and use octal port numbers 0-7.
The Eagle 300-500’s main I/O controller board can be configured to boot with either an
AM-314 four-port serial I/O board, or an AM-318 eight-port serial I/O board. The AM-314
I/O board uses the AM314.IDV software driver and DB-9 connectors, while the AM-318
I/O board uses the AM318.IDV driver and an RJ-21 50-pin Telco connector.
The I/O
expansion slot (or slots) on Eagle 100-500 systems can support both the
four-port AM-314 I/O board and/or the eight-port AM-318 I/O board. The AM-314, which
supports both RS-232 and RS-422 protocol, uses standard female DB-9 connectors; the
AM-318, which supports RS-232 only, uses an RJ-21 50-pin Telco connector. Consult
the installation instructions for the appropriate serial I/O board for details on installation
and pinouts.
The Eagle 550’s main I/O controller board includes four on-board RJ-45 connectors
which provide standard RS-232 serial I/O communication. Since the four on-board
serial ports provide the same operating characteristics as the AM-318 I/O board, they
must also use the same AM318.IDV interface driver, and are assigned octal port
numbers 0-3. The Eagle 550 also provides asynchronous serial I/O expansion via the
standard Alpha Micro paddle card bus. The AM-359 eight-port serial I/O paddle card is
the recommended choice for I/O expansion. Both the on-board RJ-45 serial ports, and
the AM-359 expansion paddle card ports have identical pinout definitions.
Eagle Series Computer Owner’s Manual, Rev. 03