Technical information

Newcom Parameters Serial Solutions
Hardware Interrupt.
Switch: /I port, irq
Purpose:
Set interrupt line is use with the COM port. With the
exception of specially designed shared interrupt cards like
the Lynx & Quad RS232 cards, for reliable communica-
tions each port needs its own interrupt line.
’port’
a decimal number in the range 1 to maxport specifying a
COM port. eg 1 means COM1 10 means COM10. If port
is not specified the interrupt line is applied to all ports.
’irq’ is the interrupt line in the range 2 to 15, or, to indicate no
interrupt line, -1 or nothing.
Figure 2-2. Interrupt Allocation.____________________________
IRQ NORMAL USE COMMENTS STATUS
2 VGA GRAPHICS CARD Used by very few VGA cards Usually OK
3 COM2 Dedicated to COM2 at 2F8hex COM 2 ONLY
4 COM1 Dedicated to COM1 at 3F8hex COM 1 ONLY
5 LPT 2 DOS/WIN don’t use this IRQ Good in DOS
Avoid with OS/2 Novell WinNT & Windows
6 FLOPPY DISK Dedicated to Floppy Disk AVOID !!!
7 LPT 1 DOS/WIN don’t use this IRQ Good in DOS
Soundblaster Avoid with OS/2 Novell WinNT & Windows
10 Usually Free Recommended for COM3 GOOD
11 Usually Free Recommended for COM4 GOOD
Adaptec SCSI if not Adaptec SCSI card
12 POINTING DEVICE Free if Mouse is on COM port Usually OK
14 IDE HARD DISK Usually In Use. Usually BAD
Free when SCSI disks in use
15 Usually Free Recommended GOOD
Chapter 2 Page 27