Technical data

Managing Peripheral Devices
8.5 Automatically Configuring Devices for OpenVMS Alpha Systems
The MC SYSMAN IO REBUILD/VERIFY command causes SYSMAN
to read and process the SYS$SYSTEM:SYS$USER_CONFIG.DAT and
SYS$SYSTEM:CONFIG.DAT files, but not to rebuild the configuration
files for OpenVMS. Messages will be displayed for any errors that are
encountered. This command can be used by developers to test new changes to
SYS$SYSTEM:SYS$USER_CONFIG.DAT without modifying the current system.
8.5.3 Supported Buses for User Devices
File-based autoconfiguration is supported for user-written device drivers on
PCI, ISA, EISA, and TURBOchannel buses. This section includes additional
information specific to configurations.
8.5.3.1 ISA Device Configuration
ISA devices do not provide a readable device ID that can be discovered during bus
probing. A user must explicitly indicate the presence of the device at the console
and must also reserve resources for the device at the console (IRQs, I/O ports,
etc.). Once the device is known to the console, OpenVMS can then autoconfigure
it using file-based autoconfiguration.
ISA devices may be used on either an ISA bus or an EISA bus. If the system has
an ISA bus, the device is configured at the console using ISACFG. If the system
has an EISA bus, the ISA device is configured using ECU. Both console utilities
allow the users to reserve device resources.
8.5.3.1.1 Configuring ISA Devices on the ISA Bus In previous versions
of OpenVMS Alpha, ISA devices on an ISA bus required an entry in the
SYS$MANAGER:ISA_CONFIG.DAT file that defined the hardware and the
use of the console command ISACFG to reserve system resources like IRQs.
Caution
Beginning with OpenVMS Alpha Version 7.2, the ISA_CONFIG.DAT file
is no longer supported. Refer to Section 8.5.4 for more information.
8.5.3.1.2 Configuring ISA Devices on the EISA Bus ISA devices must be
manually configured using the EISA Configuration Utility (ECU) which is run
from the console. Devices must have a CFG file provided on a DOS floppy. The
CFG file provides a string (up to 7 characters) as the device ID.
See your card manufacturer, or the EISA Bus Specification for details on CFG file
format.
The ECU floppy (DOS format) contains an example ISA CFG file (ISA000.CFG)
that may be used as a model for new configuration files. For more information,
refer to the EISA Bus Support chapter in Writing OpenVMS Alpha Device Drivers
in C.
Once the ECU has been run, the device can be configured using file-based
autoconfiguration.
Note
ISA devices cannot be easily autoconfigured on EISA bus systems on
versions prior to OpenVMS Alpha Version 7.1 because the ID is not copied
from the ECU data into the OpenVMS bus structures.
Managing Peripheral Devices 8–17