User`s manual

PK2100
A-2 s Appendix A: Troubleshooting
Out of the Box
Check the items listed below before starting development. Rechecking
may help to solve problems found during development.
 Verify that the PK2100 runs in stand-alone mode before connecting
any expansion boards or I/O devices.
 Verify that the entire system has good, low-impedance, separate
grounds for analog and digital signals. The PK2100 is often connected
between the host PC and another device. Any differences in ground
potential can cause serious problems that are hard to diagnose.
 Do not connect analog ground to digital ground anywhere.
 Double-check the connecting cables to ensure none are inserted
backwards into the PK2100 headers.
 Verify that the host PCs COM port works by connecting a known-
good serial device to the COM port. Remember that a PCs COM1/
COM3 and COM2/COM4 share interrupts. User shells and mouse
software, in particular, often interfere with proper COM-port opera-
tion. For example, a mouse running on COM1 can preclude running
Dynamic C on COM3.
 Use the Z-World power supply supplied. If another power supply
must be used, verify that it has enough capacity and filtering to support
the PK2100.
 Use the Z-World cables supplied. The most common fault of other
cables is their failure to properly assert CTS at the RS-232 port of the
PK2100. Without CTS being asserted, the PK2100s RS-232 port will
not transmit. Assert CTS by either connecting the RTS signal of the
PCs COM port or looping back the PK2100s RTS. Check the
connections carefully if a DB9 connector or an RJ-12 connector is
wired to a 10-pin connector. The wires do not run pin-for-pin.
 Experiment with each peripheral device connected to the PK2100 to
determine how it appears to the PK2100 when powered up, powered
down, and when its connecting wiring is open or shorted
Note that telephone-company wiring has four wires
with 4-pin RJ-11 connectors, whereas the RJ-12
connector has six pins.