Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!uflorida!gatech!emory!phssra
From: phssra@mathcs.emory.edu (Scott R. Anderson)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac
Subject: Re: Additional serial ports for MacII?
Keywords: serial ports, MacII
Message-ID: <3859@emory.mathcs.emory.edu>
Date: 27 Mar 89 23:56:11 GMT
References: <520@umiami.miami.edu> <46100292@uxe.cso.uiuc.edu> <213@suna.CMI.COM> <1448@ccnysci.UUCP>
Reply-To: phssra@emory.UUCP (Scott Robert Anderson)
Organization: Department of Physics, Emory University, Atlanta
Lines: 60

In article <1448@ccnysci.UUCP> alexis@ccnysci.UUCP (Alexis Rosen) writes:
>In article <213@suna.CMI.COM> dave@suna.cmi.com.UUCP (David Halonen) writes:
>>I'm looking for a manufacturer of additional serial ports for the
>>MacII.  Any leads out there?
>
>There are also a number of other manufacturers who make serial cards:
>CSI- They make the "Hurdler" NuBus prototyping card and MacForth. I don't know
>     anything about their serial card, except that as of two months ago it
>     would not run with A/UX. The four-port card is cheap ( <$300, I think).

Interestingly, I have been looking into these boards, also.  I just got some
literature from Creative Solutions, Inc. about them.  Here is what they have to
say:

    The Hurdler-HDS and HQS are dual and quad port serial boards for the
    Macintosh II.  The Mini-DIN connectors and signals used on this interface
    are the same as those provided with the Macintosh II.

    The local 68008 microprocessor offloads most real-time serial activity from
    the Macintosh II's 68020 processor.  All I/O is buffered to guarantee that
    no data is lost while the 68020 is busy servicing other higher priority
    interrupt sources such as floppy disk or LocalTalk.  Sustained rates in
    excess of 38,400 baud are available on all four channels simultaneously.
    The 68008 may be custom programmed to handle unique, higher performance
    end-user applications such as MIDI, process automation and networking.

    The Hurdler-HDS/HQS is accessed in exactly the same manner as the existing
    two serial ports on the Macintosh II.  These are named ".ain", ".aout",
    ".bin", ".bout".  At startup, each Hurdler-HDS/HQS serial channel is
    automatically configured and assigned the first available driver name in
    alphabetical sequence.  For example, a HDS plugged into slot 9 will have
    ports that may be accessed as ".cin", ".cout", ".din", and ".dout".  The
    current ".a" and ".b" port drivers may be aliased to HDS/HQS ports via the
    control panel allowing existing communications applications to operate over
    HDS/HQS serial channels.

    FEATURES
    * Very cost effective
    * HDS has 2 serial ports; HQS has 4
    * RS-232 and RS-422 compatible
    * On-board 68008 microprocessor
    * Operates at speeds in excess of 38,400 baud per channel
    * HDS may be upgraded to 4 ports
    * A/UX driver available

The pricing on these boards is $299 for the HDS and $379 for the HQS.  I
talked to them on the phone; as with everybody else, they are waiting for the
new version of the serial driver/Chooser to come out which will address
additional ports under Mac OS (this summer?).  In the meantime, they have an
FKEY which can alias calls to the standard ports into calls to the extra ports.

I would appreciate hearing about any additional information people have on
these or other boards, and in particular on how one can get a copy of the beta
serial driver Alexis mentioned.

*
  *      **                  Scott Robert Anderson      gatech!emoryu1!phssra
   *   *    *    **          phssra@unix.cc.emory.edu   phssra@emoryu1.bitnet
    * *      * *    * **
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