|  | DeviceMaster 500 TroubleshootingReview the following information before calling Technical Support because they will request that you
perform many of the procedures or verifications before they will be able to help you diagnose a problem. If you cannot diagnose the problem, you can contact Technical Support . Troubleshooting ChecklistThe following checklist may help you diagnose your problem:
Verify that you are using the correct types of cables on the correct connectors
and that all cables are connected securely. See the
DeviceMaster 500 Installation and Configuration Guide for up-to-date cabling information.
![[Note]](images/note.gif) | | Note |
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Most customer problems reported to Technical Support are eventually traced to
cabling or network problems. |
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Make sure that you have installed and configured the latest driver. If you have a spare DeviceMaster 500 try replacing the DeviceMaster 500.
For additional troubleshooting, you can refer to one of the following:
Microsoft Driver TroubleshootingIf using a device driver for a Microsoft system, you can check the following:
If using an in-house application, verify that you are addressing the port correctly. In many applications,
device names above COM9 require the prefix \\.\ in order to be recognized.
For example, to reference COM20, use \\.\COM20 as the file or port name.
Verify that the DeviceMaster 500 has installed by checking the
Windows Device Manager to verify that the
DeviceMaster is listed properly.
If you need procedures for opening the Device Manager for your Windows system,
you can refer to the appropriate sub-steps under Step 1 of the Checking the Driver Version in Windows page.
Make sure that there is an entry for the DeviceMaster under the Multi-port Serial Adapters section.
Open the Comtrol Drivers Management Console highlight the DeviceMaster 500, click the Advanced tab, and
review the Device Status window. Ideally, it will state: DeviceMaster is active and OK.
For additional message descriptions, see the
DeviceMaster NS-Link User Guide.
After device driver installation, if a port does not open; open the Device Manager,
go to Ports COM&LPT and check for notices such as a yellow exclamation mark.
If yellow exclamation mark exists, right-click on each and select Update driver.
If no yellow exclamation mark exists, check to see if another application might already have the port open. You can open the Comtrol Drivers Management Console and
enable the Verbose Event Log feature on the Device General tab and
then reboot the system. Additional information is sent to the Windows Event Log.
If you have not done so, install PortVision DX,
which includes Test Terminal for troubleshooting communications on a port-by-port basis and Port Monitor to check
for errors, modem control, status signals, raw byte input and output counts.
You can use the Test Terminal procedure below or
the Port Monitor (PMon2) and Test Terminal (WCom2) User Guide,
which provides procedures for using both Test Terminal and Port Monitor to test ports and communications.
Remove and reinstall the device driver.
You can refer to the DeviceMaster NS-Link User Guide for Windows
for additional troubleshooting ideas.
Test Terminal ExplanationThe following provides background information about the two test procedures
discussed for Test Terminal, which is included in PortVision Plus.
Optionally, you can use the Port Monitor (PMon2) and Test Terminal (WCom2) User Guide,
which provides procedures for using both Test Terminal and Port Monitor to test ports and communications.
Send and Receive Test Data: This sends data out the transmit line to the loopback plug, which has the transmit
and receive pins connected thus sending the data back through the Rx line to Test Terminal, which then displays the
received data in the terminal window for that port. This test is only testing the Tx and Rx signal lines and nothing else.
This test works in either RS-232 or RS-422 modes as both modes have transmit and receive capability. A failure in this
test will essentially prevent the port from working in any manner. Loopback Test: This tests all of the modem control signals
such as RTS, DTR, CTS, DSR, CD, and RI along with the Tx and Rx signals. When a signal is made HI in one line
the corresponding signal line indicates this. The Loopback Test changes the state of the lines and looks for the
corresponding state change. If it successfully recognizes all of these changes, the port passes.
A failure on this test is not necessarily critical as it will depend on what is connected and how many signal lines are in
use. For example, if you are using RS-232 in 3-wire mode (Transmit, Receive and Ground) a failure will cause no
discernible issue since the other signals are not being used. If the port is configured for use as either RS-422 or
RS-485 this test will fail and is expected to fail since RS-422 and RS-485 do not have the modem control signals
that are present in RS-232 for which this test is designed.
Using Test Terminal to Test a PortThe following procedure shows how to use Test Terminal to send and receive test data to the serial ports and
run a loopback test.
Stop all applications that may be accessing the ports such as RAS, RRAS, or any faxing or production
software.
See the appropriate help systems or manuals for instructions on stopping these services or
applications. If another application is controlling the port, then Test Terminal will be unable to open the port and an error message
will be shown.
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Remember to restart the application once testing of the ports has been completed. |
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From the Start menu, click Programs > Comtrol > Utilities > Test Terminal (WCOM2). Click File > Open Port and the appropriate port (or ports) from
the Open Ports drop list. Install the loopback plug onto the port (or ports) that you want to test. Click Port > Send and Receive Test Data.
You should see the alphabet scrolling across the port. If so, then the port installed properly and is operational. Click Port > Send and Receive Test Data to stop the scrolling data. Click Port > Loopback Test.
This is a pass fail test and will take a second or two to complete. Repeat for each port that needs testing.
The loopback test tests the modem control (hardware handshaking) signals. It only has meaning in RS-232 mode
on serial connector interfaces with full RS-232 signals. If performed under the following conditions, the test will always
fail because full modem control signals are not present:
RS-422 RS-485 RJ11 connectors
Close Test Terminal
If both of these tests successfully complete, then the port is operational as expected.
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Do not forget to restart the application. |
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Linux Installations TroubleshootingYou can use the following subsections to test the serial ports on a Linux system.
Pepperl+Fuchs Comtrol, Inc. has available
lcom(1), which is a multi-port serial I/O test
program. You can use lcom in test mode to send test data to any serial port.
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For assistance using lcom, use the manual page (lcom.1) that accompanies the program. |
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The following examples use ports ttySI0 and ttySI1. You will need to substitute the port numbers that you will be
testing, where appropriate, for your device.
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Where x is the port number, which begins at 0 (zero) and
continues sequentially. Linux is case-sensitive, be sure to use the proper case. tty is
lowercase and SI is in uppercase. |
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You can also refer to the procedures below to check the ports:
You can transfer a file using the following information.
The default settings are 9600, 8, n, 1, and no parity. To send a file you can redirect output to a device; for example:
Cat /etc/inittab > /dev/ttySI0
Sends the contents of the /etc/inittab file to the ttySI0
device at 9600 baud, 8, n, 1, and no parity.
Changing Serial Port Settings (stty)Use the following information if you need assistance changing or viewing the baud rate settings.
To change the baud rate, use the following example, which changes the baud rate to 19200:
stty 19200 </dev/ttySI0
To view the current serial port settings for ttySI0, enter:
stty -a </dev/ttySI0
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Settings changes via stty are only valid during current log in session.
For permanent setting changes, use the /etc/inittab file.
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Setting Up Terminals and Modems (mgetty, agetty, getty)Add the appropriate line or lines to the /etc/inittab file then restart.
Some distributions use the agetty command and
other distributions use getty. Check
the documentation for your Linux distribution if you are unsure.
Terminal Example:
T0:23:respawn:/sbin/agetty -L ttySI0 57600 vt100
Modem Example:
T1:23:respawn:+/sbin/mgetty -m ‘"" AT&F OK’ -D -x9 -s 115200 ttySI0
If necessary, see the manual pages for more information on mgetty.
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