BOCA-HOWTO
_Installing a Boca 16-port serial card (Boca 2016) with Linux_
Last updated 1 August 1997
This HOWTO is being maintained by David H Dennis, david@freelink.net,
to try and help any other individuals who may have acquired a
BocaBoard, stared at it and found out that it didn't seem to do
anything.
A very high percentage of those interested in the BocaBoard are also
interested in becoming Internet Service Providers (ISPs). If you are
one of them, please feel free to drop by my web site,
http://www.amazing.com , and check out my Inet-Access FAQ, over 9,000
lines detailing how to hook up to the net and how to make your
Internet provider business succeed in these most interesting times.
Kevin Traas has issued a helpful update to this FAQ that contains a
major correction to the information on mknod. He is also standing in
as a new source for cables for the device.
W a r n i n g !
_Multi-Port serial cards, such as the BocaBoard, are all but dead._ If
you are in business as an Internet Service Provider (ISP), you will
_not_ want to use any of these devices, because the new 56k modem
standards will not support them. Instead, you need digital
modem/terminal server combinations such as the Livingston PM3, Cisco
5200 or US Robotics Total Control. Otherwise, you simply won't be
competitive in major markets. Users want high speeds; you won't be
able to provide them with a BocaBoard or other multi-port serial card.
_Even as a multi-port serial card, the BocaBoard is hopelessly
obsolete._ The overwhelming majority of people who want to buy a
BocaBoard would be better off getting a accelerated card such as the
Cyclades or Rocketport. (When last I looked, Rocketport was a better
board, but Cyclades had the most stable kernel support). Accelerated
cards use less of the CPU of your machine, and so you can support more
ports per computer with less performance degradation.
That being said, perhaps you own one of these devices and want to make
use of it, or perhaps you are planning an ISP based on a low-cost
business model that basically means the use of cast-off equipment from
others. In that case, the information in this document should be
useful for you. But again, I repeat: _The person who buys a new
BocaBoard at this point probably needs a few more clues before
starting his ISP or other venture._
The information here was obtained by begging many people for help.
Unfortunately, I have forgotten their names due to a pressing need for
disk space on my Netcom account. :-( Nonetheless, I thank them very
much for their assistance when things looked blackest. This is my way
of paying some of that back.
At the end of this document, there is additional information on a
special $ 80 piece of equipment you will need in addition to your
BocaBoard, and some comments on Boca customer service and
availability.
WHAT DO YOU NEED TO DO TO INSTALL A BOCABOARD?
In outline, the following:
1. The board itself and its manuals
2. Your Linux source tree
3. Patience
Here's the basic procedure:
Recompiling The Kernel
The first step is to change your kernel so that it knows you have a
BocaBoard. Unfortunately, this is not a part of the configure script;
you must go in and modify the source by hand. This consists of putting
the following line at the beginning of linux/drivers/char/serial.c:
#define CONFIG_BOCA 1
Well, it used to work that way. As of some kernel version or another,
this has changed. To make it work with newer kernels, search for the
"BOCA_FLAGS" #define in serial.c, and change the value to
#define BOCA_FLAGS ASYNC_BOOT_AUTOCONF
You can then recompile your kernel using the instructions included
with the source tree. I recommend running the new kernel from a floppy
until you're very sure it works; otherwise, the procedure for getting
back your system is mind-numbing at best.
At least to me, digging into my kernel and re-compiling it was quite a
stressful venture! Relax; as long as you copy it to a floppy, your new
kernel is completely harmless. It won't bite! Honest! :-)
Installing The Card
The default address on both the card and the Linux software for the
configuration is 0x100; leave that alone. Set the IRQ on the card to
Linux' default of 12. If you want to change the IRQ, you will have to
search for "BOCA_FLAGS" in the file. You will find lines like this:
{ BASE_BAUD, 0x100, 12, BOCA_FLAGS }, /* ttyS16 */
{ BASE_BAUD, 0x108, 12, BOCA_FLAGS }, /* ttyS17 */
...
You can change the IRQ from 12 by changing the 12 to any valid IRQ. I
have not tried this, however.
Telling Linux About Your Card
Once you have compiled your new kernel, switch off the machine and
install the card. Then, turn your machine on with the new kernel
floppy in the drive. If the installation succeeded, you should see all
sorts of strange stuff about 16550 UARTS being connected to
ttyS16-ttyS32. The system will then come up normally.
The odds are pretty good that you don't actually have entries in /dev
for those lines. Remember that they start at 16 and go on to 32. If
you look at the source code, you'll see why; support for other cards
is included in the code for lower line numbers. Creating them is
pretty simple, once you know the trick.
To create entries for dial-out lines (where you call out), type:
mknod /dev/cuaxx c 4 N
n = 64 + <line number> . The C indicates that this is a character mode
device. For example, to create the first couple of lines on your
board, type:
mknod /dev/cua16 c 4 80
mknod /dev/cua17 c 4 81
...
To create dial-in lines (where users call you), type
mknod /dev/ttySxx c 5 n
where N is the same as described above. For example, to create the
first couple of lines on your BocaBoard, type:
mknod /dev/ttyS16 c 5 80
mknod /dev/ttyS17 c 5 81
...
It is recommended that you create both dial in and dial out lines for
each port, so that you have maximum flexibility. It turns out to be
very handy to call another line of your system by activating one of
your lines as dial-out and calling your main number. I've done this
already and it works great! It's most useful for checking how things
look "on the other side of the fence"; I used it to find out how my
software looked at 2400bps. (It's slower than the Linux console. A LOT
slower, in fact).
Once you've finished with this, you can add entries to your inittab
file in the same way as you would for a standard ttySx entry, and the
modems or terminals should come up!
Possible Problems
If you have problems, you may find that this is due to conflicts
between your Boca board and systems with dual IDE controllers.
According to Kevin Traas:
Is the kernel recognising the board? i.e. Right at the start of the
boot process, all sixteen ports should be listed onscreen with
ttySxx, I/O Port, and IRQ identified. Also, `setserial -bg ttyS*`
should list *every* port in your system.
By default, the BB2016 is configured to use IO Ports between 0100
and 017f. This creates problems on systems with two IDE controllers.
The second controller, ide1, uses 0170-0177 which falls into this
range. Big problems!!!
So, the solution, in my cases, is to go with an IO base of 0200
through 027f. I haven't had any conflicts in this region; however,
you may want to check you system to be sure. (run `cat
/proc/ioports` - better run `cat /proc/interrupts` to make sure IRQ
12 isn't used either.)
Once you've found an IO range and IRQ that isn't used, you'll have
to change the jumpers on the BB2016 and edit
/usr/src/linux/drivers/char/serial.c to reflect the new settings.
Then, compile the kernel and install as per normal.
THE BIG GOTCHA: Something extra you will need, and service comments
If you want to use your new Boca card with any standard DB-25 RS232
connector, you will have to get a special breakout box, which costs
about $ 80. The card itself comes with a breakout box that plugs into
the card through a truly formidable cable. It then supplies phone-like
cables for the ports. The special $ 80 box has phone-like cables that
plug into the breakout box included with the Boca card; you can then
plug your modems or terminals into standard RS-232 connectors on the
box. Unless you actually have a system that accepts the phone-like
connectors, you should add the price of the box to the cost of the
card when comparing it to other alternatives.
I got my Boca 2016 card through a special wholesale deal that I don't
think many people will be able to reproduce. It was available quickly.
However, the breakout box for RS-232 took about two weeks to ship. You
should be aware of your need for this box before you acquire the card.
The 2016 board was $ 235 and the additional box was $ 79.95.
I've heard that this breakout box is no longer available, and that now
people just have special cables made. I'm not sure how you would go
about doing this, though.
Only one port of my first Boca 2016 worked. I called Boca, expecting
to hear a long string of questions and advice. When they said, "Linux?
What's that?" I feared the worst. However, upon hearing my actual
problem, they cheerfully told me that the card was defective and I
should send it back; full 5-year factory warranty, 30-days exchange. I
was struck by how cheery the lady was. It was as though they were
expecting the worst, and very kindly making the most of it!
I had my hardware guy exchange the card. Unfortunately, the cards were
back-ordered and they took about two more weeks to give me my new
card. I have to say that I was quite annoyed at this, since I was
anxiously chomping at the bit to get this thing up and running.
Some people have problems with ports past the first eight. I have
tested my card up to port 11 and all the ports appear to be working.
Boca Research quality control may be lacking; I would recommend that
people with troubles with the card call Boca and deal with them
directly. I suspect that if I'd exchanged the card directly through
the factory I would have had better service than through my dealer.
The factory people were all quite nice and eager to please.
Right now, I have only four phone lines. I bought the 16-port card for
two reasons: Because it has modem control, unlike the smaller ones,
and in anticipation of future expansion.
Some additional information on this subject from Kevin Traas of Baan
Business Systems:
BTW, I've used the BB2016 several times and found to work really
well under Linux. I'm extremely happy with them. They perform very
well, are very inexpensive, and are reliable. They claim 115200 bps
per port. I've got a unique situation whereby I've got two systems
with a PPP serial link between them. I'm running this link at 115200
and I experience almost 0% error rate (with hundreds of thousands of
packets transmitted). My next step is to implement EQL and
additional PPP links between the boxes to increase the bandwidth...
We'll see how it goes.
One final note. Contrary to the suggestion in the Howto, I build my
own cables for the BB2016 (they've got RJ ports on them). At first,
I "dabbled" with RJ45-8 conductor plugs, but the BB2016 has RJ48-10
conductor jacks, so to get full modem support, I ended up going that
route.
I now run all 10 wires between the BB2016 and my modems. It works
great! No problems, no regrets! The only initial problem I had was
finding a source for RJ48 plugs, 10 conductor wire, and RJ48 to DB25
adapters..... None of these are very cheap due to the low demand.
Oh, yeah, and you need an RJ48 crimper as well.
If you want, I can build these cables for you and send them to you.
If you're interested, e-mail me and I'll let you know pricing, etc.
I found building my own was cheaper than the adapter that is
mentioned in the Howto - which I couldn't find a source for anyway.
I believe the adapter mentioned in this document is no longer being
manufacturered, leaving cables such as your own the only remaining way
of connecting the device.