: [Oberon] redirect COM2 to COM4

[cglur at onwe.co.za]

> > I just looked at Alpha : V24.Mod which doesn't support all four
> > commports.  Else you could just compile it to run under DOSbased 2.3.6.
> 
> Charles.Angelich wrote:
> I was referring to the standalone Alpha available from the FTP server.
> I don't recall which "V" it was.

V24.Mod is the source code module (file) for the COMx drivers.
It starts like this: -----
MODULE V24;	(** portable *)	(* pjm/ejz *)

(** V24/RS232 serial communications interface. *)

(* Currently only supports 2 com ports *)

IMPORT SYSTEM, Kernel;
.......

> > Have you really got 3 serial ports already used ?
> > Or is it just that your second port is wired as COM4 ?
> 
> I had need of 1,2,3 and put my modem on COM4.  Now that I
> have several dozen apps configured for COM4 I really don't
> think I want to reconfigure ALL of them to accomodate the
> lack of support for COM3 and COM4 in Oberon.  I doubt
> anyone would reconfigure all that they have just to suit
> Oberon or any other OS - or would they?  ;-)

I don't think you will (can) be using other than the mouse and modem 
under n-o ?   Unless you are in WINx and toggling in and out of 
DOS-mode, you need to start DOSbased n-o and stay there until
you're ready to exit.  In this case the extra effort to unplug your device
which 'normally' uses COM2, and replace it by the modem should be
do-able.   I think having the connectors hidden at the back, is a
marketing gimick at pretending permanence/stability. Turning the
machine 90 degrees allows easy connector swapping.

I don't have the documentation here now, but I'm guessing that
patching V24.Mod to address COM4 instead of COM2 should be
easy.  When your machine boots, does it show the addresses of 
the 4 serial ports ?  Compare the values to those in V24.Mod .
{ Now that you know how to search for "2F8" or "3F8" in the
text view of the file V24.Mod }

-- Chris Glur.