Frequently Asked Questions - The five questions posted most recently:

How could BIOS prior 2.1 be updated to the latest version?

Mon, 19 Jul 2010 07:20:00 GMT

The update image format has changed since 2.1. To be able to update to BIOS version 2.9 one will have to update to BIOS 2.1 first and then make an update to the newer version. Beginning with BIOS 2.1 there are two ways updating BIOS:

via console
via network using netcat or socat

For more details please refer to our User Manual

Can I use the function XXXXX on the PCI and PCIex cards?

Mon, 12 Jul 2010 09:05:00 GMT

The supplied driver installs a Com Port in Windows for each serial interface on the VScom PCI or PCIex card.

Since this port is a Com Port, of couse you can perform any operation as on a Standard Com Port. And especially you can perform any library functions, if the library just uses the VCOMM API of Windows. For example the HyperTerminal supplied with Windows up to XP just uses the VCOMM API, so you can use this software on any Com Port.

Functions requiring direct hardware access are not part of Windows libraries, because the drivers abstract from a particular hardware. So software doing direct hardware access needs to adapt to the given hardware. The serial ports are very similar to Standard hardware for Com1, but differ in some aspects. Most important is address and IRQ, which always differ from Com1/Com2 parameters.

This also applies to parallel ports on the PCI cards. You may want to read these answers also:

"How to change I/O Address and IRQ of your parallel PCI port?"

"Can I change the name of the serial/parallel port?"

"Can I use a ZIP-drive on the LPT-port?"

Can I use the function XXXXX on the NetCom Ports?

Mon, 12 Jul 2010 08:54:00 GMT

The supplied driver installs a Com Port in Windows for each serial interface on the NetCom Serial Device Server.

Functions requiring direct hardware access are not supported on NetCom, because no hardware is installed in the system.

Can I use the function XXXXX on the USB-COM?

Mon, 12 Jul 2010 08:45:00 GMT

The supplied driver installs a Com Port in Windows for each serial interface on the USB-COM product.

Functions requiring direct hardware access are not supported on USB-COM, because the installed hardware is very different from Standard hardware for Com1.

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How to install VScom PCI drivers in Windows 7

Thu, 01 Jul 2010 09:54:00 GMT

Windows 7 does not install drivers for VScom PCI cards in the way known up to Vista. A new installation software is provided for download. If this software does not help, follow the explanations below.

When Windows boots up it scans the system for connected PnP hardware in a process called enumeration. Each device is reported by a model identification plus the position where this device is connected. Windows then checks the registry if this particular device has a driver already installed. If yes, this driver is loaded, and the device is usable.

Prior to Windows 7 the "Found new Hardware" Wizard is opened for the devices which are not identified this way. If Windows already knows about a digitally signed driver for this model, that driver is installed without further user interaction.
If the model is unknown, the user can decide to search a driver on Windows Update, or select one from hard disk, CD-ROM, USB and such. The driver is then installed and the hardware is usable.

Now Windows 7 behaves different. Instead of opening the "Found new Hardware" Wizard the Windows Update site is automatically searched. If no driver is found there, no driver is installed. The hardware appears as "Other Device" in the Device Manager.
This happens to VScom PCI cards. Here is a procedure for easy installation, it is necessary for the first time installation only.

Open Device Manager, and open the Class of "Other Devices".
Select a VScom Adapter, right click on it, and select the "Update Driver" option.
The driver is installed, and the VScom Adapter changes position to Multiport Serial. At the same time VScom Serial ports appear in "Other Devices".
Select such a serial port, and also update the driver.
The serial port changes position to "Ports".
Now it is possible to repeat this process for all the components in "Other Devices". But this is not required, since by the steps before Windows 7 knows the suitable driver.
So delete all VScom entries from "Other Devices", "Ports" and "Multiport" as well. Do not check the option to delete the driver files.
Next have the Device Manager scan for new devices.
All components are discovered again, but now the "Found new Hardware" Wizard installs the drivers while this process happens.

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Later when adding other VScom cards to the system, the drivers are still known to Windows 7. So it will repeat the same easy process of the last step above. And this process is done without even opening the Device Manager.

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