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Diffstat (limited to 'system/atarisio/README_kernel.txt')
-rw-r--r-- | system/atarisio/README_kernel.txt | 64 |
1 files changed, 64 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/system/atarisio/README_kernel.txt b/system/atarisio/README_kernel.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000000..8411230215 --- /dev/null +++ b/system/atarisio/README_kernel.txt @@ -0,0 +1,64 @@ +******************************************************************* +* If your serial port is a USB adaptor, STOP reading this NOW and * +* go build atarisio _without_ KERNEL="yes"! * +******************************************************************* + +AtariSIO's atariserver and atarixfer use your serial (RS232) port to +communicate with the SIO2PC device. This can be done one of two ways: +using the regular Linux serial port driver or a special AtariSIO +kernel driver that "takes over" the serial port [1]. + +The kernel driver exists because the SIO protocol relies on tight +timing, especially when using high bitrates (lower POKEY divisor +numbers). On older machines, scheduling latency can cause "hiccups" +in the SIO transfers, resulting in slow loading (due to retries) +or failures. + +On modern machines (especially with modern kernels), there's less of +a need for the kernel driver. Also, modern computers don't often have +real serial ports. It's still possible to use AtariSIO with a USB to +RS232 adaptor on such a machine, but not with the kernel module. + +The AtariSIO kernel driver can only be used if you have a real (not +USB) serial port that uses a 16550A or 100% compatible UART. If you're +using USB, stop reading this and build atarisio without KERNEL=yes. + +Also, even if you do have a real 16550A serial port, you still might +want to avoid the kernel driver: if atarisio works fine without it, +there's no need for the kernel driver's extra complexity. + +If you're determined to use the kernel driver, read on. + +1. Build atarisio with KERNEL=yes [2]. + +2. Install the atarisio package you just built. + +3. The atarisio module needs to know which serial port to use. The + default is /dev/ttyS0. If you only have one serial port, this + should be the correct one. If you need to change this, edit + /etc/modprobe.d/atarisio.conf and change the "port=/dev/ttyS0" to + whatever it should be. + +4. As root, run "modprobe atarisio". The module will be loaded on + every boot; this step is just to avoid rebooting. If you don't + want to load the module at boot, edit /etc/rc.d/rc.modules.local + and comment out the "/sbin/modprobe atarisio" line. + +At this point, you should be ready to run atarisio. If you have +trouble with the kernel module, try building atarisio without it and +see if it works. If not, there's probably something wrong with your +hardware. + +Notes: + +[1] The SlackBuild author hasn't tested the kernel module. I don't + currently own any machines with 16550A serial ports, only USB. + I used to use the kernel module with older hardware (up to 2016 + or so) and it worked fine then. + +[2] If building the kernel module fails, it means your kernel is too + new for atarisio. The current version of atarisio works with + kernels up to 5.15.x (which is what Slackware 15.0 runs). If + you're running Slackware-current and can't compile the kernel + module, tough luck (for now anyway). Use atarisio without the + kernel module, or use Slackware 15.0. |