With the retained AlphaServer 400 firmware used by Avanti 5.1.0, each card must be made known to OpenVMS through the firmware ISACFG utility. After defining the serial cards and ports in the configuration file, start the emulator, type EXIT at the >>> prompt, and inspect the resulting emulator log. The log prints the ISACFG invocations for that configuration together with the OpenVMS V7.1-and-higher guest commands. Use the current log rather than deriving addresses from the historical example below. Native-firmware setup is separate future work.

00011.78: Digiboard multi-serial card configured.
00011.78: Firmware configuration commands:
00011.78:    >>> isacfg -mk -slot 1 -dev 0 -etyp 1 -enadev 1 -handle DIGI
00011.78:    >>> isacfg -mod -slot 1 -dev 0 -iobase0 100 -iobase1 108 -iobase2 110 -iobase3 118 -iobase4 120 -iobase5 128 -irq0 15
00011.78: Add these lines to SYS$SYSTEM:SYS$USER_CONFIG.DAT:
00011.78:   device          = "Digiboard Serial Port"
00011.78:     name          = TX
00011.78:     driver        = SYS$YSDRIVER
00011.78:     adapter       = ISA
00011.78:     id            = DIGI
00011.78:   end_device
00011.78: Add these lines to your startup procedure:
00011.78:   $ mcr sysman io connect /vector=60 /driver=sys$ysdriver txa1:
00011.78:   $ mcr sysman io connect /vector=60 /driver=sys$ysdriver txa2:
00011.78:   $ mcr sysman io connect /vector=60 /driver=sys$ysdriver txa3:
00011.78:   $ mcr sysman io connect /vector=60 /driver=sys$ysdriver txa4:

This retained sample shows the firmware and OpenVMS sections for one card. Slot, address, interrupt, and device-letter values can differ; only the commands emitted by the current run describe the current configuration.

For retained firmware, enter the generated console commands for the card. The settings are retained in the Avanti configuration's .nvr file after a controlled console EXIT.

>>> isacfg -mk -slot 1 -dev 0 -etyp 1 -enadev 1 -handle DIGI
>>>init
>>> isacfg -mod -slot 1 -dev 0 -iobase0 100 -iobase1 108 -iobase2 110 -iobase3 118 -iobase4 120 -iobase5 128 -irq0 15
>>>init

Enter the ISACFG commands from the current Avanti log at the console and verify their resource values before applying them.

A "sh config" or "isacfg –all" command can be used to confirm the presence of the ISA card definition in the firmware.

>>>sh config
 
Firmware
SRM Console:    V7.0-9
show_arc: Can't find Flash Rom containing ARC console.
PALcode:        VMS PALcode V5.56-2, OSF PALcode X1.46-2
Serial Rom:     V4.6
Diag Rom:       V1.7
 
Processor
DECchip (tm) 21064-3    166Mhz 512KB Cache
 
MEMORY
    512 Meg of System Memory
    Bank 0 = 256 Mbytes(128 MB Per Simm) Starting at 0x0
    Bank 1 = 256 Mbytes(128 MB Per Simm) Starting at 0x10000000
    Bank 2 = No Memory Detected
 
PCI Bus
    Bus 00  Slot 06: NCR     810A Scsi Controller
                                  pka0.7.0.6.0          SCSI Bus ID 7
                                  dka200.2.0.6.0         RZ28
                                  dka300.3.0.6.0         COMPAQ BA03611C9B
                                  dka600.6.0.6.0         RRD42
 
    Bus 00  Slot 07: Intel SIO 82378
 
 
    Bus 00  Slot 11: DECchip 21040 Network Controller
                                  ewa0.0.0.11.0         02-13-46-6A-94-24
 
ISA
Slot    Device  Name            Type         Enabled  BaseAddr  IRQ     DMA
0
       0       MOUSE           Embedded        Yes     60      12
       1       KBD             Embedded        Yes     60      1
       2       COM1            Embedded        Yes     3f8     4
       3       COM2            Embedded        Yes     2f8     3
       4       LPT1            Embedded        Yes     3bc     7
       5       FLOPPY          Embedded        Yes     3f0     6       2
1
       0       DIGI            Singleport      Yes     100     15
                                                       108
                                                       110
                                                       118
                                                       120
                                                       128
>>>

This is historical SHOW CONFIG output after one card was defined; the serial-card results are highlighted in blue. Verify the actual card, six address windows, and interrupt in the running console rather than expecting the complete transcript to match.