Version of VMS prior to V7.1 use the SYS$SPECIFIC:[SYSMGR]ISA_CONFIG.DAT to define ISA devices.  If the file does not already exist, it can be created from the SYS$COMMON:[SYSMGR]ISA_CONFIG.TEMPLATE.

1.The commands written to the Avanti log file are for VMS 7.1 and higher.  However, the information provided in these commands can be used to configure earlier versions of VMS.  Using the data written to the Avanti log file, adding the following lines to SYS$SPECIFIC:[SYSMGR]ISA_CONFIG.DAT will enable serial card recognition by OpenVMS 6.2.

[TXA0]
NAME=TX
DRIVER=SYS$YSDRIVER
IRQ=F                                                ß irq0
NODE=1                                                ß slot
PORT=(100:8,108:8,110:8,118:8,120:8,128:8)        ß iobase0..iobase5

All numeric fields in ISA_CONFIG.DAT are hexadecimal. The example therefore uses IRQ=F for IRQ 15. Convert the decimal irq0 value printed in the emulator log before entering it here; the printed I/O base addresses are already hexadecimal.

2.If more than one Digiboard is defined, the historical procedure uses similar sections for [TXB0], [TXC0], [TXD0] and [TXE0]. Current runtime qualification covers one configured card, not this repetition across all five; add and validate cards one at a time using the data for each card from the Avanti log.

3.Once ISA_CONFIG.DAT has been updated, reboot VMS.

4.After the reboot is complete, a TXA0 device will be present that corresponds to serial0 on the Digiboard card.  If additional cards are defined, the first port on each of these will be present as well (TXB0, TXC0, TXD0, TXE0).  TXu1 thru TXu4 can be added using the SYSMAN IO CONNECT command.  For example, placing the following commands into a VMS startup file such as SYS$MANAGER:SYSTARTUP_VMS.COM will enable devices TXA1 – TXA4.

$! Define additional serial ports.
$!
$ MCR SYSMAN
IO CONNECT/NOADAP/DRIVER=SYS$YSDRIVER TXA1:
IO CONNECT/NOADAP/DRIVER=SYS$YSDRIVER TXA2:
IO CONNECT/NOADAP/DRIVER=SYS$YSDRIVER TXA3:
IO CONNECT/NOADAP/DRIVER=SYS$YSDRIVER TXA4:
EXIT
$!

With the firmware and VMS configuration changes completed, the additional serial ports are available for use.

Note:Errors in ISA_CONFIG.DAT or in the SYSMAN commands can prevent normal OpenVMS startup. Keep a verified backup and console access before editing. The exact recovery was not executed in the 5.1.0 validation: if startup fails immediately after this change, preserve the console signature and use the installed OpenVMS release's documented conversational-boot procedure to set STARTUP_P1 to "MIN", then back up and revert the offending ISA_CONFIG.DAT change. Do not apply this recovery to an unrelated boot failure.