asy(7D) Devices asy(7D)NAMEasy - asynchronous serial port driver
SYNOPSIS
#include <fcntl.h>
#include <sys/termios.h>
open("/dev/term/n", mode);
open("/dev/tty/n", mode);
open("/dev/cua/n", mode);
DESCRIPTION
The asy module is a loadable STREAMS driver that provides basic support
for Intel-8250, National Semiconductor-16450, 16550, and some 16650 and
16750 and equivalent UARTs connected via the ISA-bus, in addition to
basic asynchronous communication support. The asy module supports those
termio(7I) device control functions specified by flags in the c_cflag
word of the termios structure, and by the IGNBRK, IGNPAR, PARMRK,
INPCK, IXON, IXANY, or IXOFF flags in the c_iflag word of the termios
structure. All other termio(7I) functions must be performed by STREAMS
modules pushed atop the driver. When a device is opened, the ldterm(7M)
and ttcompat(7M) STREAMS modules are automatically pushed on top of the
stream, providing the standard termio(7I) interface.
The character-special devices /dev/term/a, /dev/term/b, /dev/term/c and
/dev/term/d are used to access the four standard serial ports (COM1,
COM2, COM3 and COM4 at I/O addresses 3f8, 2f8, 3e8 and 2e8 respec‐
tively). Serial ports on non-standard ISA-bus I/O addresses are
accessed via the character-special devices /dev/term/0, /dev/term/1,
etc. Device names are typically used to provide a logical access point
for a dial-in line that is used with a modem.
To allow a single tty line to be connected to a modem and used for
incoming and outgoing calls, a special feature is available that is
controlled by the minor device number. By accessing character-special
devices with names of the form /dev/cua/n, it is possible to open a
port without the Carrier Detect signal being asserted, either through
hardware or an equivalent software mechanism. These devices are com‐
monly known as dial-out lines.
Note - This module is affected by the setting of certain eeprom vari‐
ables, ttya-ignore-cd and ttya-rts-dtr-off (and similarly for
ttyb-, ttyc-, and ttyd- parameters). For information on these
parameters, see the eeprom(1M) man page.
Note - For serial ports on the standard COM1 to COM4 I/O addresses
above, the default setting for ttya-ignore-cd and ttya-rts-dtr-
off is true. If any of these ports are connected to a modem,
these settings should be changed to false. For serial ports on
non-standard I/O addresses, the default setting for ttya-
ignore-cd and ttya-rts-dtr-off is false.
APPLICATION PROGRAMMING INTERFACE
Once a /dev/cua/n line is opened, the corresponding tty line cannot be
opened until the /dev/cua/n line is closed. A blocking open will wait
until the /dev/cua/n line is closed (which will drop Data Terminal
Ready, after which Carrier Detect will usually drop as well) and car‐
rier is detected again. A non-blocking open will return an error. If
the /dev/ttydn line has been opened successfully (usually only when
carrier is recognized on the modem), the corresponding /dev/cua/n line
cannot be opened. This allows a modem to be attached to /dev/term/[n]
(renamed from /dev/tty[n]) and used for dial-in (by enabling the line
for login in /etc/inittab) or dial-out (by tip(1) or uucp(1C)) as
/dev/cua/n when no one is logged in on the line.
IOCTLS
The standard set of termio ioctl() calls are supported by asy.
Breaks can be generated by the TCSBRK, TIOCSBRK, and TIOCCBRK ioctl()
calls.
The input and output line speeds may be set to any speed that is sup‐
ported by termio. The speeds cannot be set independently; for example,
when the output speed is set, the input speed is automatically set to
the same speed.
When the asy module is used to service the serial console port, it sup‐
ports a BREAK condition that allows the system to enter the debugger or
the monitor. The BREAK condition is generated by hardware and it is
usually enabled by default.
A BREAK condition originating from erroneous electrical signals cannot
be distinguished from one deliberately sent by remote DCE. The Alter‐
nate Break sequence can be used as a remedy against this. Due to a risk
of incorrect sequence interpretation, SLIP and certain other binary
protocols should not be run over the serial console port when Alternate
Break sequence is in effect. Although PPP is a binary protocol, it is
able to avoid these sequences using the ACCM feature in RFC 1662. For
Solaris PPP 4.0, you do this by adding the following line to the
/etc/ppp/options file (or other configuration files used for the con‐
nection; see pppd(1M) for details):
asyncmap 0x00002000
By default, the Alternate Break sequence is a three character sequence:
carriage return, tilde and control-B (CR ~ CTRL-B), but may be changed
by the driver. For more information on breaking (entering the debugger
or monitor), see kbd(1) and kb(7M).
ERRORS
An open() will fail under the following conditions:
ENXIO The unit being opened does not exist.
EBUSY The dial-out device is being opened while the dial-in
device is already open, or the dial-in device is being
opened with a no-delay open and the dial-out device is
already open.
EBUSY The unit has been marked as exclusive-use by another
process with a TIOCEXCL ioctl() call.
EINTR The open was interrupted by the delivery of a signal.
FILES
/dev/term/[a-d]
/dev/term/[012...]
dial-in tty lines
/dev/cua/[a-d]
/dev/cua/[012...]
dial-out tty lines
/kernel/drv/amd64/asy
64-bit kernel module for 64-bit x86 platform
/kernel/drv/asy.conf
asy configuration file
ATTRIBUTES
See attributes(5) for descriptions of the following attributes:
┌─────────────────────────────┬─────────────────────────────┐
│ ATTRIBUTE TYPE │ ATTRIBUTE VALUE │
├─────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────┤
│Architecture │x86 │
└─────────────────────────────┴─────────────────────────────┘
SEE ALSOtip(1), kbd(1), uucp(1C), eeprom(1M), pppd(1M), ioctl(2), open(2),
termios(3C), attributes(5), ldterm(7M), ttcompat(7M), kb(7M),
termio(7I)DIAGNOSTICS
asyn: silo overflow. The hardware overrun occurred
before the input character
could be serviced.
asyn: ring buffer overflow. The driver's character input
ring buffer overflowed before
it could be serviced.
SunOS 5.10 9 Oct 2004 asy(7D)