/* README.TXT ***************************************************************

                          INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS

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BOARD Identification:
  The Group3 PCI and ISA loop controller cards are easily distinguishable:
    PCI loop controller card:
      Each card has a rotary switch on the top edge of the circuit board.
      Each card has six circular holes on the rear metal bracket.
    ISA loop controller card:
      Each card has a set of jumpers on the circuit board.
      Each card has one or three elliptical hole on the rear metal bracket.

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INSTALLATION OF
LOOP CONTROLLER BOARDS

General Notes:
- A static discharge strap must be worn when handling loop controllers
  outside of their anti-static bags and care should be taken to avoid 
  touching the gold edge connector contacts.
- Computers must be powered off before installing or uninstalling loop
  controllers.


PCI Loop Controllers:

The only hardware setting the user needs to be aware of is the rotary 
switch on the top edge of the circuit board. This is shipped from the 
factory set at position 0, and there is only need to alter this setting
if two or more PCI Loop Controllers are to be installed in the same 
computer.  
The switch is there to allow the user and the application software to 
distinguish between the different loop controllers in the same computer. 
The switch on an LC1-PCI sets the loop number for that card. 
The switch on the LC3-PCI sets the loop number (call it n) of the top 
transmitter / receiver pair - the one furthest from the gold card edge 
fingers. The number of the middle loop is one more than the switch setting
(n+1), and the number of the lower loop is two more than the switch 
setting (n+2).
If using several Loop Controller cards in one computer remember that the 
switch settings must be different, and that the three loops of an LC3-PCI
occupy three consecutive numbers, starting with the number that the 
switch is set to.  


ISA bus Loop Controllers:

On an ISA loop controller the  shared memory is intended to be placed in 
the area between 640k and 1M bytes, where free address space can usually 
be found. Conflict with other devices in the system must be avoided. 
The LC base address is determined by comparing PC address lines A13 to A19
with the jumper settings. The base address of the shared memory can be 
placed anywhere between 0000:0 hex and FE00:0 hex in increments of 0200:0
hex (8092 bytes).

The absence of a jumper on a particular address line corresponds to a 1.
The presence of a jumper corresponds to a 0.

The factory setting = CE00:0 hex. (jumpers on A17 and A16, all others off)

Note that A12 position is permanently wired as if a jumper was in place.

The address jumpers on an LC1-PC sets the base address for that card. 
The address jumpers on the LC3-PC sets the base address of the top
transmitter / receiver pair - the one furthest from the gold card edge 
fingers. The base address of the middle loop is 2048 bytes (800 hex) more
than the address jumpers, and the base address of the lower loop is 4096 
bytes (1000 hex) more than the address jumpers.
With the jumpers set for CE, as the factory setting above, 
the base addresses of the three loops are CE00:0, CE80:0, and CF00:0.


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INSTALLATION OF
MEMORY ACCESS DRIVERS

This disk contains the memory access drivers needed to operate Group3 Control
products from Windows 95/98/ME/NT/2000.

Note: no drivers are required to operate a loop controller in 16-bit mode 
under Windows 3.1x/95/98/ME.

There are three drivers on this disk with a separate sub-directory and
installation instructions for each:
\ISA_9X - for Group3 ISA loop controllers running under Windows 95/98/ME
\ISA_NT - for Group3 ISA loop controllers running under Windows NT/2000
\PCI    - for Group3 PCI loop controllers running under Windows 95/98/ME/NT/2000

For any one installation, at most two of the above drivers will be required.
Follow the INSTALL.TXT instructions in each of the above sub-directories
as appropriate.


The above drivers are required by the following Group3 software products:
C++ Library - C++ code library for users who wish to tailor their own
              interface to Group3 Control products.
G3C.LLB     - LabVIEW interface to Group3 Control products.
G3DDE32.EXE - Group3 DDE server for any DDE-aware application including
              Wonderware InTouch and Microsoft Excel.
Other !?    - Please ask and we will endeavour to offer information
              and advice on integrating our memory drivers into other
              software platforms.

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