Issue: On a P5-60 or an Anigma motherboard (BATIP, BATIP2, MBDPCI001AxWW, MBDPCI002AxWW) if a device is hooked up to the serial ports, the system may lock up after the first use of the particular port. This issue occurs in Windows^® 3.1, Windows for Workgroups 3.11, MS-DOS^® and Windows 95 DOS mode.

Resolution: An incompatibility had been discovered between the Standard Microsystems Corporation FDC37C665 Super I/O controller serial port and various communication programs and serial port drivers. There are drivers available that allow error free operation in Windows for Workgroups, Windows 3.1, MS-DOS and Windows 95 DOS mode. The drivers simply clear the 16450 holding register prior to switching from the 16450 mode to the 16550 mode. There is no performance degradation experienced when using the "new" drivers. Please refer to the following description of the drivers. These drivers are on the Gateway 2000^® FTP site under the file name SMCDRV.EXE. "SMCDRV.EXE" includes SERIAL.386 for Windows for Workgroups 3.11, COMM.DRV for Windows 3.1, and COMS.EXE. COMS.EXE is a DOS program (not a TSR) that clears the buffer when executed. A more reliable DOS-based utility called Portfix (PRTFIX.EXE on the FTP site) is a TSR that clears the buffer when it detects a possible "lockup" condition rather than just clearing it once (like COMS.EXE). The following is an explanation on how to resolve the issue for each operating system.

Windows for Workgroups

1. Download the file SMCDRV.EXE.
2. Copy this file to the C:\temp directory on the hard drive.
3. Change to the C:\temp directory and then extract the file by typing in the file name. This will create three sub directories: DOSCOMM, WFWCOMM, and WIN3COMM.
4. Change directories to the c:\windows\system directory.
5. Rename the SERIAL.386 file to SERIAL.OLD.
6. Copy the SERIAL.386 file that was extracted from the c:\temp\wfw3comm directory to the c:\windows\system directory.
7. Re-enter windows, and the issue is now corrected.

Windows 3.1

1. Download the file SMCDRV.EXE.
2. Copy this file to the C:\temp directory on the hard drive.
3. Change to the C:\temp directory and then extract the file by typing in the file name. This will create three sub directories: DOSCOMM, WFWCOMM, and WIN3COMM.
4. Change directories to the c:\windows\system directory.
5. Rename the COMM.DRV file to COMM.OLD.
6. Copy the COMM.DRV file that was extracted from the c:\temp\win3comm directory to the c:\windows\system directory.
7. Re-enter windows, and the issue is now corrected.

MS-DOS

There are two possible resolutions for this Operating System.

1. Download the file SMCDRV.EXE.
2. Copy this file to the C:\temp directory on the hard drive.
3. Change to the C:\temp directory and then extract the file by typing in the file name. This will create three sub directories: DOSCOMM, WFWCOMM, and WIN3COMM.
4. Before running the DOS based terminal program, run the COMMS.EXE file in the c:\temp\doscomm directory.

or

1. Download the file PRTFIX.EXE.
2. Copy this file to the C:\temp directory on the hard drive.
3. Change to the C:\temp directory and then extract the file by typing in the file name. This will load the proper files onto the hard drive.
4. Edit the AUTOEXEC.BAT file, and add the line c:\directory\portfix.exe /1 /2. This will protect both Com 1 and 2.

Windows 95 DOS-Mode

1. Download the file PRTFIX.EXE.
2. Copy this file to the C:\temp directory on the hard drive.
3. Change to the C:\temp directory and then extract the file by typing in the file name. This will load the proper files onto the hard drive.
4. Create a pif for the DOS based communications program. Be sure to specify the MS-DOS configuration.
5. Verify that the AUTOEXEC.BAT file contains the line c:\directory\portfix.exe /1 /2. This will protect both Com 1 and 2.

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