Discovering Serial devices

There are several different methods which Supervisor 9 can use to discover devices which are attached to a serial port.

Connect

This is the standard method for discovering all attached devices. Set the Comm Port and Baudrate fields to the correct settings for the port, then click the Connect button; the program will open the comm port, broadcast the current baudrate on the network, and search for all available devices on the port. This option requires that all attached devices be set to the same baudrate, and that the user knows what that baudrate is!!

This is also the option which is used to change the baudrate on an already-connected port.

ReScan

In some cases, due to comm-port collisions or other issues, Svr9 may not discover a device which is attached to the device. Also, a device may be added after Svr9 is already running. In this case, clicking ReScan will cause the program to repeat the device discovery sequence, and add any newly-discovered devices to the device list. Unlike the Connect option, ReScan does not close and re-open the comm port, nor set the baudrate.

Specify device serial number (Forced Discovery)

If the user knows the serial number of an undiscovered device, there's a shortcut method for telling Svr9 to find the device. You can type the device serial number (include any leading zeroes) into the Serial Number field on the Comm Port dialog. Make sure the Command field is blank, and then click Send Cmd. The program will attempt to communicate directly with the specified unit, and add it to the device list.

ReDiscover

All of the preceding methods require that all attached devices be on the same baudrate, and that the user know what that baudrate is. If this is not the case, perhaps because new devices have been added to the network, the ReDiscover option can be used. This option will send commands to force all units back to 1200 baud, then it will execute normal discovery sequence at 1200 baud. This is the slowest process to use, but is virtually guaranteed to find all available devices.

Aborting operations

When any of the Device Detection buttons is pressed, all three buttons will be replaced by a large Abort Operation button. The images below show the normal buttons and the Abort Operation alternate button. Pressing the Abort Operation button will, as one might expect, abort the current scanning operation and return the CommPort dialog to an idle state. This allows quick recovery if a port scan was initiated with incorrect data. It is important to realize, however, that this operation will likely leave the port in an indeterminate state in terms of what ports are present and what baudrate(s) they are at.

Notes:

Regardless of which method is used to discover devices, Svr9 will always ensure that every device on the port has a unique address. If a device is discovered either with a duplicate address, or the generic 0xFFFF address, Svr9 will assign a unique address to it.
Once a device is discovered on a port, the device serial number will be stored in the program's configuration file. When the program is subsequently opened, if Auto Connect is enabled on the comm port, the program will automatically search for the known devices. This process is typically much faster than the generic Connect discovery process.