Serial Port Black Box Tester
Author: Tom Corson
JavaSoft
Black Box is a Java(TM) application for monitoring and testing serial
ports.
It's usage is:
Usage: java -native BlackBox [-h] | [-f] [-l] [-m] [-n] [-s]
[-d receive_delay] [-p ports]
Where:
-h this usage message
-f "Friendly" mode. Relinquish control of the port (close it)
if another requestor attempts an open.
-l run as a line monitor. The output stream for each port
is interchanged with the output stream of the other
port. This means that what is received on port A is
resent on port B and vice versa. On a system with at
least 2 serial ports, this allows you to connect the
system to a device being tested and observe all data
sent and received as well as control signal
transitions, etc. This setting allows the tool to be
used as a line monitor.
-m Modem mode. Transmit a newline as \n\r.
-n do not use receiver threads. Slows the receive processing
down by using the same thread for the transmitter as
well as the receiver. Useful for checking flow
control.
-s Silent mode. Don't display received data.
-d sleep for receive_delay msecs after each read. Delays
the receive processing. Also useful for checking
flow control.
-p open only the ports specified (separated by spaces). If
not specified, all ports will be opened.
Note: This must be the last argument given.
When BlackBox starts, it opens the specified serial ports (or all, by
default) on the machine from which it is run and displays an
information panel for each. The information shown consists of:
The name of the port.
The label color reflects the state of the port as follows:
Green - port is open
Yellow - port is in use but awaiting an open when the
port becomes available
Red - port is closed
Note: Clicking on the port name toggles the port from open to
closed.
A set of controls for:
Baud Rate
Data Bits
Stop Bits
Parity
Manipulating them changes each attribute to the indicated
value.
A set of indicators for:
RTS Request To Send
CTS Clear To Send
DTR Data Terminal Ready
DSR Data Set Ready
RI Ring Indicate
CD Carrier Detect
Note: RTS and DTR can each be reset by clicking on
them.
OE Overrun Error
FE Framing Error
PE Parity Error
BI Break Indicator
Note: Each of the above indicators can be reset by
clicking on them.
DA Data Available
BE Output Buffer Empty
A set of checkboxes for setting flow control, ether RTS/CTS, XON/XOFF,
both, or none.
A text area for transmitting data, a display of the buffer size in use,
along with a count of the number of bytes sent and the actual
(calculated) baud rate.
There are 2 check boxes above the transmit text area:
Selecting "Auto Transmit" causes a test pattern to be
continuously transmitted.
Selecting "Send Break" sends a 1000 millisecond break signal.
Note: Clicking on the "Bytes Transmitted" label resets the counter to 0.
Clicking on the "Baud Rate" label resets it to 0.
Clicking on the "Buffer Size" label resets the buffer size to the
default value.
A text area for receiving data, a display of the buffer size in use,
along with a count of the number of bytes received and the actual
(calculated) baud rate.
There are 3 text fields above the receive text area:
Entering a value for "Timeout" causes the receive timeout to be
set to that many milliseconds.
Entering a value for "Threshold" causes the receive threshold
to be set to that many bytes.
Entering a value for "Framing" causes the receive framing byte
to be set to that hexadecimal value.
Note: Clicking on the "Bytes Received" label resets the counter to 0.
Clicking on the "Baud Rate" label resets it to 0.
Clicking on the "Buffer Size" label resets the buffer size to the
default value.
Clicking on the "Timeout" label resets the receive timeout to the
default value.
Clicking on the "Threshold" label resets the receive threshold to
the default value.
Clicking on the "Framing" label resets the receive framing byte
to the default value.
Note: Any nonprintable characters received will be shown as multi-byte
symbols, eg, "^C".
README
Version: 1.8
Last Modified: 06/25/98
Download Driver Pack
After your driver has been downloaded, follow these simple steps to install it.
Expand the archive file (if the download file is in zip or rar format).
If the expanded file has an .exe extension, double click it and follow the installation instructions.
Otherwise, open Device Manager by right-clicking the Start menu and selecting Device Manager.
Find the device and model you want to update in the device list.
Double-click on it to open the Properties dialog box.
From the Properties dialog box, select the Driver tab.
Click the Update Driver button, then follow the instructions.
Very important: You must reboot your system to ensure that any driver updates have taken effect.
For more help, visit our Driver Support section for step-by-step videos on how to install drivers for every file type.