From: muta...@gmail.com   
      
   On Wednesday, June 16, 2021 at 9:04:59 PM UTC+10, wolfgang kern wrote:   
      
   > > The BIOS manufacturer can provide as many devices   
   > > behind that interrupt as they want.   
      
   > NO, because I/O-ports are real hardware and there are only four   
   > port-addresses defined and reserved for COM1..4, windoze just fakes shared.   
      
   Who says there are only four port address defined   
   for COM ports? How many I/O ports can an 80386   
   address anyway?   
      
   > > The normal INT 14H is polled anyway, for read.   
   > > Not sure if something depends on an interrupt   
   > > for the write. But the manufacturer can share an   
   > > interrupt or anything else they want to do.   
      
   > INT 14h is/was an old BIOS function which almost nobody used.   
      
   I'm reviving it and making it a centerpiece of my OS.   
      
   This creates the abstraction I desire. 65536 COM ports.   
   And if an 80386 can't address that many COM ports,   
   an 80386+ from Korea can.   
      
   BFN. Paul.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)