Connecting to the Console Port

A null modem cable is a 9 pin D-Shell connector serial cable where the transmit pin on one end connected to the receive pin on the other. You can make your own or purchase them inexpensively. A null modem cable pinout is shown here. USB to serial adapters can be used on systems that don’t have a standard 9-pin DB-9 serial port.

../_images/null-modem-pinout.png

Use a terminal program to connect to the system console port. PuTTY is a popular terminal program that is available on various operating systems. Some other choices of terminal programs:

  • Linux - minicom, dterm, screen

  • Mac OS X - cu, screen, ZTerm

Note

Windows HyperTerminal should be avoided if possible.

The settings to use within the terminal program are:

  • Speed: 115200 baud

  • Data bits: 8

  • Parity: none

  • Stop bits: 1

  • Flow Control: Off or XON/OFF. Hardware flow control (RTS/CTS) must be disabled