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.
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