I had a problem like this, so I replaced the cheap converted with one "made" by a California company (it was much nicer, real drivers and instructions for $5 more). I got no output until I remembered that I might need a null modem adapter. Once I added that to mix everything worked like a charm (text started flowing).
Check you setup to see what kind of serial cable you have, as a regular "modem" cable will not work between a PC and an ALIX box. It needs to be the other kind (host to host). Walter On Mon, Feb 23, 2015 at 4:56 PM, Chris Bagnall <pfse...@lists.minotaur.cc> wrote: > On 24/2/15 12:08 am, Jeremy Bennett wrote: > >> I've got a USB to serial adapter (which has worked in the past), a Windows >> 7 computer and Teraterm, but whenever I connect everything up I just get >> the cursor blinking at me. >> > > Agree with others that the most likely culprit here is the USB to serial > adapter itself. Having said that, I've never had a Prolific one fail, and > I've a chain of a dozen shops using them extensively (their point of sale > supplier uses serial connections to open the cash drawers). > > Set the port to 9600, N, 1 as instructions indicate (usb to serial usually >> is showing up on COM7). >> > > It's worth adding that the ALIX boards use - IIRC - 38400 on their BIOS > and only bounce to 9600 when pfSense takes over from the BIOS. Though even > with a speed mismatch, you'd still expect to see junk characters appearing, > not just a cursor. > > What else can I try? >> > > The ones that come to mind, given you've already tried a different adapter > are (not in any particular order): > > a) different terminal program: on Windows I use PuTTY (which will talk > serial quite happily); on a Mac I use ZTerm; on Linux I use screen > (someone's already posted the syntax for that I see) > > b) different drivers for the adapter - IIRC there's a Prolific open driver > project that might be worth a look. > > c) different (i.e. non-Windows) OS. > > d) try the USB/serial adapter and cable on another serial device and see > if it works with that - many managed switches have serial ports, for > example. > > Kind regards, > > Chris > -- > This email is made from 100% recycled electrons > > _______________________________________________ > pfSense mailing list > https://lists.pfsense.org/mailman/listinfo/list > Support the project with Gold! https://pfsense.org/gold > -- The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in insidious encroachment by men of zeal, well-meaning but without understanding. -- Justice Louis D. Brandeis
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