Re: [pfSense] serial port sadness
Resolution: Never did figure out what I was doing wrong, and another client needed a new pfsense box, so I just ended up buying the USB to serial adapter and gender changer from Netgate. Was affordable, isn't the prolific chipset, and it totally works. Big thanks to everyone! Mahalo, Jeremy On Fri, Feb 27, 2015 at 12:24 PM, Sean m...@thegeekclub.net wrote: Although... you reminded me of a good story. Once upon a time I worked for this startup company trying to develop a device that was programmed over serial. Some argument between owner and guy who did original dev work left us with a device and a crappy 16 bit dos executable to reverse engineer. Called a genius friend of mine and we actually rigged up a serial cable with two heads and many twisted wires and electrical tape that allowed us to sniff the data traversing it. So we figured out the entire command set of the device and were able to write a better app... On Fri, Feb 27, 2015 at 4:18 PM, Sean m...@thegeekclub.net wrote: LOL. This guy gets it. When I get in trouble there's an almost retired telephony tech in my office who speaks this arcane serial language. I send him mfg pinouts and they'll make me a custom cable in a pinch. To me it's all just voodoo. On Fri, Feb 27, 2015 at 2:16 PM, Jim Thompson j...@netgate.com wrote: Let me know when you want to hear the story of a paper tape reader, a pick and place machine, and speed select (pin 23 on a DB-25 wired for EIA RS-232-C) On Feb 27, 2015, at 1:55 PM, Sean m...@thegeekclub.net wrote: You also need a real NULL modem cable. Actually there's probably nothing wrong with your USB to Serial. The blue Cisco cables are rollover cables. They are not NULL modem cables. Welcome to serial cable pinout hell. ;-) Some of us have been here a long time. I'm no expert but i've got 3 different serial cables and converters in my toolbag having learned the hard way the variety of devices and requirements. On Wed, Feb 25, 2015 at 2:30 PM, Jeremy Bennett jbenn...@hikitechnology.com wrote: Thank you all for the suggestions. I put my own alix router in place for my client, and now that I have a little time, will go ahead and purchase a non-prolific USB to serial adapter, and the associated accessories. I have gotten into the habit of buying prebuilt Alix systems, and that has spoiled me. On Wed, Feb 25, 2015 at 10:12 AM, Volker Kuhlmann hid...@paradise.net.nz wrote: On Thu 26 Feb 2015 07:19:04 NZDT +1300, Jim Pingle wrote: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00AHYJWWG Yes useful for many occasions. However as a first step having a two bucks gender bender and trying with and without will put the straight/null issue to rest. You'll still need if if the flashing gadget indicates as such. Smaller/cheaper than having two different cables too. FTDI chip, too. Or what the Chinese make of that ;-) Volker -- Volker Kuhlmann is list0570 with the domain in header. http://volker.top.geek.nz/ Please do not CC list postings to me. ___ pfSense mailing list https://lists.pfsense.org/mailman/listinfo/list Support the project with Gold! https://pfsense.org/gold ___ pfSense mailing list https://lists.pfsense.org/mailman/listinfo/list Support the project with Gold! https://pfsense.org/gold ___ pfSense mailing list https://lists.pfsense.org/mailman/listinfo/list Support the project with Gold! https://pfsense.org/gold ___ pfSense mailing list https://lists.pfsense.org/mailman/listinfo/list Support the project with Gold! https://pfsense.org/gold ___ pfSense mailing list https://lists.pfsense.org/mailman/listinfo/list Support the project with Gold! https://pfsense.org/gold ___ pfSense mailing list https://lists.pfsense.org/mailman/listinfo/list Support the project with Gold! https://pfsense.org/gold
Re: [pfSense] serial port sadness
Years ago I had problems with serial cables - I invested in a little in-line gadget that had red and green LEDs for each line. The one I have uses 25 pin connectors, so the cable is a mix of 9-25 pin adapters and the LED viewer. You can shut down/disconnect one end to see what lights remain lit. A flicker on a pair of lights indicates data flow. It has been very helpful. Bob G On 02/25/2015 05:35 AM, Dr. Peter Voigt wrote: On Wed, 25 Feb 2015 01:26:04 -1000 Jeremy Bennett jbenn...@hikitechnology.com wrote: I'm using a cable that came with a Cisco router, I googled the part number and I'm pretty sure it came back with a Null modem cable. Not sure if I have read all about your issue. But my Cisco SG300 switches are operating with straight serial cables only, e.g. you need 1:1 connected ones. Null modem cables are useless here. One the other hand: The Alix boards need Null modem cables. Regards, Peter ___ pfSense mailing list https://lists.pfsense.org/mailman/listinfo/list Support the project with Gold! https://pfsense.org/gold ___ pfSense mailing list https://lists.pfsense.org/mailman/listinfo/list Support the project with Gold! https://pfsense.org/gold
Re: [pfSense] serial port sadness
On Thu 26 Feb 2015 07:19:04 NZDT +1300, Jim Pingle wrote: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00AHYJWWG Yes useful for many occasions. However as a first step having a two bucks gender bender and trying with and without will put the straight/null issue to rest. You'll still need if if the flashing gadget indicates as such. Smaller/cheaper than having two different cables too. FTDI chip, too. Or what the Chinese make of that ;-) Volker -- Volker Kuhlmann is list0570 with the domain in header. http://volker.top.geek.nz/ Please do not CC list postings to me. ___ pfSense mailing list https://lists.pfsense.org/mailman/listinfo/list Support the project with Gold! https://pfsense.org/gold
Re: [pfSense] serial port sadness
On 02/25/2015 12:03 PM, Bob Gustafson wrote: Years ago I had problems with serial cables - I invested in a little in-line gadget that had red and green LEDs for each line. The one I have uses 25 pin connectors, so the cable is a mix of 9-25 pin adapters and the LED viewer. You can shut down/disconnect one end to see what lights remain lit. A flicker on a pair of lights indicates data flow. It has been very helpful. I picked this up a few days ago and I'm quite happy with it: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00AHYJWWG USB to serial converter with an LED readout including transmit and receive indicators. FTDI chip, too. Jim ___ pfSense mailing list https://lists.pfsense.org/mailman/listinfo/list Support the project with Gold! https://pfsense.org/gold
Re: [pfSense] serial port sadness
I'm using a cable that came with a Cisco router, I googled the part number and I'm pretty sure it came back with a Null modem cable. The strangest thing is that I'm pretty sure I had this working at one point. I'll post back when I find the solution. On Mon, Feb 23, 2015 at 6:24 PM, Oliver Hansen oliver.han...@gmail.com wrote: Walter mentioned it. And that's the same problem I've had before. On Feb 23, 2015 8:15 PM, Ryan Coleman ryan.cole...@cwis.biz wrote: No one has mentioned that you haven't stated if you had a Null Modem cable. Do you have a Null Modem cable or a simple Pass-through one? On Feb 23, 2015, at 7:08 PM, Jeremy Bennett jbenn...@hikitechnology.com wrote: I'm trying to get a couple of bricked Alix boards back. 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. Set the port to 9600, N, 1 as instructions indicate (usb to serial usually is showing up on COM7). I've replaced the serial cable with a new one. I've replaced the USB to serial adapter with a new one (both are prolific 2303s) I've tried w/ a WIndows 8 machine as well, but the results are the same... blinking cursor. I connected the same stuff to a known good Alix box, and I got the same result, so I know it isn't the Alixes. What else can I try? Mahalo, Jeremy ___ pfSense mailing list https://lists.pfsense.org/mailman/listinfo/list Support the project with Gold! https://pfsense.org/gold ___ pfSense mailing list https://lists.pfsense.org/mailman/listinfo/list Support the project with Gold! https://pfsense.org/gold ___ pfSense mailing list https://lists.pfsense.org/mailman/listinfo/list Support the project with Gold! https://pfsense.org/gold ___ pfSense mailing list https://lists.pfsense.org/mailman/listinfo/list Support the project with Gold! https://pfsense.org/gold
Re: [pfSense] serial port sadness
On Wed, 25 Feb 2015 01:26:04 -1000 Jeremy Bennett jbenn...@hikitechnology.com wrote: I'm using a cable that came with a Cisco router, I googled the part number and I'm pretty sure it came back with a Null modem cable. Not sure if I have read all about your issue. But my Cisco SG300 switches are operating with straight serial cables only, e.g. you need 1:1 connected ones. Null modem cables are useless here. One the other hand: The Alix boards need Null modem cables. Regards, Peter ___ pfSense mailing list https://lists.pfsense.org/mailman/listinfo/list Support the project with Gold! https://pfsense.org/gold
Re: [pfSense] serial port sadness
Hello all: I goofed up a BIOS setting on a Netgate FW-7551 a few months ago. Nothing I tried would get the console to connect, even though the system seemed to be booting (LEDs flash, system beep after 30 seconds, etc). I finally popped open the cover and pulled the CMOS battery out for a couple of minutes. I reinstalled the battery and fired the box up. The console came back with the restoration of the default BIOS settings. ~Ed On 2/23/2015 9:02 PM, Walter Parker wrote: 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 mailto: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 ___ pfSense mailing list https://lists.pfsense.org/mailman/listinfo/list Support the project with Gold! https://pfsense.org/gold ___ pfSense mailing list https://lists.pfsense.org/mailman/listinfo/list Support the project with Gold! https://pfsense.org/gold
Re: [pfSense] serial port sadness
No one has mentioned that you haven’t stated if you had a Null Modem cable. Do you have a Null Modem cable or a simple Pass-through one? On Feb 23, 2015, at 7:08 PM, Jeremy Bennett jbenn...@hikitechnology.com wrote: I'm trying to get a couple of bricked Alix boards back. 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. Set the port to 9600, N, 1 as instructions indicate (usb to serial usually is showing up on COM7). I've replaced the serial cable with a new one. I've replaced the USB to serial adapter with a new one (both are prolific 2303s) I've tried w/ a WIndows 8 machine as well, but the results are the same... blinking cursor. I connected the same stuff to a known good Alix box, and I got the same result, so I know it isn't the Alixes. What else can I try? Mahalo, Jeremy ___ pfSense mailing list https://lists.pfsense.org/mailman/listinfo/list Support the project with Gold! https://pfsense.org/gold ___ pfSense mailing list https://lists.pfsense.org/mailman/listinfo/list Support the project with Gold! https://pfsense.org/gold
Re: [pfSense] serial port sadness
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 ___ pfSense mailing list https://lists.pfsense.org/mailman/listinfo/list Support the project with Gold! https://pfsense.org/gold
[pfSense] serial port sadness
I'm trying to get a couple of bricked Alix boards back. 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. Set the port to 9600, N, 1 as instructions indicate (usb to serial usually is showing up on COM7). I've replaced the serial cable with a new one. I've replaced the USB to serial adapter with a new one (both are prolific 2303s) I've tried w/ a WIndows 8 machine as well, but the results are the same... blinking cursor. I connected the same stuff to a known good Alix box, and I got the same result, so I know it isn't the Alixes. What else can I try? Mahalo, Jeremy ___ pfSense mailing list https://lists.pfsense.org/mailman/listinfo/list Support the project with Gold! https://pfsense.org/gold
Re: [pfSense] serial port sadness
On 24/02/2015 00:08, Jeremy Bennett wrote: I'm trying to get a couple of bricked Alix boards back. 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. Set the port to 9600, N, 1 as instructions indicate (usb to serial usually is showing up on COM7). I've replaced the serial cable with a new one. I've replaced the USB to serial adapter with a new one (both are prolific 2303s) I've tried w/ a WIndows 8 machine as well, but the results are the same... blinking cursor. I connected the same stuff to a known good Alix box, and I got the same result, so I know it isn't the Alixes. What else can I try? Mahalo, Jeremy Hi Jeremy In my experience, most of the times the issue is with the USB2Serial converter/cable -- more precisely the chipset used in them. I have found FTDI based cables/converters to be more reliable (and prolific used to be the most horrible :P). That being said, any chance you can download one of those live Linux/Unix dristo and either boot from a CD or a USB stick? If yes (lubuntu is a good candidate -- lightweight, no need to install, etc.), then that could be a good point to start. You can use screen (after booting, while the machine is still connected to the internet, just open a terminal, type in sudo su, and then apt-get install screen, follow the prompts). Also, if you run tail -f /var/log/messages while inserting the USB adapter/cable, it will tell you which tty it is attaching itself to (and also what kind of chipset it has. If it is unable to detect the chipset, chances are you need to install some driver in windows to make it work/communicate properly). Then it is a matter of issuing screen /dev/ttyXX speed Please note, even though the documentation says 9600, the newer apu boards use 115200 as default, and since this can be set by the user through the web interface, it may be worth checking the known good alix (by connecting to the web interface) what speed that is set to, or if the serial console is enabled even! Others might come with better suggestion, but this is what I would have done if I were in your position. Just my 2p Regards Shah ___ pfSense mailing list https://lists.pfsense.org/mailman/listinfo/list Support the project with Gold! https://pfsense.org/gold
Re: [pfSense] serial port sadness
Walter mentioned it. And that's the same problem I've had before. On Feb 23, 2015 8:15 PM, Ryan Coleman ryan.cole...@cwis.biz wrote: No one has mentioned that you haven’t stated if you had a Null Modem cable. Do you have a Null Modem cable or a simple Pass-through one? On Feb 23, 2015, at 7:08 PM, Jeremy Bennett jbenn...@hikitechnology.com wrote: I'm trying to get a couple of bricked Alix boards back. 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. Set the port to 9600, N, 1 as instructions indicate (usb to serial usually is showing up on COM7). I've replaced the serial cable with a new one. I've replaced the USB to serial adapter with a new one (both are prolific 2303s) I've tried w/ a WIndows 8 machine as well, but the results are the same... blinking cursor. I connected the same stuff to a known good Alix box, and I got the same result, so I know it isn't the Alixes. What else can I try? Mahalo, Jeremy ___ pfSense mailing list https://lists.pfsense.org/mailman/listinfo/list Support the project with Gold! https://pfsense.org/gold ___ pfSense mailing list https://lists.pfsense.org/mailman/listinfo/list Support the project with Gold! https://pfsense.org/gold ___ pfSense mailing list https://lists.pfsense.org/mailman/listinfo/list Support the project with Gold! https://pfsense.org/gold
Re: [pfSense] serial port sadness
Jeremy, I had one of those cables and couldn't get it work when attached to the hub on my monitor, hooking it up to the motherboard ports directly worked. I used the screen /dev/ttyUSB0 SPEED to get connected. Give that a try. On Mon, Feb 23, 2015 at 7:28 PM, Shamim Shahriar shamim.shahr...@gmail.com wrote: On 24/02/2015 00:08, Jeremy Bennett wrote: I'm trying to get a couple of bricked Alix boards back. 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. Set the port to 9600, N, 1 as instructions indicate (usb to serial usually is showing up on COM7). I've replaced the serial cable with a new one. I've replaced the USB to serial adapter with a new one (both are prolific 2303s) I've tried w/ a WIndows 8 machine as well, but the results are the same... blinking cursor. I connected the same stuff to a known good Alix box, and I got the same result, so I know it isn't the Alixes. What else can I try? Mahalo, Jeremy Hi Jeremy In my experience, most of the times the issue is with the USB2Serial converter/cable -- more precisely the chipset used in them. I have found FTDI based cables/converters to be more reliable (and prolific used to be the most horrible :P). That being said, any chance you can download one of those live Linux/Unix dristo and either boot from a CD or a USB stick? If yes (lubuntu is a good candidate -- lightweight, no need to install, etc.), then that could be a good point to start. You can use screen (after booting, while the machine is still connected to the internet, just open a terminal, type in sudo su, and then apt-get install screen, follow the prompts). Also, if you run tail -f /var/log/messages while inserting the USB adapter/cable, it will tell you which tty it is attaching itself to (and also what kind of chipset it has. If it is unable to detect the chipset, chances are you need to install some driver in windows to make it work/communicate properly). Then it is a matter of issuing screen /dev/ttyXX speed Please note, even though the documentation says 9600, the newer apu boards use 115200 as default, and since this can be set by the user through the web interface, it may be worth checking the known good alix (by connecting to the web interface) what speed that is set to, or if the serial console is enabled even! Others might come with better suggestion, but this is what I would have done if I were in your position. Just my 2p Regards Shah ___ pfSense mailing list https://lists.pfsense.org/mailman/listinfo/list Support the project with Gold! https://pfsense.org/gold ___ pfSense mailing list https://lists.pfsense.org/mailman/listinfo/list Support the project with Gold! https://pfsense.org/gold
Re: [pfSense] serial port sadness
Strike that - Walter did but not by the specific name. On Feb 23, 2015, at 11:15 PM, Ryan Coleman ryan.cole...@cwis.biz wrote: No one has mentioned that you haven’t stated if you had a Null Modem cable. Do you have a Null Modem cable or a simple Pass-through one? On Feb 23, 2015, at 7:08 PM, Jeremy Bennett jbenn...@hikitechnology.com wrote: I'm trying to get a couple of bricked Alix boards back. 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. Set the port to 9600, N, 1 as instructions indicate (usb to serial usually is showing up on COM7). I've replaced the serial cable with a new one. I've replaced the USB to serial adapter with a new one (both are prolific 2303s) I've tried w/ a WIndows 8 machine as well, but the results are the same... blinking cursor. I connected the same stuff to a known good Alix box, and I got the same result, so I know it isn't the Alixes. What else can I try? Mahalo, Jeremy ___ pfSense mailing list https://lists.pfsense.org/mailman/listinfo/list Support the project with Gold! https://pfsense.org/gold ___ pfSense mailing list https://lists.pfsense.org/mailman/listinfo/list Support the project with Gold! https://pfsense.org/gold ___ pfSense mailing list https://lists.pfsense.org/mailman/listinfo/list Support the project with Gold! https://pfsense.org/gold
Re: [pfSense] serial port sadness
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
