Serial admin console program

[Ben Scott]

On Tue, Sep 23, 2008 at 5:10 PM, Alan Johnson <alan at datdec.com> wrote:
> I've been using minicom (or trying to) to manage some network devices over
> their serial ports, but it is not pretty.  Minicom appears to be too focused
> on modems to work well with my serial devices.

  Others have posted their variants on this idea; here's my method:

  Run "minicom -s" as root to set defaults.

  Under "Serial port setup", tweak parameters (speed, data bits,
parity, stop bits, flow control) to appropriate defaults for your
scenario.  Don't worry about the port device yet.

  Under "Modem and dialing", change init string to an empty string.
(Quick method: Press A, type a single space, then a single backspace,
then press [ENTER].)  Do same for reset string and hang-up string.
Set "Auto bps detect" to no, "Modem has DCD line" to yes if your DCE
gives DCD, and status line to show DTE speed.

  I like to tweak the "Screen and keyboard" to tune appearance to my
taste.  If your equipment is doing anything "funny", you may also want
to disable macros and/or tweak character conversion here.

  Invoke "Save setup as dfl" to make the settings the default.

  Now go back to "Serial port setup", change the device to
"/dev/ttyS0".  Use "Save setup as..." to save as "com1".  Change
device to "ttyS1", save as "com2".  Continue up through ttyS3/com4.

  "Exit from Minicom".

  Now you can use "minicom com1" to get COM1, "minicom com2", etc.

  I also usually created a shell alias for "minicom" to "minicom -m -c
on".  That turns on color, and causes the meta key (spelled "ALT" by
IBM) to be used for commands.  Thus, [CTRL]+[A] becomes available for
use in the terminal, and [ALT]+[H], [ALT]+[X], etc., work they way
they did in Telix and Telemate.

  I haven't done this in a while, but it seemed to all still work the
same way when I tested it just now.  :)

-- Ben