12. Serial Tips

Here are some serial tips you might find helpful...

12.1 kermit and zmodem

To use zmodem with kermit, add the following to your .kermrc:

define rz !rz < /dev/cua3 > /dev/cua3
define sz !sz \%0 > /dev/cua3 < /dev/cua3

Be sure to put in the correct port your modem is on. Then, to use it, just type rz or sz <filename> at the kermit prompt.

12.2 Setting terminal types automagically

To set your terminal type automagically when you log in, add the terminal type to the entry in /etc/inittab. If I have a vt100 terminal on ttyS1, I would add ``vt100'' to the getty command:

S1:456:respawn:/sbin/getty ttyS1 DT9600 vt100

You can also get tset from sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/system/Terminal-management or a mirror site. See the docs that come with tset to learn how to use it. tset can establish terminal characteristics when you log in, and doesn't depend on any defaults.

12.3 Color ls on serial connections

If ls is screwing up your terminal emulation with the color feature, turn it off. ls --color, and ls --colour all use the color feature. Some installations have ls set to use color by default. Check /etc/profile and /etc/csh.cshrc for ls aliases. You can also alias ls to ls --no-color, if you don't want to change the system defaults.

12.4 Printing to a printer connected to a terminal

There is a program called vtprint that will do this, written by Garrett D'Amore garrett@sdsu.edu.
It is available from ftp.sdsu.edu:/pub/vtprint, and also from http://www.sdsu.edu/~garrett/. The following is from the README file that comes with the program:

vtprint is a program that allows users to print from a remote UNIX host to a printer attached to their local terminal or emulator, which makes it great for printing files at home, etc. (It only does text files, though.)

12.5 Can Linux configure the serial devices automagically?

Yes. To get Linux to detect and set up the serial devices automatically on startup, add the line:

/sbin/setserial /dev/cuaN auto_irq skip_test autoconfig

Notes for multiport boards

For board addresses, and IRQs, look at the rc.serial that comes with the setserial program. It has a lot of detail on multiport boards, including I/O addresses and device names.