Chris, you are not going to like my reply. I would use MobaXterm on a Windows laptop. Plus as John says a USB to serial dongle. Dont get all hung up on null modem cables - just use a USB dongle and any serial cable. Give it a try.
As an aside if your switch has an RJ45 style serial port the RJ45 to serial cables on Amazon work great. I used to carry one in my bag of cables and adapters in the days when I visited sites. (Might not be RJ45 - but you know the standard port, looks like ethernet but it is not) On Thu, 30 Jan 2025 at 17:46, John Edwards via GLLUG < [email protected]> wrote: > Hi Chris > > On Thu, Jan 30, 2025 at 05:26:35PM +0000, Chris Bell via GLLUG wrote: > > Hello, > > I have a secondhand HP ProCurve 2824 J4903 network switch and some > computers > > running Debian 12 (Bookworm) with KDE desktop and DB9 serial ports. I > have > > followed the switch "return to factory default reset" procedure, so I > think > > need to connect the Switch Console DB9 to a computer DB9 via a > null-modem > > cable to do an initial configuration with terminal configured as > > > > Baud rate 9600 > > 8Bits + 1 stop bit > > No parity > > No flow control > > > > Xmodem is mentioned > > I could then use a standard VT-100/ANSI or web interface to continue > > configuration. > > > > I have two DB9 to open end adapters plus choc block so that I can easily > > change the connections. > > I don't care whether I work as computer user with dialup permission or > root. > > I have read through various man pages, but nothing I have done so far > has > > shown any sign of working, and am not sure whether I am trying the wrong > > software. Could SystemD need to be configured first? > > Any suggestions welcome. > > I would be happy to install a different version of Debian if needed. > > Thanks for any help. > > -- > > Chris Bell > > www.chrisbell.org.uk > > What program are you using on the Linux machine to connect? > > I tend to use 'minicom'. Control-A followed by 'o' opens up the menu > (to change serial device, speed, etc), Control-A 'z' opens up help, > and Control-A 'q' quits without sending a reset to the serial device > (usually safest). > > The motherboard serial devices are numbered from /dev/ttyS0, and USB > serial adapters from /dev/ttyUSB0. > > The devices are usually group-writable by the "dialout" group, so run > 'groups | grep dialout' to make sure you a member of that group. > > I think SystemD only needs to be involved if you want to set a > terminal control on a serial device for other devices to connect to > you machine. > > Another useful tool is 'statserial', which shows you the status of the > various serial pins, so you can use that to see if anything is on that > serial line and it ready to receive (eg have you got the wrong device, > crossover cable, etc). > > > -- > #---------------------------------------------------------# > | John Edwards Email: [email protected] | > #---------------------------------------------------------# > -- > GLLUG mailing list > [email protected] > https://mailman.lug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/gllug >
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