RS-232 serial ports

Remember RS-232?  It is rare now-a-days to find a need for RS-232, but it can come up.  In my case, a couple of machines in our lab have their system consoles tied to a dedicated serial lines which expect a "dumb-ish" terminal (I actually owned a real-life VT-100 for a while).  Again, it is rare that one needs the system console, but especially when you have hardware issues, sometimes it is the only way to get in.

RS-232 is an interface specification which was basically invented to do one thing: connect a MODEM to either a computer or a terminal.  If you look at the RS-232 spec, you will see very MODEM-ish signals, like carrier detect, ring indicator, etc.

The RS-232 interface has two different sides, one named "DTE" and the other named "DCE".  The DTE side is for a terminal or computer.  The DCE side is for a MODEM.  RS-232 is a standard which, among other things, defines what pins on a connector are for which purpose.  If you look at an RS-232 pinout, you will see names on the pins.  For example, on a DB-25 or a DB-9 connector, pin 2 is labeled "Tx".  It is named from the point of view of the DTE, which is to say that the DTE side of the interface is supposed to output to pin 2 serial data it is transmitting to the DCE.  The DCE side is supposed to input from pin 2 serial data it is receiving from the DTE.  So the names make sense for the DTE (it transmits on Tx and I receive on Rx) and the names are backwards for the DCE (it receives on Tx and transmits on Rx).  DTE devices normally have male connectors (with pins) and DCE devices normally have female connectors, although back in the old days, I did find the odd device which violated this standard.

These days, we rarely use MODEMs.  Most of the time we deal with RS-232, we are trying to connect two DTE devices together, like connecting a terminal to a computer.  You can't just use a normal cable for that since both the terminal and the computer are DTEs and will try to transmit on Tx (pin 2).  So to get two DTEs to talk, you need a "null modem".  This is usually a specially-wired cable with a female connector on both ends.  For example, one side's Tx pin is wired to the other side's Rx pin, and vice versa.  See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Null_modem for details.

Modern laptops often don't have serial lines any more, so you'll probably need a USB serial adapter.  I have a Belkin which connects to a Windows PC and presents as COM3 (required driver).  I use putty, which lets you select "serial" and specify which COM port.  I also have a TRENDnet which connects to my Mac and presents as /dev/tty.usbserial (also required driver).  I use the normal Mac "terminal" application and enter:

    screen /dev/tty.usbserial 9600

Both of my USB devices are male DTE.  To use either one as a serial console, I need to use a female-to-female null modem.