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Date:      Sun, 22 Aug 1999 13:29:51 -0400 (EDT)
From:      "Crist J. Clark" <cjc@cc942873-a.ewndsr1.nj.home.com>
To:        iflemmin@mission.mvnc.edu (Isaac Flemming)
Cc:        questions@FreeBSD.ORG, kdrobnac@mission.mvnc.edu
Subject:   Re: Dumb terminal(s) through serial connection(s)
Message-ID:  <199908221729.NAA22966@cc942873-a.ewndsr1.nj.home.com>
In-Reply-To: <Pine.GSO.3.96.990822034706.13238B-100000@mission.mvnc.edu> from Isaac Flemming at "Aug 22, 99 03:48:45 am"

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Isaac Flemming wrote,
>  Hello all,
> 
>  I am running FreeBSD 3.2-RELEASE and I have recently acquired several
> WYSE 50 terminals. I have read through several FAQ's and tutorials on how
> to set two of these terminals up, and connect them to my box via
> ttyd0/COM1 and ttyd1/COM2. I have setup the terminal's parity to none and
> the modem port baud rate to 38400. I then edited the /etc/ttys file to use
> the following settings. 
> 
>   ttyd0 "/usr/libexec/getty std.38400" wy50    on insecure
>   ttyd1 "/usr/libexec/getty std.38400" wy50    on insecure
> 
> After all these settings are checked and double checked and the init is
> reloaded to re-read the ttys file I check to see that my settings have
> taken affect and sure enough they have. 
> 
> bash$ ps ax|grep getty
>   277  ??  I      0:00.02 /usr/libexec/getty std.38400 ttyd0
>   278  ??  I      0:00.02 /usr/libexec/getty std.38400 ttyd1
> 
> According to all the FAQ's/tutorials I have read my terminals (assuming
> they are properly connected) should be getting a login prompt but they are
> not. I am very new at this and am at a total loss as what to try next. Is
> there any way I can be sure the terminals are connected correctly (I am
> pretty sure they are, I am using standard serial/modem cables), and if
> they are connected correctly is there anything I am missing?

From the looks of your ps output, it looks like the terms and the
computer are not talking at all. The '??' should have the tty
designation in them. For example, I have two PCs attached to a
terminal through a switch box. I'm remote from them right now, but I
can tell which one has the switch closed,

backmail% ps ax | grep getty
  225  v0  IWs+   0:00.00 (getty)
  228  d1  IWs+   0:00.00 (getty)

newmail% ps ax | grep getty
13522  ??  IW     0:00.00 (getty)
26299  v0  IWs+   0:00.00 (getty)
  203  v1  IWs+   0:00.00 (getty)
  204  v2  IWs+   0:00.00 (getty)
  205  v3  IWs+   0:00.00 (getty)

The machine backmail has the live ttyd1 connection.

Assuming I'm correct, there are about a jillion things it could be,
but some ideas,

1) Are you using a null-modem if you need one (basically, you need the
   equivalent of an Ethernet cross-over cable for serial connections)?

2) Do the comm settings on the terminal match those of the FreeBSD box
   (e.g. the term is set to do 38400 baud too)?

3) I only run my terms at 19200 baud. I suspect that either EMI in
   switch box prevents me running faster or the serial hardware 
   in the PCs is not good enough to handle 38400. You might try, say,
   9600 just to make sure everything works, then increment up until
   you find the max you can run at reliably.

4) There are inummerable hardware problems that could be there. Try
   different cables and different term combos (even different PCs or
   ports in each PC) if all else fails. I find this is especially a
   problem with serial terms since one is almost always dealing with
   old, hand-me-down hardware.

HTH. I spent many hours getting mine going right.
-- 
Crist J. Clark                           cjclark@home.com


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