Recover from HW reset
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Stephen i have a serial null modem , one end is serial and the other end is a parallel male printer. Can i use a female to USB parallel cable, so i can plug it on my pc?
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Hmm. You say it has a 'parallel male printer' connector, I assume you mean a db25 connector?
Most null modem cables do not use 25pin connectors, are you sure it's a null modem?Steve
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Hi Stephen,
I have just bought from ebay a female to female serial null modem cable, but when i tried to fire up serial console i cant see nothing, please see screenshot below
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ttyS0 appears to be a standard serial port, though here it's virtualised.
I'm confused as to your setup. You are running Backtrack as a vm in vmware? The host OS is Windows 7? You have a usb-serial converter connected to the host machine? The Alix is connected to that via a null modem cable?
Please confirm each of those.To make that work you will have to somehow route the host machines com port to the vm com port. It seems way too complex. :-\
Steve
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yes, because when i try putty, it wont work. Thats why i setup a VM, im not sure how can i route the com port, this is the null modem i purchased in ebay and my usb converter is using prolific chipset.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/390248186240?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649
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Hi Stephen i also tried downloading hyperterminal, set baud to 9600 and 38400 still same, nothing happens.
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Hmm, ok. Well I would definitely try to get it working in windows, using a vm inside vmware introduces way too many new possible problems. Plenty of others have made this work.
What com port are you choosing in putty or hyperterminal? If your usb-serial adapter is correctly installed I expect it to appear as, say, com5.Steve
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well its random, sometimes com 6, 7, 8 or 9. It really puzzle me why its still not working, even if i already the stuffs needed to run this, specially the null modem cable
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Do you have anything else you can use to test the serial connection?
In newer versions of windows you need to run putty as admin.
Rather than running backtrack as a vm you could try running it as a live cd.You should also be able to just re-write a new image to the cf card. There are default settings for the Alix so it will come up with a web interface.
Steve
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I have re-write the new image using dd in backtrack, when i power Alix i think its working because the three leads is blinking simultaneously just like before, i tested the serial cable on my windows 7 ultimate and it was detected and hyperterminal also detects it.
Do i i need to change something on the cf card image? -
Hi Stephen,
I did what you advise, I bootup BT 5 on a thumdrive, my USB to serial got detected, i use /dev/TTYUSB0 for the port, please see below. But still cant see anything on the screen, like bootup from Alix
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The Alix bootup messages will be at 38400bps unless you've changed the BIOS setting.
Do you have a link to exact null modem cable you bought?Steve
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I did set it already to 38400 but same issue , no bootup on the screee. Below is the link where i bought my null modem cable
http://www.ebay.com/itm/390248186240?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649
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Hmm, that listing does not appear to state that the cable is wired as a null modem. I think you're going to have to test it to make sure. If its wired correctly pin 2 at one end should be connected to pin 3 at the other end.
See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Null_modemSteve
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Hmm, that listing does not appear to state that the cable is wired as a null modem. I think you're going to have to test it to make sure. If its wired correctly pin 2 at one end should be connected to pin 3 at the other end.
See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Null_modemSteve
Sorry for late reply, so thats why it still did not work. I thought i bought a null modem cable.
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It isn't necessarily the wrong cable, I would expect a female-female serial cable to be wired as a null modem. However you need to be sure since if it's wrong you'll never see anything on the terminal.
Steve
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Hi Stephen,
Thaks for the response, here is how i connect it and the actual look of my female to female serial modem, connected to USB to serial
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It looks like the right cable but I have no way to tell how it's wired. If it is wired as a null modem I would expect it to be advertised as such. The fact that it isn't makes me suspect it. Like I said if it isn't a null modem cable that would explain all the problems you've been having.
You can easily test it if you have access to a multimeter and a paperclip. Any self respecting geek should have a multimeter! ;)
Steve
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Hey Stephen you were right! The cable i bought was not a null modem cable, so i ordered again sometime like 3 weeks ago it just came earlier and tested the new null modem cable , it worked. Im now setting up pfsense webgui. Below is my config my current adsl modem/router is setup as DHCP, and i configure pfsense WAN to DHCP, when i test for internet it didnt connnect internet, do i have to disable dhcp on my modem/router, and enable only dhpc on pfsense WAN as DHCP ?
adsl modem/router : setup DHCP
pfsense
WAN: DHCP
LAN: 192.168.1.1 /24 -
Ok, so are you connecting the pfSense box behind the adsl modem/router?
How did you test for internet on the pfSense box?There is a good chance that your adsl router is also using the 192.168.1.1 subnet for its LAN. This will break routing, you can't have the same subnet on two of pfSenses interfaces. If that is the case try changing the pfSense LAN subnet.
Steve
