ALIX-board nullmodem serial to usb, no output in terminal emulator!
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Hello PfSense community!
A couple days ago, the webgui crashed while I was looking at devices connected to the network, and since have not been able to get any internet through the box. I'm trying to use the serial connection to diagnose what went wrong.
I have an ALIX-2d13 or m1n1, I'm not sure how to tell the difference (I'm pretty new to this stuff), using PuTTY and HyperTerminal I can't get any output from the ALIX to my computer. I'm using nullmodem adapter to a female-female adapter to a 9-pin serial to USB cable. When I try getting a connection from PuTTY, it says it can't open the serial connection. I'm not sure what I should be using for settings in PuTTY since it's connected through a USB port. In PuTTY I set it to serial connection and type COM1 for the connection with baud set at 9600, but always get the same error.
Please help, thank you in advance for any help.
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I have an ALIX-2d13 or m1n1, I'm not sure how to tell the difference
They are different words for the same thing.
In PuTTY I set it to serial connection and type COM1 for the connection with baud set at 9600, but always get the same error.
You need to find out the COM port number that got assigned to the USB serial adapter.
Open Device Manager devmgmt.msc - http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc754081.aspx
Open the Ports section.
Pick a likely-looking COMn from there.
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For my netgate 2D13 38400 baud 8N1 bits/parity works.
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38,400bps would be for accessing the bios but pfSense uses 9600bps for it's console output by default. Since 2.1 that is a setting in the webgui that you can change. Set it to 38400 if you want to see the entire boot sequence at one baud rate (or set the Alix bios to 9600).
Having to use a gender changer in your connection always raises suspicions for me. If you have the correct cables you usually don't need one.Steve
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Unless that gender changer is actually a null modem adapter, then the cable is likely not correct.