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Annotation of coherent/a/usr/man/COHERENT/terminal, revision 1.1

1.1     ! root        1: 
        !             2: 
        !             3: terminal              Technical Information              terminal
        !             4: 
        !             5: 
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        !             7: 
        !             8: This article  describes how  you can hook  up a terminal  to your
        !             9: COHERENT  system via  a serial  port.   It also  discusses common
        !            10: problems that  arise with this  procedure, as diagnosed  daily by
        !            11: the  technical  support  staff  at  Mark Williams  Company.   For
        !            12: information on connecting a modem to your computer's serial port,
        !            13: see the article mmooddeemm.
        !            14: 
        !            15: ***** Hooking Up a Terminal to COHERENT *****
        !            16: 
        !            17: This  process is  straightforward, but  can  be confusing  if you
        !            18: overlook  any  details.   Typical problems  include  send/receive
        !            19: confusion, baud rate confusion, and shell/no shell confusion.
        !            20: 
        !            21: ***** Send/Receive Confusion *****
        !            22: 
        !            23: A serial connection between your computer and a terminal requires
        !            24: at least three wires: one each for pins 2, 3, and 7.  These pins,
        !            25: respectively, control send  (TD), receive (RD), and signal-ground
        !            26: (Gnd or  SG).  These pin  numbers correspond to  the 25-pin ``DB-
        !            27: 25'' connectors  used on most equipment.  If  your system has the
        !            28: AT-style nine-pin  ``DB-9'' connectors, you will  need to wire to
        !            29: the corresponding signals.   See the Lexicon entry for RRSS-223322 for
        !            30: details of the pin-outs for these two connectors.
        !            31: 
        !            32: When hooking  up a terminal  to a serial port  using a three-wire
        !            33: connection, you  must cross pins  2 and 3, so  that each device's
        !            34: send pin talks to the other device's receive pin.  You can plug a
        !            35: device called  a ``null modem'' between the  cable and the serial
        !            36: port, to do this  automatically.  Unless someone has sat down and
        !            37: taught  you how  to solder  connectors, we  strongly urge  you to
        !            38: purchase  the  necessary  cable  and  null  modem at  your  local
        !            39: computer store or electronics shop.
        !            40: 
        !            41: Note that  the only  symptom of  a problem in  the cable  is that
        !            42: nothing appears on your terminal when you type.
        !            43: 
        !            44: ***** Baud-Rate Confusion *****
        !            45: 
        !            46: The terminal  and the  computer must speak  to each other  at the
        !            47: same  _b_a_u_d _r_a_t_e.  A  typical symptom  of  baud-rate confusion  is
        !            48: garbage characters on the  screen.  When the wiring is wrong, you
        !            49: see nothing; when the baud  rate is wrong, you see something, but
        !            50: nothing meaningful.  You  can fix baud-rate problems by using the
        !            51: command ssttttyy to reset the baud rate on the port, or resetting the
        !            52: baud rate  on the terminal.   For directions on how  to reset the
        !            53: baud rate for a port, see the Lexicon entry for ssttttyy.
        !            54: 
        !            55: ***** The Old Shell Game *****
        !            56: 
        !            57: Before a terminal is useful to you, you must _e_n_a_b_l_e the port into
        !            58: which it  is plugged.   Enabling a  port means that  the COHERENT
        !            59: system creates  a shell for that port: this,  in turn, means that
        !            60: COHERENT prints  a login prompt  on the device  plugged into that
        !            61: port,  and reads  and processes  interactively commands  that are
        !            62: 
        !            63: 
        !            64: COHERENT Lexicon                                           Page 1
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        !            66: 
        !            67: 
        !            68: 
        !            69: terminal              Technical Information              terminal
        !            70: 
        !            71: 
        !            72: 
        !            73: entered  from  that port.   The  COHERENT  system also  restricts
        !            74: permissions  on  all  enabled  serial  ports,  so that  only  the
        !            75: superuser rroooott  can read  and write  to the port.   This prevents
        !            76: other users who may be using the system from accessing the serial
        !            77: port.
        !            78: 
        !            79: Note  that not  all  ports need  be enabled:  printer ports,  for
        !            80: example, should  not be enabled;  nor should you  enable any port
        !            81: whose device you want to accept data passively.
        !            82: 
        !            83: When you boot the COHERENT system, it reads system file /eettcc/ttttyyss
        !            84: and creates a shell for each serial port that needs one.  One way
        !            85: to enable a  port is to log in as  the superuser rroooott, then use a
        !            86: text editor to change the port's entry in /eettcc/ttttyyss, as described
        !            87: its Lexicon article.  Finally, typing the command
        !            88: 
        !            89: 
        !            90:         kill quit 1
        !            91: 
        !            92: 
        !            93: forces COHERENT  to re-read /eettcc/ttttyyss  and so create  a shell for
        !            94: the port.  Note that doing this  will ensure that the port is re-
        !            95: enabled every time you boot.
        !            96: 
        !            97: A better  way to enable a  port is to use  the command eennaabbllee, as
        !            98: described in its Lexicon article.  For example, to put up a shell
        !            99: on COM port /ddeevv/ccoomm11rr, log in as the superuser rroooott and type the
        !           100: command:
        !           101: 
        !           102: 
        !           103:         /etc/enable com1r
        !           104: 
        !           105: 
        !           106: ***** See Also *****
        !           107: 
        !           108: mmooddeemm, RRSS-223322, ssttttyy, tteecchhnniiccaall iinnffoorrmmaattiioonn, tteerrmmccaapp, tteerrmmiioo, ttttyyss
        !           109: 
        !           110: ***** Notes *****
        !           111: 
        !           112: One  final  bit  of  hard-won  wisdom:  once you  have  something
        !           113: working, write down  what you did, and store it  in a place where
        !           114: you won't lose it.  Note especially what connectors are where and
        !           115: how they  have been cabled  together.  It makes  life easier just
        !           116: knowing that you are looking for a female-to-female cable instead
        !           117: of male-to-female or male-to-male.  If you know whether to insert
        !           118: a null modem, you are even better off.
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        !           129: 
        !           130: COHERENT Lexicon                                           Page 2
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