Minicom Cisco 831 aux/console connection

metallica1973 · 07-09-2008, 04:13 PM

Can someone tell me how to connect to my Cisco 831 router via the aux/console port using minicom. I checked my serial port configuration and it is set at ttyS0:

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[    4.797770] console [tty0] enabled 
[    7.008943] serial8250: ttyS0 at I/O 0x3f8 (irq = 4) is a NS16550A 
[    7.010429] 00:0a: ttyS0 at I/O 0x3f8 (irq = 4) is a NS16550A

I access minicom setup

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minicom -s

and I set everything up right:

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•9600 baud 
 
•8 data bits 
 
•No parity 
 
•1 stop bit 
 
•No flow control

and then I exit minicom and it does not connect. I tried other cables and everything is cool. What am I doing wrong?

ARC1450 · 07-09-2008, 04:33 PM

You may have to make minicom "initialize" the modem. I think that's what I had to do to get it working on my Linux boxxen.

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=82132

metallica1973 · 07-09-2008, 04:58 PM

I have been there and done that. I have even tried another cable. I went into the Bios of the laptop and noticed that serial port was disabled. I enabled it and restarted the machine and I still cannot connect. Does the Cisco 831 have different baud settings? I went to the Cisco site and it looks like that is pretty much there standard.

ARC1450 · 07-09-2008, 06:26 PM

Nope, the 831 is 9600 just like all the others.

You've initialized the modem and made sure you're using the correct COM in minicom, right? (Just want to make sure).

Stupid question, but can you get into in with Hyperterm in Windows?

metallica1973 · 07-09-2008, 10:50 PM

I have tried 3 different cables, checked dmesg for the correct ttyS*, used 9600 baud - 8N1 settings and even tried it on three other linux boxes. What the heck could it be. I have done this a million times. I wonder if maybe the router aux port is disabled or broken?

ARC1450 · 07-10-2008, 08:14 AM

That's why I said give it a shot under Windows Hyperterm. Not that I doubt you know what you're doing, but in my experience, sometimes you miss stuff in Linux but not in Windows because it's just idiot friendly. :-\ For example, it could be that on all 3 Linux boxes, you're just putting in one wrong setting even though you've done it a million times (been there done that and it's a pain to figure out).

That said, I honestly don't think you can disable the console port on a Cisco device.

metallica1973 · 07-10-2008, 11:47 AM

I tried a forth machine and I was able to get to the console. I have been using Ubuntu lately and am wondering if somehow the ttyS* are not being initiated during boot. I have read in other post that many other people have had this issue and that under Ubuntu, I am to

[HTML] sudo vi /etc/event.d/ttyS0[/HTML]

or whatever dev it is and

have it adjusted to where it is initiated during boot. I do not have a
sudo /etc/event.d/ttyS0, I have only

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sudo vi /etc/event.d/tty

through

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sudo vi /etc/event.d/tty8

and other suggestions?

ARC1450 · 07-10-2008, 12:13 PM

The only clue I might be able to offer is check /etc/inittab and have inittab initialize your /dev/ttyS0.

Something like:

Code:

s0:12345:respawn:/sbin/agetty 9600 ttyS0 vt100

See what that does for you.

metallica1973 · 07-10-2008, 02:46 PM

exactly but the problem is that with this distro I do not see a /etc/inittab rather is uses /etc/event.d/tty1-8. I do not see a /etc/event.d/ttyS0-8. I guess that I would create one? like

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touch /etc/event.d/ttyS0

and

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echo s0:12345:respawn:/sbin/agetty 9600 ttyS0 vt100 > /etc/event.d/ttyS0

what do you think?

ARC1450 · 07-10-2008, 03:22 PM

yeah, that should work.

metallica1973 · 07-14-2008, 08:05 PM

ARCH1450, thanks for the help.