Linux - Software This forum is for Software issues.
Having a problem installing a new program? Want to know which application is best for the job? Post your question in this forum. |
Notices |
Welcome to LinuxQuestions.org, a friendly and active Linux Community.
You are currently viewing LQ as a guest. By joining our community you will have the ability to post topics, receive our newsletter, use the advanced search, subscribe to threads and access many other special features. Registration is quick, simple and absolutely free. Join our community today!
Note that registered members see fewer ads, and ContentLink is completely disabled once you log in.
Are you new to LinuxQuestions.org? Visit the following links:
Site Howto |
Site FAQ |
Sitemap |
Register Now
If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact us. If you need to reset your password, click here.
Having a problem logging in? Please visit this page to clear all LQ-related cookies.
Get a virtual cloud desktop with the Linux distro that you want in less than five minutes with Shells! With over 10 pre-installed distros to choose from, the worry-free installation life is here! Whether you are a digital nomad or just looking for flexibility, Shells can put your Linux machine on the device that you want to use.
Exclusive for LQ members, get up to 45% off per month. Click here for more info.
|
 |
|
10-17-2014, 12:05 PM
|
#1
|
LQ Newbie
Registered: Oct 2014
Posts: 6
Rep: 
|
A real Terminal Emulator?
I need a Terminal Emulator that can use a terminfo file from /usr/share/terminfo. It seems that most emulators available only use built in terminfo files for one or two types of terminals. I'm trying display on an RPi data intended for a dumb terminal from an older system's serial port. I can see that the escape sequences for absolute cursor positioning are being passed to the screen instead of being processed.
|
|
|
10-17-2014, 12:20 PM
|
#2
|
Senior Member
Registered: Feb 2003
Distribution: debian
Posts: 4,137
|
http://www.ltsp.org/
Not sure if that's what you're looking for, terminal is kind of a broad term these days. The old dumb terminals were 3270 something or other.
|
|
|
10-17-2014, 12:53 PM
|
#3
|
LQ Newbie
Registered: Oct 2014
Posts: 6
Original Poster
Rep: 
|
Further Explanation
I have an old z80 based system that the software is written to use a serial dumb terminal as a user interface .. probably a Lear Siegler, not a VT100 or 3120 or any other common protocol that current "terminal" programs are set up to emulate. I want to substitute an RPi with monitor and keyboard for the user interface. So what I mean by "terminal emulator" is in the literal sense.. I want to actually emulate a serial terminal.
|
|
|
10-17-2014, 02:43 PM
|
#5
|
Moderator
Registered: Aug 2002
Posts: 26,552
|
The DEC VT100 is/was a real serial terminal... May not be dumb since it contained a microprocessor but it is what the terminal emulators are based upon.
Can you post the ESC sequences? Looks like the Lear Siegler used ESC=;YX whereas the VT100 uses ESC[X;YH for cursor placement.
Last edited by michaelk; 10-17-2014 at 03:09 PM.
|
|
|
10-17-2014, 04:30 PM
|
#6
|
Moderator
Registered: Mar 2008
Posts: 22,301
|
To get a real terminal, you'd have to have some hardware.
http://tldp.org/HOWTO/Text-Terminal-HOWTO-16.html
As noted, bugs exist in database.
I forget how to determine what settings you have in terminal but there is a command for that. set or termsys or what I forget. Haven't used terminals for decade.
Pick one terminal (try xterm) and stick with it. Yes, some terminals may have internal settings on different set of files.
Last edited by jefro; 10-17-2014 at 04:31 PM.
|
|
|
10-19-2014, 01:08 PM
|
#7
|
Member
Registered: Jul 2013
Posts: 749
Rep: 
|
minicom is one linux terminal emulator. I've heard you can get Procomm for windows or dos to run in wine, but never tried. Many systems I worked on in the past used physical terminals, mostly wyse or lear siegler, and with PC's procomm was the physical terminal replacement of choice.
|
|
|
10-20-2014, 09:15 AM
|
#8
|
LQ Newbie
Registered: Oct 2014
Posts: 6
Original Poster
Rep: 
|
Michaelk,
Esc=yx is what I'm seeing on the screen preceding text that should be placed in a specific location.
Jefro,
I looked at xterm, didn't see how to open a serial port in it. I've been using gnu screen for that.
|
|
|
10-20-2014, 10:01 AM
|
#9
|
Moderator
Registered: Aug 2002
Posts: 26,552
|
Depending you your distribution you might be able to install the adm3 terminfo via the ncurses-term package.
|
|
|
10-20-2014, 03:10 PM
|
#10
|
Moderator
Registered: Mar 2011
Location: USA
Distribution: MINT Debian, Angstrom, SUSE, Ubuntu, Debian
Posts: 9,939
|
Agree with Doug G, minicom. It's probably already there.
You can also set the port for RAW mode. You probably should check out the tc_get/set attr suite of library functions, as well as stty for the command line. Is the hook up to be RPi with USB to serial? So it might be /dev/ttyUSB0? You can disable the flow controls for HW and SW in minicom. The question is if you need to translate characters. If it's just ASCII-8 coding and 8N1 (8-bit no parity, 1 stop bit) serial then the questions merely become whether or not you need local echo, whether or not CR means LF, CR, or CR-LF together, and so forth. Minicom will allow you to set all that up. I also delete all the modem strings so it doesn't try to send ATDT<blah-blah> through the port. Minicom's tendency is that it thinks it needs to control a Hayes AT modem.
|
|
|
10-20-2014, 03:32 PM
|
#11
|
Moderator
Registered: Aug 2002
Posts: 26,552
|
As far as I know minicom has only ANSI and VT100 emulation. The OP wants the escape characters to be translated to cursor position.
|
|
|
10-21-2014, 11:04 AM
|
#12
|
LQ Newbie
Registered: Oct 2014
Posts: 6
Original Poster
Rep: 
|
michaelk, you have summed up the problem exactly. I'm surprised there is not an easy solution to this. I've seen it done with mirror and procomm in dos, was hoping to avoid dos.
BTW, I do have the ncurses terminfo package installed, just can't seem to get an emulator (that will open a serial port) to access it. Found this in the gnu screen manual:
"Each window in a screen session emulates a VT100 terminal, with some extra functions added. The VT100 emulator is hard-coded, no other terminal types can be emulated."
... I tried starting minicom with -t and different lear seigler terminal types.. returned error message "no support for cursor movement (cm)". No ambiguity there!.
Last edited by monmak; 10-21-2014 at 12:49 PM.
|
|
|
10-21-2014, 04:04 PM
|
#13
|
Moderator
Registered: Aug 2002
Posts: 26,552
|
Unfortunately terminfo will not work for your situation. Most terminal apps only support VT100, VT102 type protocols.
|
|
|
10-21-2014, 08:58 PM
|
#14
|
Senior Member
Registered: Aug 2009
Distribution: Rocky Linux
Posts: 4,805
|
I don't know of any terminal eumlator that can be given terminfo data and told, "Act like a terminal that does this." Terminfo works in the other direction, telling client programs how to work with a terminal type, not for telling the terminal emulator itself how to behave.
|
|
|
10-21-2014, 10:23 PM
|
#15
|
LQ Guru
Registered: Sep 2003
Location: Auckland, NZ
Distribution: openSUSE Leap
Posts: 5,975
|
You might find kermit will do what you want. (Amongst many other things, it does ADM-3A emulation.) Don't ask me how to use it though.
http://linux.die.net/man/1/kermit
http://www.columbia.edu/kermit/
I guess it will start with something like
Code:
set terminal type adm3a
Good luck!
|
|
|
All times are GMT -5. The time now is 04:35 AM.
|
LinuxQuestions.org is looking for people interested in writing
Editorials, Articles, Reviews, and more. If you'd like to contribute
content, let us know.
|
Latest Threads
LQ News
|
|