RPi console cable (product 954)

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jsquaredz
 
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RPi console cable (product 954)

Post by jsquaredz »

I bought the RPi USB to 232 console cable adapter https://www.adafruit.com/products/954. I installed it per the instructions https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruits-ra ... e?view=all, and it works except that it freezes up when I am editing with nano using the Mac terminal. I tried an alternative terminal program and the same behavior, leading me to suspect the driver. I tried it on windows and it worked fine. Problem is that I own a Mac and its not working right on the mac.

Please help.

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adafruit_support_rick
 
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Re: RPi console cable (product 954)

Post by adafruit_support_rick »

Should work. All I can suggest is that we try replacing the cable. Please email [email protected] with a link to this thread for a replacement

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jsquaredz
 
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Re: RPi console cable (product 954)

Post by jsquaredz »

Looks like the issue is that the driver isn't updated. There seems to have been a known issue for the problem I am seeing on the driver development page

http://sourceforge.net/p/osx-pl2303/dis ... it=25#16b3

Please test one out yourself with OS X BANNED. Just use it to connect to an RPi and edit /etc/network/interfaces

It fails pretty fast for me and just stops responding. Unplugging the usb converter and plugging it back in is the only way to get it working again.

I am also a bit unhappy about the driver support on this thing. The tutorial basically sends me to a source forge where I have to pay $10 for a binary driver. I then pay and download, and I get an error from BANNED saying the kernel extension can't be loaded because its from an unidentified developer. The other link in the tutorial is a free version, but exhibits the buffer flushing issue in the driver.
I tried to download the source and compile it myself, but I couldn't do it. Xcode just threw up some errors and I really don't know what Im doing with this, so I stopped.

It would be nice if Adafruit would go on source forge and compile a Signed binary driver for MacOS X using the latest source to support the product your selling.

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adafruit_support_rick
 
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Re: RPi console cable (product 954)

Post by adafruit_support_rick »

Thanks for the note - we'll check it out!

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adafruit2
 
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Re: RPi console cable (product 954)

Post by adafruit2 »

Ugh that is super scammy - it used to b e an open source driver, but now they're charging for the driver! First up, you should get a refund, since it doesn't work. We've deleted that link. If you see it anywhere else, let us know, we'll remove it!

Second, try out this official prolific driver
http://prolificusa.com/files/md_PL2303_ ... v1_5_1.zip

from here
http://prolificusa.com/portfolio/pl2303 ... ontroller/

Does that work?

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vinceall
 
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Re: RPi console cable (product 954)

Post by vinceall »

I have the same problem and went down the same route with purchasing the driver, etc. The prolific driver does not work. I've tried on two Macs.. both running 10.9.4.

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adafruit_support_rick
 
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Re: RPi console cable (product 954)

Post by adafruit_support_rick »

I just installed the Prolific driver 1.5.1 on MacOSX 10.9.4 and it works for me.

Does your serial cable show up in USB in System Report?

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vinceall
 
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Re: RPi console cable (product 954)

Post by vinceall »

Yes, I also followed the drive instructions to do this in the Terminal...

cd /dev
ls tty.usbserial*

I get:

tty.usbserial

However, when I run:

screen cu.PL2303-000012FD 115200

The screen remains blank. If I close the Terminal session and reopen and try again, I get an error message:

Sorry, could not find a PTY.

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vinceall
 
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Re: RPi console cable (product 954)

Post by vinceall »

I should also mention I'm using a Raspberry Pi B+ and have configured the pins according to the instructions in the tutorial.

https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruits-ra ... t-the-lead

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adafruit_support_rick
 
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Re: RPi console cable (product 954)

Post by adafruit_support_rick »

Can you install Serial Tools and do a loopback test?
http://www.w7ay.net/site/Applications/Serial%20Tools/

Jumper the white and green wires together to make a loopback, and open usbserial in Serial Tools. Whatever you type should be echoed immediately back.

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vinceall
 
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Re: RPi console cable (product 954)

Post by vinceall »

I installed the tools and jumpered the wires and can confirm it the loopback works. I see the echo immediately.

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adafruit_support_rick
 
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Re: RPi console cable (product 954)

Post by adafruit_support_rick »

OK. That means that the cable works and the driver is installed correctly.

I must admit I'm not familiar with the screen command on the Mac. I think there must be something wrong with your command string.

You should be able to communicate with the Pi through Serial Tools. Can you verify that?

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vinceall
 
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Re: RPi console cable (product 954)

Post by vinceall »

When I try to communicate with the RPi B+ via Serial Tools, I see this.

Image

It doesn't do anything after the last line.

I hooked up a version A Pi and everything works as expected. Strange. When I boot up the B+, everything works as expected. I do not observe the unmounted error. Is the file system somehow unmounting when using the console cable?

I also found this post about /etc/inittab

http://raspberrypi.stackexchange.com/qu ... nd-pty-mac

But I compared the lines in both the A and B+ and didn't see a difference.

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adafruit_support_rick
 
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Re: RPi console cable (product 954)

Post by adafruit_support_rick »

That's telling you that your image is corrupted. It's nothing to do with the console cable.

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vinceall
 
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Re: RPi console cable (product 954)

Post by vinceall »

Yeah, I don't think anything is wrong with the cable. But if the image is corrupted, I wonder why the Pi boots and functions just fine without the cable. And then when I attach the cable, it reports a corrupted image.

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