Tag: Terminal

[Linux] Screen

Hello there, this a 5 Minute Tutorial to screen.
What Screen is?
Well screen is an old unix / linux terminal programm with which you can create multiple virtual "screens".
You can switch between these screens and also can disconnect from them.
Especially useful: If you start an daemon within screen and disconnect from it,
you can reconnect anytime and see what its doing.
Or you can setup a screen session, detach and close your SSH.
If you reconnect, it will still be running.
Oh, and it will be also there and running if your connection drops.

My little list of important Screen Commands:

screen // Create a Screen
screen -ls // List active Screen sessions
screen -r // Resume Screen, if multiple, enter Screen Number from ls after r

CTRL A C - create new tab
CTRL A P - previous
CTRL A N - next
CTRL A D - detach from Screen

To close and exit a screen, just type exit within the screen session.
To start an script in the same folder "daemon like": screen -A -m -d -S SCREENSESSIONNAME ./SCRIPTNAME.sh

Easy, ain't it?

[iPAQ] Building Serial Console for iPAQ 3600 to Access Cisco Equipment

After I got the iPAQ 3660 working again, I wanted to use it as Serial Console to Work on the Cisco Equipment "on the road". To achieve that, we need two or three things:

1.) An special connector Cable to attach the Serial Console of the iPAQ with an RS232 Connector / the Cisco Rollover Cable
2.) An Terminal Software. I did choose vxHpcPlus for that ( http://www.cam.com/vxhpcplus.html )
3.) Something that makes it possible to use  Landscape Mode so that you can read the Console Output more easily:  NYDITOT Virtual Display, Version 5.02 ( http://www.nyditot.com/Products.asp )

1.) Building the Connector / Adaptor Cable
I did order an iPAQ 3600 to Serial Connector for Active Sync. Sadly it was defect, so I did choose to rebuild it to these Specs. First I did open up the iPAQ Connector and desolder it. Than I did insert it into the iPAQ and identified the needed Connector Ports. So if you look at the bottom of the iPAQ, placed face up on flat surface you will see these Connectors:

2 4 6 8 10 12
1 3 5 7  9 11

Wiring:
4 - GND
7 - TX
8 - RX
11 - 3,3V

Then I got an RS232 Male Connector and did wire these things up like that:

5 4 3 2 1
6 7 8 9

( Looking at the Solder Connectors! Not the "Connector Face"! )

2 - RX
3 - TX
5 - GND

I did left the 3,3V Cable "floating around" for maybe future projects.

2.) Terminal Software
Download the vxHpcPlus from the Website and install it with the Help of ActiveSync.

The Settings for the Serial Port are:

Direct Connect - Async:
Port: "Seriallkabel an COM1:"
Settings: 9600, Databits: 8, Parity: None, Stop: 1, Flow Control: None
Telnet: Send NUL after CR
Emulation: VT100,
Font size: 6,
German Keyboard
80 Colums,
Vertial Scroll,
Auto Wrap,
Scroll,
Hot Button

You can also change these to 115200 if you want.

3.) NYDITOT Virtual Display, Landscape
Download and install with ActiveSync. You can use it to use Landscape Mode which makes reading the Serial Console more easy. Its plain forward, so play with it.

Thanks a lot to Bev Howard for the excellent Printout of the Connector Port ( http://bevhoward.com/serial.htm#36xx ) this Site: http://www.handhelds.org/Compaq/iPAQH3600/iPAQ_H3600.html