I've referenced documentation on my C3 Beagleboard (http://elinux.org/
BeagleBoardBeginners#Writing_the_.C3.85ngstr.C3.B6m_image_into_the_SDcard_and_finally_booting_GNU.
2FLinux) that I'm trying to get to work and even sent it to the
beagleboard hospital to verify that it is working properly. The issue
is that when opening my serial connections I'm getting strange
characters instead of TI and the x-loader...I've used minicom and
hyperterminal and 3 different computers with identical results....I've
also verified the pinout on the IDC cable for serial connection with
the null modem cable....What am I doing wrong here?
Resolution - Using adapter kit from tincantools -
http://tincantools.com/product.php?productid=16144&cat=0&page=1&featured
.... I didn't use a null modem cable!!!!! ...I was successful in being
able to connect and view uboot and the x loader from hyperterminal.
Oh...and by the way..(if this post was helpful to you)...YOUR
WELCOME!!!!!!
Have you tried looking at the waveforms of the output signals?
They may be distorted or inverted or the wrong baud rate.
Verify you set your baud rate and settings correctly. A useful program
for serial communications testing and verification is
http://sourceforge.net/projects/realterm/ (realterm) you can dump the
characters as they are sent in Hex or any number of formats (hex is
useful if you are getting funny characters). I suggest you use
hyperterm and realterms network forward mode. IE it will connect to
the serial port and be certain you have the correct settings for your
port. Then go to the echo tab and set up the port address to connect
hyperterm (it will say server:1200 or something) use that and then
click echo and update. Connect with hyper term to real term and then
watch.
However that's only if you first set the serial port correctly. It
can be 9600 19200 38400 57600 115200 check that you have the default
baud and No parity 1 stop bit set.
I haven't seen the beagle board autobaud so my guess is it doesn't do
that on startup.
There are lots of things to test and try. I would check to see what
signal is on what pin if all else fails. There are only 3 connections
needed RX TX and ground.