BeagleBoard-xM (Rev. B) USB-to-Serial Issue

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1

Hi All,

I recently purchased a BeagleBoard-xM and I tried booting it with default images that are shipped in with the microSD card. To view the serial output I am using a USB-to-Serial converter cable.

I am able to view the serial output from BeagleBoard-xM but I am not able to give any input to BeagleBoard-xM using the same USB-to-Serial Port. For e.g. I am able to see Uboot booting asking to input to stop auto-boot using message “Hit any key to stop autoboot: …” but I am not able to stop autoboot.

Is there anything missing here ? How does BeagleBoard-xM expect Input ?

Please help …

Regards,
Anup Patel

2

Hi All,

Found the fix. I had “Hardware Flow Control” Option Enabled in my minicom settings.

I got help from the following link: http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/linux/library/l-beagleboard-xm/

Best Regards,
Anup Patel

3

Check your flow control in serial configuration

4

that is interesting, because the reference I found for the BeagleBone
stated that you should have hardware flow control enabled. So I switched
to picocom which fixed the problem. It would be useful to have a
definitative answer and to make sure that all the web pages are consistant.

David

5

The BeagleBone Getting Started document (http://beagleboard.org/static/
beaglebone/a3/README.htm#g_ether - the "Connect to your BeagleBone's
serial console" section) says that Hardware Flow Control should be set
to None.

I've always had to set Hardware Flow Control to None when connecting
to the Beagleboard or Beaglebone through a serial or USB port, both
when using Minicom or WinPutty. I use Angstrom on both. Perhaps
Hardware Flow Control is required with some other distros, or with non-
Linux software running on the BB, or with UART connetions that don't
use the USB connector?

Dan.