USB to Serial
 

Hi all

First post here, and have tried searching to little or no avail

All being well I should get my N900 tomorrow :D

Anyway my question is, is there a possibility of using a USB to serial interface on the N900 and then being able to console onto serial devices (such as network switches etc)

If this is available then this would be an excellent feature and all the more reason to have the N900's as work phones for us techies :)

Steve

Re: USB to Serial
 

without host mode, not really an option. There are some bluetooth-to-serial adapters out there that shoudl work, though.

Re: USB to Serial
 

Thanks Texaslabrat

Do you know how good they are the bluetooth ones ?

Steve

Re: USB to Serial
 

They're a little pricey in comparison to a usb-serial adapter, but functionality-wise I don't see why they would be any different. Google search term "serial bluetooth adapter" for more info.

Re: USB to Serial
 

Most (all?) bluetooth-to-serial adapters do not support hardware flow control correctly, if it all. Depending on the application, this may or may not be an issue. One instance I can think of is DSMlink v2 (ECU software replacement for Talon/Eclipse/Laser), which requires RTS to signal to the ECU that it should leave ODB-II mode and enter proprietary mode - it would not work with a bluetooth-to-serial adapter, because RTS was not passed end-to-end.

Re: USB to Serial
 

Thanks for the replies

Guess I will have to do a bit of digging, or try and borrow one from somewhere to see if it suits my needs (mainly network switches etc)

The ODB II stuff I use is PC based anyway (Subaru) and afaik no Linux port, so that wouldnt be a problem for me for that application

Steve

Re: USB to Serial
 

Hi Steve
Any luck solving your access to network switches?
I'll love to do the same my self.

Please let me know when you find a solution that will work...

Thanks
Ebert

Re: USB to Serial
 

No need for USB to Serial.

The N900 has a serial port, but I don't know anything about activating it.

See these:
http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?t=32824

http://wiki.maemo.org/R%26D_mode:

This is the interesting part:
"R&D mode flags: serial-console - Enables the serial console (the serial port pins are next to the battery) and causes a shorter battery life."