How to use the IR829/809 Mini-USB Console Cable with Linux

[nathan]

The blue mini-USB console cable that is included with the IR829 (and other 800 series devices) connects the mini-USB console port, under the screwed down plate, to a USB port on your Linux machine. The trick is identifying the specific device to use for the COM port. These Cisco Console instructions are very good. They worked for me with /dev/ttyUSB1. Though the instructions are from the Ubuntu site, they should work just the same with pretty much any version of Linux. I tested them with the Ubuntu Desktop 14.04 LTS version of Linux.

The Minicom application used for illustration purposes is quite basic as terminal emulators go, so you might want to look at other Linux terminal emulators. There are plenty to choose from.

Also see How to use the IR829 Mini-USB Console Cable with OSX El Capitan 10.11, How to use a Serial-USB Console Cable with the IR829 and OSX El Capitan 10.11 and How to use the IR829 Mini-USB Console Cable with Windows 10.

[ChrisUK]

If like me you use linux (I am on ubuntu 20.04) and have available the console usb A to mini usb (c ??) you can forgo the download of the console driver, its not needed for ubuntu other than to give you directions on how to do it.

So, minicom is your software

sudo apt install minicom

sudo minicom -s

Serial port setup,

press A

: /dev/ttyACM0

press enter

press E

press C

press Q

You should see "current: 9600 8N1" at the top,

press enter

Press F and G so that you see "no" in both hardware flow control and software flow control.

Press enter

save setu as dfl.

exit from minicom.

connect the cable between your computer and cisco device.
sudo minicom

press enter, you should now see a device related prompt.

Minicom options

ctrl & a  then press Z

To exit minicom

ctrl & a then press X

Good luck.

NB: it is worth noting that when setting up with sudo the dfl file is stored in roots home directory.
If you prefer to setup as your own user omit the sudo, the file will be stored in your users home directory. it starts with a period so you will need to show hidden files to see it. You can edit the file manually this way.

then when you sudo the root settings will be used and without your user settings will be used, can be useful if you have multiple devices needing different tty ports.

EG: I have one device that needs a RJ45 cable, I got an adapter that runs on ttyUSB* so thats how I handle it to prevent reconfiguring minicom when i switch.